A Cup of Cold Water
I Kings 17:7-16
Matthew 10:32-42
I am sure that we have all had that experience of talking with a friend and the conversation suddenly takes a strange turn. Your friend starts talking about things that seem so out of character, and there is a determination and edge to his or her words that makes you think, “Something isn’t right.” So, you stop your friend and say, “Are you ok? Did something happen that I don’t know about? You’re not acting like yourself, and I have never heard you talk like that before. What’s going on?”
We can only guess that if the disciples had had a chance to interrupt Jesus, they would have asked the same questions. Jesus’ conversation with them has suddenly taken a strange turn. He was talking about how much more important the disciples are to God than a sparrow that falls to the ground, but now, Jesus is talking about bringing a sword and dividing up families and how anyone who loves their family more than Jesus isn’t worthy of Jesus. No doubt, the disciples wanted to say to Jesus, “Are you ok? Did something happen that we don’t know about? You are not acting like yourself and we have not heard you talk like that before. What’s going on?”
So, what is going on with Jesus? Well, as we said last week, Jesus knew what was coming for those who chose to follow him. He knew that those who followed him would face rejection, persecution, and in some cases, death. In our passage this week, Jesus is continuing that line of thought. Jesus is letting the disciples know what is at stake for those who follow him. In some cases, families will be torn apart. There will be times when some will have to choose Jesus even over their mother and father or their sons and daughters. The history of the church, down through the generations has shown this to be true. But, it is important to keep in mind that Jesus is talking about possibilities more than necessities.
Jesus didn’t come to bring division simply for the sake of bringing division. Nor is division a must for all who seek to follow Jesus. In the book of Acts, there is a woman named Lydia. She is a seller of purple cloth. When she hears the gospel message she makes the decision to believe in Jesus and to be baptized as one of his followers. But, here is the neat thing, so did the rest of her family. Her entire household was baptized. For Lydia, division was a possibility. She could have been rejected like so many others in the early church. As it turns out, division was not a necessity, because the whole family chose to follow Jesus. Division, in the wake of following Jesus, is a possibility not a necessity. That being said, if division has to happen, then it has to happen. There is too much at stake for it to be otherwise.
Jesus made it clear from the moment he began his ministry. The Kingdom of God is at hand. God is on the move. Through Jesus, God is reclaiming his rightful place as Lord over all creation. And, the reason that God is doing this is because of his overwhelming love for us and for all of his creation. For, only in the Kingdom of God do we discover grace, and forgiveness, and healing, and life. That is what is at stake. That is why, when Jesus calls us to follow him, he is calling us to a new way of being God’s people. Jesus is calling us to follow him in such a way that we could reclaim our original purpose, to be God’s image bearers in the world, and to shine God’s light into the lives of all we meet. That is what is at stake and if that requires there to be division, then so be it. If that requires losing everything, for the sake of Jesus, then so be it.
Not too long ago, I went to see my doctor. He knows that I am a pastor and from time to time, we talk about matters of faith. So, I was waiting in the exam room and when he finally walked in, he asked me how I was. I told him I was doing alright. Then he said, “We will get to the exam in just a minute. First we need to talk about the church. I don’t like what is going on.” And so, we talked for a little while. He noted how the church was losing ground in the larger community. And, as we were talking, it reminded me of the many conversations that I have had with many people here at Montours. Many have lamented to me how things have changed for the church over the years. We remember when everything in the community revolved around the church. We remember the days when kids didn’t go play soccer or baseball on Sundays, especially not on Sunday morning. In the good ole days, the stores were not open on Sundays. We liked it when the church was in charge of the larger community. But, it isn’t that way anymore. Prayer has been taken out of school. Monuments of the Ten Commandments are being torn down or relocated to places where people don’t see them anymore. More and more, the influence of the church is receding in the community and we just don’t like it.
I said to my doctor, “Maybe that is what needs to happen.” I said maybe this is just what the church needs in order to force it to get off of its backside and do something. For too long, the church has sat on its laurels, snapping her fingers, telling the larger community what to do. For too long the church has tried to rule over the larger community instead of seeking to be servants of the larger community. We want the larger community to acquiesce to the wishes of the church because, let’s face it, we like to have a hold on that kind of power. The problem is that the harder we seek to hold onto that power, the weaker we become, the more our own actions undermine our existence within the community. But, maybe that is what needs to happen. The Kingdom of God is at stake and if that requires losing everything for the sake of Jesus, even for the church, then that is what has to happen.
You see, the church exists for Jesus, not the other way around. Therefore, everything that we do in the church is for the sake of Jesus, not for the sake of the church, or even for ourselves. That is a hard lesson to learn. But, here is the uncomfortable truth. The more we try to be the church, for the sake of the church, or for ourselves, the more we die. What did Jesus say? “Whoever finds his life will lose it.” So, what do we do? We seek to reclaim our original purpose, to be God’s image bearers in the world, and to shine God’s light into the lives of all we meet. And, it all begins with a cup of cold water.
It begins with a cup of cold water, given for no other reason than to serve the Lord and to serve one of the Lord’s children. The Christian calling has never been about power or control or being in charge or having everything our way. Instead, it has always been about being a servant. Jesus has called us to be servant people and being servant people happens every time we give a cup of cold water to someone else. Now, obviously, giving a cup of cold water will mean different things to different people. For one person, it might mean, jump starting a neighbor’s car when her battery dies. For another, it might mean, taking a friend to her daily radiation treatment. My mom gives out cups of cold water on Saturday mornings. She goes to the PBS station down there in Norfolk and, for two hours, she reads for the blind. She reads the daily paper. She reads from books, and all over the tidewater area, people tune in to hear what they cannot see. Giving out cups of cold water is not complicated. It is simply one act of kindness after another. Giving out cups of cold water happens every time we choose to be a servant rather than to be served.
In the movie Evan Almighty, Evan is a United States Senator who is told by God to build an ark. During the process of building the ark, Evan takes on the persona of the original ark builder, Noah, and becomes convinced that there is going to be a flood of Biblical proportions. Well, the flood that came was not quite Biblical and though Evan did save some animals and a few people, the whole event lacked the grandeur of the original ark story. So, when it is all over, Evan questions God about the purpose of building this ark. And, God replies that solving the problems of the world can happen one ark at a time, A.R.K.—Act of Random Kindness.
In her book, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World, Joan Chittister writes, “We grow into goodness by being good to others.” In other words growing into goodness is a process. With each act of goodness, we take one step closer to being good. Well, the same can be said for being the people God calls us to be. We grow into being the light by simply shining light on others, which we do one cup of cold water at a time.
Two weeks ago, I was preaching on the theme of asking the Lord of the harvest to send us out into the harvest field. In that sermon, I shared a simple prayer, Dear God, you have blessed me with many gifts. Is there somebody that I can help with the gifts that you have given to me? Well, this week, we can take that simple prayer and we can modify it just a little. We can pray, “Lord is there someone to whom I can give a ‘cup of cold water’?”
The Kingdom of God is at stake. Love, and grace, and life for all of God’s creation is at stake. And, if division and losing everything is required then so be it. On the other hand there is the possibility of shining the light of God, of being the servant people whom God has called us to be. And, it all starts with something as simple as giving a cup of cold water to someone else.