Welcome One Such Child

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. Mark 9:30-41

The disciples were arguing over who would be the greatest, and Jesus, in his wisdom, picked up a small child and told them to be great they must welcome the littlest, messiest, wiggliest and different among them. We live in a time when shutting out different seems acceptable. Jesus would have none of it, as he had none of it then. It is not the polished, the in-crowd nor the wealthy whom Jesus welcomed but instead, he gathered up the weak, the ignored and the messiest. If we are to be followers of Jesus, let us do likewise.

Loving Creator, source of genuine welcome

you made the world round with plenty of room

so that languages and expressions can flourish

and people of all sorts are loved and thrive.

We humans like our boundaries and walls

we think ourselves special and better than

when in fact we are the not the greatest

but those who need to welcome the least.

Lord, give us the strength to embrace the other

make us always ready to welcome the stranger

help us be your followers as we gather up those

who need your love and protection in these days. Amen.