Open Doors

Scripture:  Matthew 10:40-42

               The Sistine chapel at the Vatican is largely considered one of the most impressive works of art that humanity has ever created.   Renaissance artist Michaelangelo spent years on his back creating the vast mural on the chapel ceiling.   It is also well known that he hated that commission, so it was surprising that he returned years later to paint a large fresco on the chapel’s wall entitled the last judgement.  This ambitious project features over 300 figures and a lot of detail.   One of the details that went mostly overlooked until it was finally noticed in 1925 is that Michaelangelo inserted himself into the painting.  The reason why it took so long to notice is because he did it in a sneaky way.  One of the characters depicted is the disciple Barthalomew.  Tradition remembers as part of his martyrdom he was flayed, and in the painting, he is somewhat gruesomely holding his flayed skin, and the face depicted on it is none other than Michaelangelo’s. 

               Art historians have come to a consensus on this fact.  This is the only artist self-insertion of Michaelangelo that there is consensus on, but it is by far not the only artist self-insertion from the Renaissance.   There are lots of examples of well-known artists inserting themselves into their artwork, sometimes in sneaky ways and sometimes in blatant ways.  When it comes to classical painting, an artist’s self-inserting is not uncommon.   There was an article written by theologian Erna Kim Hackett in 2020 that really made the rounds back then, which pointed out that most American Christians do the same thing when we read the bible. 

It was Hackett’s assertion that when we read the bible, we tend to project ourselves in the role of the hero.  We tend to insert ourselves in the story and identify with the characters that put us at the center and the focus.  So, for instance we easily see how we are like Peter and ignore how we are like Judas.  We identify with Jesus and never cast ourselves as the Pharisees.  I think she accurately puts forth that out tendency with scripture is to center ourselves and insert ourselves into the middle of it all.  When we do this, we can miss a lot of what the bible can teach, and we can overlook the multitude of ways that the scripture can stretch and grow our faith. 

I think this morning’s scripture gives a good example of this.  Because in this morning’s scripture Jesus is addressing his disciples, which we are more likely to identify with. Instead of inserting ourselves into the role of the disciples who are being welcomed I think we have more to learn and more to gain in our faith development when we do not see ourselves as the star, but instead we see ourselves as those that are doing the welcoming.   In doing so we can be confronted with how we sometimes fall short in welcoming others, and we can discover how hospitality is a necessary skill and vehicle for deeper faith development.

This morning’s scripture comes from the end of a lengthy discourse in the gospel of Matthew.   It comes from the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples as he sent them out to do ministry and proclaim the good news.   In this morning’s scripture Jesus essentially mentions anyone who welcomes the disciples will be blessed.  Because by welcoming the disciples they will by extension be welcoming Jesus and thus God.   However, if we attempt to put ourselves in the shoes of those who were going to be doing the welcoming, we can see that it was quite the big ask. 

We need to understand what the scripture means by “welcome” because our 21st century American idea is worlds different from the 1st century concept.  Today we see welcoming as saying hello, smiling, and if we are really trying to be hospitable offering coffee.   In the first century though hospitality was more ritualized and it was much more encompassing.  To welcome someone was to ensure their safety and to care for their needs.  The host doing the welcoming was expected to put themselves out and put their guest first.   There was a level of commitment and risk involved with welcoming someone in the culture of Jesus.   There were three major hurdles that would have really made it hard for the people the disciples were sent to that needed to be overcome to properly welcome the disciples who were sent.   

First, the disciples were outsiders.   They were being sent to small villages far and wide.   These villages were isolated and self-contained.  These were places where everyone knew everyone, so anyone who showed up unsolicited and uninvited would have stuck out and raised flags immediately. The disciples were not a distant relation of someone in town, they were not traveling merchants who had built up trust, and they were not the representative of some official with power and clout.   Showing hospitality to the disciples would have been a real risk, a shot in the dark, and a step in faith.   It would have required personal sacrifice with no guarantee of a return, just because it felt like the right thing to do. 

Worst though, and the second hurdle is that the disciples were not just outsiders.  They were radical outsiders.  We live in a culture that has been shaped by centuries of Christian influence, but in the time of Jesus his message was radical and out there.   The disciples would have come with the teachings of Jesus, and as we can see throughout the gospels the teaching of Jesus regularly pushed hard against the religious traditions of the day.   There are very few cows that are more sacred than religious tradition and the disciples would have been challenging than that.  So not only were the disciples’ outsiders, but they were upstarts who were questioning how things have always been done.   Anyone who showed them hospitality would have been stepping out of line with their community.   

