Text: Matthew 10.7–15 & Genesis 19.1-11
As you’ll probably know, it’s my policy to preach as often
as possible from the published Lectionary – that is the list of readings
provided by the Church. I do so because
over the cycles of years, the Lectionary is designed to give us access to all
the key biblical texts – the foundations
of our faith. But once in a while, the
Lectionary throws me a curve-ball, like today!
The Gospel reading of today is almost exactly the same as the Gospel
reading for Sunday. It is in fact
Matthew’s account of the same story told by Mark…the story of Jesus sending out
his disciples, very simply equipped, to spread the good news of the Kingdom.
So, if you want to know what main message of that story, at least in my opinion, then I invite
you to read last Sunday’s sermon. Essentially,
I argued that Jesus sent his disciples out without possessions, so that they
(and therefore we) could learn how to travel lightly in the world. But, as with all Biblical texts, there is
often more than one meaning to be discovered.
Matthew, in fact, offers us some extra emphasis (compared to
Mark) on one very important matter: and
it’s this… After telling his disciples
to shake the dust from their feet against any town which refuses to welcome
them, Jesus proffers a dire warning against the people of such a town. “Truly I tell you,” he says, “it will be more tolerable for the land of
Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.”
Notice, that here, Jesus explicitly links the concept of
‘welcome’ and hospitality with the sin of Sodom & Gomorrah.
“Wait a minute!” (I
hear some cry). “Surely the sin of Sodom
& Gomorrah was something else entirely? That’s why we call it Sodomy, isn’t it?”
Well perhaps not.
Perhaps our historical obsession with the subject of same-sex attraction
has put a particular gloss onto the ancient story. Let’s consider, for a moment, what happens...
Three ‘angels’ – messengers of God – arrive at Sodom, where
they are given hospitality by Lot. They
have come to see whether there are any righteous people in the City. But before they turn in for the night, an
angry mob gathers outside the house – demanding that these troublesome
inquisitors should be brought out of the house – so that the crowd can ‘know’
them (to use the subtle phrase of the King James Bible).
Lot refuses. He has
granted hospitality to these messengers, and they are now, by the ancient code,
under his protection. He is SO convinced
of his responsibility that he even offers his young daughters to the baying mob
outside.
Looking at this story, and especially the way that Jesus
himself uses it as an example, we are confronted with some very challenging
questions. The first question is whether
‘Sodomy’ actually has anything to do with what we general think it does. This fresh interpretation, and remembering Jesus’
stern warning, suggests that the failure to offer and secure a welcome to
strangers is a far greater sin.
The second question is, of course, ‘why did the crowd want
to (cough) ‘know’ the angels’? The
answer is that the crowd wanted to punish the angels for coming to judge
them. They wanted to scare them and send
them on their way – and they proposed to use rape as their weapon. Rape of any kind is a heinous crime, and a
terrible offence against any notion of hospitality and welcome. But it has nothing to do with committed,
faithful, loving relationships between consenting adults.
When referring to the same story, Jesus, we notice, says
nothing about same-sex attraction. He invites
us to think instead about the whole notion of hospitality, and welcome. And if the welcome of strangers was such a
big issue for him, how much more so should it be for us?
A few verses later, after today’s reading, Jesus says ‘Whoever
welcomes you also welcomes me, and the one who sent me’. What kind of welcome do we offer to people
who come to us? Do we welcome them with
the same extravagant love for the stranger that God requires?
The word ‘welcome’ is ‘an expression of joy towards someone
whose coming is pleasing’. “It is well
(or good) that you have come!” Jesus
teaches us that the failure to provide hospitality really was the greatest sin
of Sodom and Gomorrah. And that fact
leaves us with a challenge. How shall
we, as a church, as a nation, and individuals and as a community, live up to
the immense challenge of being those who truly welcome others in Jesus’ name?
Amen.
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