June 28, 2026 "Dimensions of Discipleship"

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

Romans 6:12-23

Matthew 10:40-42

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

 grace and peace to you

from the one who brings the kingdom of God. Amen

We have a very short gospel for today,

only three verses,

 and on the face of it,

 it seems like a pretty simple message,

 that all kinds of welcome,

 even small gestures, are important to Jesus.

Indeed many congregations,

 including ours,

like to emphasize how welcoming they are,

welcome is one of our vocation verbs,

 one of our gifts and values.

 But ever notice how if you say a word a lot

it seems to lose some meaning?

That’s the sense I get with the word welcome and this passage,

so what does Jesus mean by ‘welcome’?

if we stick to just our three verses

we find that it has something to do with relationships

 and even small gestures count,

 but there’s so much more to it than that

because these three verses

are the conclusion of a much longer passage in Matthew

one that we have been reading through over the past few weeks.

 Titled the Missionary Discourse,

 Jesus has just given the disciples

 authority over unclean spirits, the power to heal

 and is preparing to send them out

with instruction, warning and promise.

 He gives them practical instructions

on who to go to,

 what they are to do when they arrive,

what to do if they are received,

 what to do if they aren’t received

along with warnings that the message will be divisive,

that they will be rejected, threatened,

 that relationships will change,

and interspersed with the warnings are promises,

 promises of God’s care and fidelity,

the promise that God knows all the little details about us

and what happens to us,

the promise to be present with us even in the worst of times.

 It actually seems a bit contradictory

 and yet both things are true in the way of discipleship,

there is power to heal,

 there is good news to be proclaimed

that can bring people back to life!

 AND

 this news will be rejected,

it will break up relationships,

 people will react violently to this news and those who bring it.

It is all a part of discipleship,

the highs are very high

and the lows are very low

and God will be with us. (https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-13/commentary-on-matthew-1040-42-7)

 If you’ve been a part of the Church (big C) for a while

 you have probably experienced this,

how good life can be lived in a community gathered around God

 what amazing things can be done together,

 and the difficult side,

the times when the community is divided,

sides are taken, hurtful things are said

and yet God is still present

 as the community works out what needs to be worked out.

Now if you’re only expecting the first part

the second part can come as a real shock

and any time there is conflict in a congregation

 there are people who become disillusioned and leave the community.

This is why preparation is important,

I know Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber

used to give instructions to new members joining her congregation

on ‘what to do when the community disappoints you’

not an if but a when.

 Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to become disillusioned

when these things happen to them,

so he warns them

and gives them promises to hold onto

in the midst of important, amazing work

 which he sums up in these last three verses.

Starting with “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

As commentator Stanley Saunders remarks “The disciples represent the full presence and power of Jesus, just as Jesus bears the full presence and power of God, as Matthew stresses throughout the Gospel. While emissary relations might imply a hierarchy of power, Jesus is here instead affirming the full, real, integral, and authoritative relationship between the disciples, Jesus, and God. “ (https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-13/commentary-on-matthew-1040-42-7)

Discipleship isn’t just about bringing a message,

or even doing some deeds of power,

 it is about bringing the presence of God

wherever the disciple goes

 and further there are three dimensions of discipleship,

described in the next two verses;

the prophetic,

 the way of righteousness,

and the way of the little one.

The prophetic dimension of discipleship

 is perhaps the most obvious,

 the proclamation of the word of God

and the demonstration of divine power

and yet prophets,

true prophets like Jeremiah of our first reading

 have a long history of being rejected and killed for their message.

 Indeed Jeremiah suggests

that prophets whose message is too agreeable to their hearers

 are probably false prophets.

The next dimension of discipleship

is the way of righteousness,

we might think of this as living a good life,

 living according to the rules of God,

but there’s more to it than that,

righteousness as Matthew understands it

 is an “enduring pursuit of justice, healing, and restoration” (Saunders)

on the face of it less flashy than the prophetic task

 but just as important

and it has the same potential for ruffling feathers

since the pursuit of justice often entails calling out unjust people and practices,

 of challenging power and the status quo,

 power that will be used to try to maintain the status quo.

 All of which leads to the final dimension of discipleship

which is that of the little one,

a term commonly used to refer to children in Matthew,

children who are vulnerable and entirely dependent on their caretakers.

Disciples must remain vulnerable

and entirely dependent on God,

 yes God has given them power

 but it is God’s power and presence that is working through them,

 not their own.

 Remembering this,

avoiding the temptation to claim personal ownership of this power

 is key to the success of the mission,

and difficult,

 because as humans we like to be recognized for who we

are not just what we represent,

 to be disciples is to put much of that aside,

which makes Jesus’ assurance of knowing all the little details about us

 all the more important.

Even if we set them aside for the sake of Jesus,

Jesus knows who we are.

All three dimensions of discipleship focus on the message,

 the work more than the individual,

indeed they may make an individual a bit off-putting,

so it is remarkable,

 laudable, cause for reward

 when someone welcomes a disciple

 and all that they bring with them,

 because to welcome is not just a friendly greeting

 but the creating of a space in the life of the one doing the welcoming

a space to be affected by the one who is welcomed.

These don’t have to be grand gestures,

 something as small as offering a cold cup of water

opens a space for relationship,

a space where God can go to work bringing about the Kingdom of God.

This is what we are called to

To proclaim the word of God

To work for justice

To remain dependent on God

To create space in relationships for God to go to work

And Jesus promises that he can work with even the smallest gestures

As we work with God to bring about the Kingdom of God.

Amen