The final hurdle is that Jesus sent the disciples out with nothing.  At the beginning of this section where Jesus is giving the disciples instructions to be sent out he states is Matthew 10:9, “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts-no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff.”  The disciples would have absolutely imposed on their host, because they had no choice.   By design, Jesus sent them out to rely on others.  Those who showed hospitality to the disciples and welcomed were doing more than giving them a place to lay their head, they were volunteering to completely provide for them.   This was, no doubt, an experience in faith and trust for the disciples, but it also had to be an experience of sacrifice and generosity for those who showed hospitality.   All these hurdles would have made it exceptionally easy for people in the villages to look the other way, to make excuses for why this was not their responsibility.

               This morning scripture lifts up and celebrates the people who, despite these hurdles, welcomed in the people that God sent.   Now it is unlikely that we will ever find ourselves in the exact situation that those who welcomed the disciples found themselves in.  However, I think we still find ourselves tasked with welcoming the people that God has sent.  As a congregation, I believe it is one of our hopes that God sends people to us, right? One of the things that we want is for our outreach attempts to be successful and for God to nudge someone into walking into this space for the first or perhaps the first time in a long time.   This morning’s scripture lifts up the importance of showing not just hospitality, but radical hospitality to the people that God has sent.   While our modern-day context is different, this morning’s scripture should lead us to pause and ask in our context, how do we do that? 

               Perhaps one of the ways to answer that question is to start with how we do not do it, because I know a story of a church that believed they were welcoming, but not as much as they probably thought.  This was a smaller sized church, and the congregation was mostly delighted when a younger family with a small toddler started showing up.   However, there were some issues.   This family had a habit of bringing coffee and snacks for the child into the sanctuary.   This led to a couple of trustees unilaterally deciding to passively aggressively put up signs that had in all capital letters NO FOOD IN SANCTUARY.   Either because they did not see it or chose to ignore it, this young couple kept coming and kept providing snacks for their kid.   This kid was a typical toddler boy and was perhaps a bit more rambunctious than this congregation was used to.  For weeks these issues persisted, and discussing the issues with this family rose to being an agenda item at a church council meeting.  Some people aired their grievances, and one person- who thought he was offering a welcoming solution- got in the final word: “They just have not gotten used to the way things are done around here.  Once they do, then they will be like the rest of us.” 

               To state it clearly, expecting people to conform to your expectations is not actually a welcoming position.   Texas based pastor Zach Lambert put it like this when he once wrote, “There are two kinds of ‘everyone is welcome churches: 1.  Everyone is welcome to conform to the church’s image of what a Christian looks like.  2.  Everyone is welcome to fully embody the unique image God created them to be.  Run away from the first and run towards the second.”   

In 2001, United Methodist Communications, put out a new marketing slogan, what they called a brand promise, for the United Methodist Church.   It was arguably the most successful branding the United Methodist Church has ever done, and even though this branding has not been active for years it is still easy to find it on banners on the side of church buildings.  The brand promise of the United Methodist Church was “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.”  It was a denominational commitment to be a true “everyone is welcome” church.  It was an aspirational promise that the people called Methodists will do their best to welcome all.  Even though branding and marketing language has moved away from the slogan, perhaps it is still a promise we should strive to live up to.  When we welcome those who God has sent, then we are still welcoming Jesus, and the one who sent him.     To have truly open doors we need to be fully welcoming as this morning’s scripture points out to us.  

We need to be willing to welcome everyone that God sends our way, without exception.  This includes those who think differently, live differently, or just don’t do things the way we do things.   Again, most churches say that everyone is welcome to come through the door, but our attitudes, actions, and words need to back that up.   To truly be welcoming as a community of faith, then we need to do the work of hospitality on an individual level.   This means we consider evaluating our own stances.  We ask ourselves questions like do my action, do my words, do my social media posts communicate that I truly welcome every person or are there people that I treat as outsiders?  We need to truly ask ourselves; do I believe that the doors are open to all, as they are, without reservation.

Our job is not to set benchmarks for how people are supposed to look or believe. We are not supposed to be gatekeepers who enforce “our way of doing things.”   Our job is to show hospitality, our job is to be welcoming, our job is to love.   If we are truly to be a church of open doors, we love everyone.  Period.  Full stop.   The Holy Spirit’s job is to change hearts and mold people to be more Christ like.   If someone needs to change, let’s trust God to do that work.   Our job is to be welcoming and fully inclusive so that we create an environment where truly anyone can experience the love of God. 

I believe this morning’s scripture has a message for us, not necessarily as the ones being sent but as the ones who are to be welcoming and show hospitality.  May we be aware of the people that God send our way.  May they find us to be a welcoming oasis in a cruel world.  May we welcome those who God send our way because in doing so we welcome Jesus into our midst as well as the one who sent him.  May we be the kind of church that people run towards and not away from.  May we truly have open hearts, open minds, and open doors.