Immigration and Hospitality - Proper 8 - July 2, 2017

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Focus Text: Matthew 10:40-42

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
Matthew 10:40-42

Overview

Focus Text: Matthew 10:40-42

Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

Pastoral Reflection by Dr. Maria Teresa Palmer, Director, Multicultural Student Center, North Carolina A&T State University

Key Fact

Over the last 50 years, immigration laws have become increasingly strict. In the past, many waves of immigrants passed relatively freely through ports of entry such as Ellis Island. Since the U.S. has tightened its borders, most of these same families would be turned away today.

Related Texts

When an immigrant resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the immigrant. The immigrant who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the immigrant as yourself, for you were immigrants in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34

You shall have one law for the immigrant and for the citizen: for I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 24:22

You shall not deprive a resident immigrant or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the immigrant, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:17-22

“Then the [king] will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by [God], inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and [the devil’s] angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’”
Matthew 25:34-45

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Romans 12:9-16

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:1-2

Scriptural Commentary on Matthew 10:40-42

As is often the case, the lectionary reading from Matthew today is just a small part of a much larger whole. When Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me…” he is addressing the twelve disciples, commissioning them to proclaim the good news and embody the new kingdom among the towns and villages dotting the ancient landscape of the Holy Land. Earlier in Chapter 10, Jesus indicates that the disciples’ mission will hinge on the hospitality of others: “You received without payment, give without payment…. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave…. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town” (Matt. 10:8, 11, 14). In most ancient cultures – and in many contemporary ones, though not in the U.S. – hospitality is not only a virtue but is deeply fundamental to society itself. That is to say that without the practices of hospitality, society itself would come unglued. In her insightful book Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, Christine Pohl says that “Hospitality was viewed as a pillar on which all morality rested; it encompassed ‘the good.’ …Early Christian writers claimed that transcending social and ethnic differences by sharing meals, homes and worship with persons of different backgrounds was a proof of the truth of the Christian faith” (p. 5). Understanding the vitality of ancient hospitality opens new windows of understanding into the message of Jesus throughout the book of Matthew.

In our passage, Jesus draws on several different images to demonstrate what hospitality, what welcoming, might look like. While in Matthew 25 he famously says, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,” here Jesus invokes the “prophet,” the “righteous person,” and the “little one.” His point is that when people welcome others through the practices of hospitality – especially those who may not be well-regarded by society (strangers, prophets and children) – they are opening themselves to receive the gifts of God, the “reward of the righteous.” The image that Jesus chooses to convey a truly warm welcome is that of offering “a cup of cold water.” Water was (and is) a precious resource in the Middle East. Throughout the Bible, various authors make the point that water comes from God (e.g. Deut. 11:8- 17); this uniquely life-sustaining gift is beyond humanity’s ability to conjure or create. Thus, in offering a cup of water to another, a person acknowledges that what they have is none other than a gift from God. Water is not his or her own possession to horde at the expense of the thirsty one knocking on the door.

Throughout the gospel of Matthew, careful readers find themselves called to imitate the welcoming spirit of Jesus, who says in chapter 19, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” As modern readers of this ancient text, we must learn to open ourselves to the possibility that we do not always stand in the shoes of the disciples, sent out to preach the kingdom; sometimes we may find that our primary calling is to put a radical hospitality into practice, welcoming the stranger, the child, the prophet, with a cup of cold water and an open heart.

By Chris Liu-Beers, Program Associate, NC Council of Churches

Pastoral Reflection on Matthew 10:40-42

In the tenth chapter, Matthew highlights the importance of hospitality among the faithful. It took courage and commitment for the persecuted Christian community of the First Century to offer hospitality to prophets and preachers, so Matthew reminds his readers that they are ministering to Jesus himself in welcoming his disciples and brothers and sisters in the faith who might come from unknown places. The verses before our focus passage give us an idea of why this might be such risky business. V 34: “ Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers…”

As a mother, and even as a pastor, I want to forget the context and move quickly to verse 40 to talk about the joy of Christian fellowship, but this doesn’t do justice to the text, especially when we read this passage in light of the topic of immigration. Offering Christian hospitality to the immigrants among us is about as controversial today as welcoming a Christian prophet was under Roman rule. I performed a marriage in the home of an Anglo middle-class family whose daughter was marrying a young Hispanic man. It was a small ceremony, due to the lack of approval of their church and family. The parents had to choose between welcoming their new son-in-law and enjoying the fellowship of their extended family and Christian community. I know of six churches in North Carolina where the result of ministering to immigrants has cost the pastors their jobs, split the congregation, or divided families. I also have a colleague, pastor of a thriving Hispanic ministry, who has been asked to find another home for his congregation because the mother church doesn’t want to “inadvertently aid illegals.”

If I had not lived it through many years of ministry, I wouldn’t believe that church people could behave so unwelcomingly. But of course many other groups have known this truth for decades: the church can be very un-Christ-like. Perhaps, in some congregations, it’s more a sin of omission: we don’t notice the “alien” among us and forget to be hospitable. We forget to be intentional about our welcome. But the message we present to the foreign visitor is clearly conveyed by how we behave when a newcomer ventures into our congregations: We demand that they adopt our cultural norms—fill out the contact forms, keep their kids quiet and off our new carpet, learn our language and our hymns, pledge allegiance to the flag, volunteer for VBS, contribute to the capital campaign—and then maybe they can earn that glass of water.

The cup of water that Matthew asks us to offer is a dangerous thing. It assumes we have looked at our visitor and noticed his or her thirst. We are willing to be inconvenienced, to go to the well and draw the pure clean water and offer it in hospitality—which might lead us to pulling out a chair and inquiring about the rest of the family. It might lead to prayer, to phone calls, and being drawn into this person’s life. It could lead to learning about his or her fears and hopes, and we might find ourselves praying with Solomon: “God, when a foreigner comes to this place because of your great name… listen to his prayer.” And what then? If God responded to all those prayers, we might have to change our immigration laws, our foreign policy…

The US government, regardless of many politicians’ claims to the contrary, does not hold itself to biblical standards of behavior. Leviticus 24:22 clearly calls us to have “one law for the alien and for the citizen,” but our courts have said that labor protection laws do not apply to aliens. The courts interpret what is right or wrong in light of existing (and ever-changing) legislation dictated by the political climate. The Christian church, however, is not free to decide what biblical teachings are expedient. All through the Old Testament the prophets call us to treat the alien/foreigner with justice and compassion. Jesus calls us to treat foreigners with the concern and love we would show him. Throughout the New Testament we are reminded to show hospitality to the stranger, to help meet the basic needs of those who are new and needy among us: to notice their thirst, their loneliness, and their need for Christian fellowship; to respond to their arrival as if Christ himself were at our door. May God give us the courage to be the first ones to set up the welcome table and pour the water.

By Dr. Maria Teresa Palmer, Director, Multicultural Student Center, North Carolina A&T State University

Worship Aids about Immigration and Hospitality

Responsive Reading

As we come together in prayer, let us remember the word of God, who instructs us to “love the stranger who dwells among you for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).