“You’re Welcome” based on Matthew 10:42-44

 

As Matthew ends this tenth and has sent out these disciples to bring God’s kingdom first to the lost sheep of Israel. The word church is “ecclesia”, which means the “sent out ones” As the disciples are sent on their way, He warns them that they might not receive all kinds of “touchy-feely” kinds of responses. 

 

And then he says something truly amazing, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.” 

 

I prefer the RSV version which says, “Whoever welcomes me, welcomes you, and he who welcomes me welcome the one who sent me.”  (slide)

 

As these disciples were sent out they relied on others to welcome them.  Later in Acts we see other disciples, Paul and Silas who were sent out and there were several responses to their message. When Paul was in Athens he went to the public square called “Mars Hill” or the “Areopagus”, where the stoics and philosophers hung out. Listen to the reaction:

 

“When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” That ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”

Acts 17:32-34(slide)

 

The important thing about these verses is that the church was going out and preaching and engaging the culture with the Good News about Jesus.  As we see Paul he takes their interest in religion, as they had a statute “to the unknown God”, and points to the God who can be known through Jesus Christ.  He meets them at their level of interest.

 

And this passage also shows that not everyone is converted right away.  Some it says

wanted to hear more at a later date.  If we could look at a scale from -10 to 0 and 0 to 10 representing various stages of belief, -10 as someone being completely hostile to the faith, 0 being a brand new believer, and 10 being a fully devoted follower of Christ.

 

Sometimes evangelism can be moving someone from a -8 to a -6.  And a lot of this can happen outside the church.  Many people need to be made welcome in a relationship with a Christian before being welcome in a church. 

 

My friend Dave Housholder says evangelism is like kid’s bowling parties with the bumpers up on the lanes. (pic)  As you share Christ with others you can never through a gutter ball.  You may just knock one pin down, but that is one pin closer to a strike.

Another way to think about disciples being sent out is through the work of missionaries….  The Lutheran Church has sent out missionaries for years into the world. 

As of last year ELCA Global Mission’s supports 276 adult mission personnel in 49 countries, including long-term and short-term missionary appointments. 

Missionaries are Christ’s body, his heart, his hands, his feet, his arms of compassion. The Bible says that when a person receives them, they are actually receiving Christ.  The Bible has a lot to say about supporting Christ’s disciples or missionaries who are “in the field” – just this simple verse from Matthew 10:42 points out the importance of showing hospitality to missionaries. 

We support a couple of missionaries at our church.  Our 5 year strategic plan for GSLC states that by the Fall of 2009 the Outreach Ministry will establish a global sponsorship relationship with a missionary. 

 

Pastor Ryan has introduced us to the Dorvilier Family. 

 

SLIDE (family)           -- here is a picture of their family.  Louie, Mytch, Stephane (pronounced Stef-on), Scott and Soraya (and another Son who lives in Haiti) Dorvilier.  They are natives of the Island of Haiti, and are fluent in Creole, Spanish, French and English!

 

They were commissioned in 2005 to be ELCA Global Missionaries. They were sent out from St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Whittier, the last congregation Pastor Ryan served.

 

Here are a few more pictures:

SLIDE (children)  Stephane just graduated from High School and is off to college next year, and with him are his brother Scott and sister Soraya.

 

SLIDE (Church)  Here is a picture of St. Luke’s Lutheran, Baboua, Cameroon.

 

SLIDE (School)  And an Elementary School.

 

SLIDE (Cell phone) And sometimes it is card to find a hot spot for your cell phone call. 

 

Here is a video clip to introduce them!  (show video clip)

 

Half our VBS offering this year is going to support this family. 

 

You may have a certain picture of missionary work in your head, but missionary work has changed in many ways.   No longer is a missionary going into a village in Africa and being the sole person who preaches and teaches.  Now the ministry is now one of accompaniment and empowering local leaders to lead their own people. . 

 

Another mission organization, which we as church support through our local benevolence, Chrysallis Ministries, embodies this very thing, training local leaders to lead the church.  They are doing this in Eastern Europe in places like Serbia and Romania and in Asia.  This is led by a seminary professor of mine at Fuller, John Dettoni and his wife, Carol.  They live in San Clemente.  (pic of  John and Carol) (pic of Institute)

 

These are just two ways that Good Shepherd looks outside of itself to send out the message of Christ to the least and the lost.  To those that welcome the message of these ambassadors for Christ, they will receive the reward of the message they bring, life and salvation.

 

Finally although we often support other missionaries and send them out, in a sense we are all sent out as followers of Christ every day.  I went to an Alpha Conference in Chicago this past week. If you don’t know Alpha is a ten-week course in basic Christianity.  Alpha leads people to a deeper relationship with Christ, or sometimes for the first time. It also offers people the opportunity to experience the work of the Holy Spirit. 

 

I love being at Evangelism conferences because everyone is so friendly.  I am raving extravert and even I was tired of talking to people at the end of the day.

 

One of the very important things we learned is that there has been a paradigm shift in how we communicate this Good News of Christ.  It used to be that we would try to convince people to become a Christian. We figured if we just talked enough that God would do the rest.

 

What we are finding is that a more effective way to do evangelism is to listen first. (pic)  In effect as we welcome others and find out what makes them tick, we earn the right to share the gospel.  As people feel valued and have safe environment to ask questions about faith or the meaning of life, we build a bridges where the Good News can be shared.

 

Another way is to provide practical help to someone whose native language might not be English.  The Alpha course has now been translated into basic English, so we might teach people whose native language is not English not only about the English language but also the Gospel. 

 

In terms of this passage today, as we welcome others we provide a platform for them to welcome Christ.  As they build a relationship with us, they are welcoming Christ because Christ is in us. 

 

Let’s be honest guys the only way to grow this church is to start building relationships with unbelievers or un-churched in our community and introduce them into our community.  Maybe this might mean a pizza night or a summer “bbq”, which are intended to be seeker friendly. Welcoming them in this way might be a great first step to introduce them to Christ.

 

These relationships build trust, and as that trust is built, we earn the right to share the Good News about Jesus Christ.  As we welcome people in our lives, they are welcomed by Jesus himself who lives within us. 

 

I would like to leave you with a challenge that I think about a lot.  When we get to the end of our lives, God will welcome us into His kingdom because of His Son.  Then the only other question will be “Who else did you welcome in my name?”