Welcome shining stars and silvery moon. Welcome, blue skies and cloudy days. Welcome tall trees and tiny bulbs. Welcome people young and old. Welcome learned and wise. Welcome curious and learning. Welcome: God calls us to come. Welcome to this service of worship, I am Nicky Gilbert, I am a non-stipendiary area minister in the Wessex synod. I am based in, on, and around Hayling Island and Portsmouth.
Hymn We Are Not Alone
Brian Wren (born 1936) © 1989 Stainer & Bell Ltd OneLicence No. # A-734713
Sung by members of First Unitarian Church, Baltimore
We are not our own.
Earth forms us,
human leaves on
nature’s growing vine,
fruit of many generations,
seeds of life divine.
2 We are not alone.
Earth names us:
past and present,
peoples near and far,
family and friends and strangers
show us who we are.
3 Therefore let us
make thanksgiving,
and with justice,
willing and aware,
give to earth, and all things living,
liturgies of care.
4 Let us be a house
of welcome,
living stone
upholding living stone,
gladly showing all our neighbours
we are not our own!
Opening Prayer
Creator God, You called the universe into being,
You set our earth in its perfect zone.
You sang life in all its wonderous beauty into existence.
Giving us you own breath, and you call us to worship you.
Help us to lay down all that would stop our ears to hear your voice,
or halt our hearts from knowing your love.
Forgive us when the best person we could be is so far away.
Give us the courage to try again.
And assure us of a new beginning in your love.
We are far apart, but, time and distance are different to you,
unite us in our prayers as we say together the prayer that Jesus taught.
Our Father ….
Reading Psalm 89: 1-4, 15-18
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”
“I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn to My servant David:
‘Your seed I will establish forever,
And build up your throne to all generations.’…
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favour our horn is exalted.
For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Reading St Matthew 10: 40-42
Jesus said: “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Hymn Tell Out My Soul
Timothy Dudley-Smith (1926-2024) from Luke 1: 46-55 © administered by Oxford University Press OneLicence No. # A-734713
Performed by Ruth and Joy Everingham and used with their kind permission.
Tell out, my soul,
the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings,
give my spirit voice;
tender to me
the promise of his word;
in God my Saviour
shall my heart rejoice.
2 Tell out, my soul,
the greatness of his Name!
Make known his might,
the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure,
from age to age the same;
his holy Name, the Lord,
the Mighty One.
3 Tell out, my soul,
the greatness of his might!
Powers and dominions
lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn
wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed,
the humble lifted high.
4 Tell out, my soul,
the glories of his word!
Firm is his promise,
and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul,
the greatness of the Lord
to children’s children
and for evermore!
‘Just a boy’
I watched them go into the synagogue week after week. Heard their singing, even learnt some of their songs.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Sometime one of them would toss me a small coin, making a big show of it. But they never invited me to join them.
They sing about the faithfulness of Yahweh to each generation, yet I am too young for them to notice. They talk of God’s mercy yet, if I get in the way I am shoved aside. Just a boy, not their boy.
They make their money and a comfortable life in God’s blessing, but don’t extend his blessing to my sort. Clean hands are important they say, I never have clean hands, I do what work I can and its seldom clean work. The water from the water seller is expensive enough to get a drink, never mind wash.
I tried to use the ‘communal’ water jugs outside the temple once, but the looks they gave…I didn’t dare go again. I work hard, I eat when I can, I learn when the opportunity comes my way. The Temple and the synagogue are not, it seems, for people like me…Then I heard about this new teacher, he sat on the grass, not like those others…He was eye to eye with people, telling stories, making awful jokes, laughing like he was enjoying the company of the ordinary folk.
He let me sit with him too, gave me bread and fish. I felt welcome. Forgot about my dirty hands. Someone shared their lunch with me, gave me water from their own flask, fresh and cool. Saw me and asked what I thought. Well, I think that if the kingdom of God is run by people like this it will be a much nicer place than those other rabbis would make. Will the kingdom of God really have room for me? I think Jesus must have heard my thoughts, he said
“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
And…
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
And then I understood, he saw the dirt on my hands and the hunger in my eyes, but he also saw beyond that, to my heart, how hard I try, how much love I have, the prayers that I pray, he accepted my small steps towards God, and came rushing to meet me. Now I can sing the ancient words too.
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
I am recording this in the dark and cold of January. Even in my south coast spot it is minus 2 overnight. Cold water does not seem particularly appealing! By the time you hear this, summer should be underway, the evenings light and the cold of winter a distant dream. And maybe some nice cool water would sound refreshing.
This chapter of Matthew begins with Jesus sending out his disciples with no spare anything, unlike people like myself, who carry a hot drink, a cold drink, a prop, a PowerPoint and my computer, a spare scarf, a change of shoes and some cough sweets.
The disciple are, therefore, dependant on the kindness of the people they are with and the towns are depended on for giving hospitality to the disciples. It seems reasonable then to think that one of the things Jesus is saying when he talks about welcome and provision, is the care taken of his disciples. Being itinerant, I get to experience different levels of welcome from churches. From the dubius looking dusty glass of water on the pulpit, to the generous making of tea after my journey. From the people who didn’t want me to take my grandchildren again because they were a handful (they were!) to the elder who solemnly shook the hand of my grandson’s soft toy saying ‘welcome fluffy cat!’
It doesn’t really matter the kind of welcome I get, but it raises questions about what kind of welcome others get if the preacher is not made particularly at home.
The chapter then goes on to detail a chaotic social structure, of parents turning against children and wolves masquerading as sheep. Not a good advert for the good old days…
In our own time we have our share of problems. If I were able to ask you questions about our future, and hear your reply I might ask;
- if Gaza has been given the opportunity to begin healing,
- if Ukraine is free,
- if Covid has stopped its rounds
- and maybe, how orange is Trump!!?
People have an endless capacity to make a mess of things.
Whatever the outcome of these questions, whatever is top of the national worry list for you now, I can reasonably expect that there are still people in our world who are not being made welcome, and that for some the joy of religious freedom and welcome the Psalmist sings of is out of reach.
I can also bet with some certainty that there are still those who could do with a cup of cold water. Cold water, by nature in a walm climate is not water that has been hanging about, it is fresh from a well, water that would have cost money from a water seller, or the effort of drawing it from a well. Infant mortality due to not having fresh water is far too high even in our times. We rejoice in every step towards the goal of universal clean water.
30 years ago, 6 out of ten people had no clean water now it is one in four, still don’t have proper access to good water supplies. Still, too many and you would hope that in the 2000 since Jesus’s suggestion to give water we could have moved further on this. However, between 2014 – 2024, 961 million people gained access to a good water supply. The effort of so many people of good will make a big difference.
When our readings were written they were a long time and place away from the world as we know it. Yet the joy at entering the temple and religious freedom and the need for cold water have changed little over those thousands of years.
For thousands of years there have been people who live without safety or welcome, in whole countries, in places of worship, or even in their own homes. For thousands of years there have been people who cannot access they very basics of life, clean water for example.
We can rejoice that for thousands of years good people have been welcoming and giving fresh water because that is the right thing to do. The psalmist’s longing for a land safe to bring their children into and the need for fresh water resonate across out world still.
The needs of our world so often seem over whelming. I remember my younger days when a friend accused me of wanting to save the world by lunch time… these days I struggle to make lunch by lunch time! But here is Jesus, in difficult times, suggesting that he can spot a righteous person, not by grand deeds, or big plans, but by simple acts of human kindness.
Studies have shown that kindness is good for both the subject and object of the act. It reduces cortisol and calms stressed nerves. We are after all made in God’s image and kindness is so much part of him that it makes sense that we are built and designed to show kindness. So, if you feel that you wish you could save the world by lunchtime and feel like you fall short all the time, you are in good company. If you feel like the fabric of society is fraying at the seams, so it was then.
But now, as then if you can find small ways of making a difference for the good, acts as small as a cup of cold water in the right place, or a warm word of welcome to those who feel outside, then you are in the company of those who, for all those thousands of years have done the same. Kindness is in our DNA, we show our true nature in all these little kindnesses. If you feel like you can’t make a difference, ask the 961 million people who in the last ten years now have clean water.
Hymn Will You Let Me Be Your Servant?
Richard A M Gillard (born 1953) © 1977 Scripture in Song/Maranatha! Music/Universal Music/Small Stone Media BV, Holland (Admin in the UK/Eire by Song Solutions Daybreak www.songsolutions.org ) OneLicence No. # A-734713 Sung by Becky from Highland Baptist Church, Kitchener, California
Will you let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant, too.
2 We are pilgrims
on a journey,
we are trav’lers on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
3 I will hold
the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
4 I will weep
when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this
journey through.
5 When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.
6 Will you let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace
to let you be my servant, too.
Prayers for the world.
Creator God, you made our world and set it in the liquid water zone. Without water there would be, no sea, no fish, no plants, no life. You have shown your care for our planet long before we could understand.
Be with us now and hear our prayers.
We bring to you those who struggle to take clean water and food to those who need it. Give them strength to carry on.
We pray for those who’s daily struggle is to find the necessities of life and who find it difficult to provide for their children.
We pray for those in our world who can not express their love for you in freedom, by whatever name they call you.
We think of the people who we know do not always receive the kind of welcome you would want them to have. We ask that we find ways to make them welcome.
We pray that our churches become places of welcome, showing your kindness.
And we pray for ourselves. You know the times when we have not had the things we needed and you know when we have not felt welcome.
Help us to be true to your teaching and give what welcome we can and share what we can and give hope when we can. In Jesus name, Amen.
Offering Prayer
We give in so many ways; from welcoming the newcomer to offering the simple things of hospitality. We give listening ears and shoulders to cry on. We give of our time, our talents, and our treasure. We give to those we love, to charities and good causes we value and, of course, to the Church – sometimes on the plate, sometimes with those wonderful Gift Aid declarations, and sometimes directly to the bank. However we give – through money, through doing things, through simply offering our time, we do as acts of generosity to give back to God something of what has been given to us. So let’s give thanks for the gifts that have been given.
With grateful hearts and cheerful hands, we offer our gifts, time and money and welcome. Use them, and us to build your kingdom. Amen.
Hymn Praise To The Lord, The Almighty The King of Creation.
Joachim Neander (1650-1680), Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878)
Public Domain Accapelridge Music
the almighty,
the King of creation;
O my soul, praise him,
for his is thy health and salvation:
all ye who hear,
now to His Temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
2 Praise to the Lord,
who o’er all things so
wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings,
yea, so gently sustaineth:
hast thou not seen
all that is needful hath been
granted in what he ordaineth?
3 Praise to the Lord,
who doth prosper thy work,
and defend thee;
surely his goodness
and mercy here daily attend thee;
ponder anew
what the almighty can do,
if with His love He befriend thee.
4 Praise to the Lord!
O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath come now with praises before him!
Let the Amen
sound from his people again:
gladly for aye
we adore him.
Blessing
So may the blessing of God
who made water and set our planet in the liquid water zone,
the blessing of Jesus
who gave food and shared drink,
and the blessing of the Holy Spirit
who welcomes us all,
be with those you love and pray for,
now and forever, Amen.