MATTHEW 10:40-42 | THE CHRISTHAGOREAM THEOREM

THE CHRISTHAGOREAM THEOREM

MATTHEW 10:40-42

JULY 2, 2017

IF WE ARE TO BELIEVE THE FOLKS OVER AT ANCESTRY.COM, AND NOW, ANCESTRY. DNA, WE ARE, MANY OF US, INTERESTED IN FIGURING OUT EXACTLY WHO WE ARE, AND WHERE WE CAME FROM.

I’VE NEVER EXPLORED EITHER, VERY FAR, BUT PERHAPS YOU HAVE, DOING A GENEALOGY OF YOUR FAMILY; OR MAYBE GETTING YOUR DNA TESTED TO IDENTIFY YOUR PARTICULAR ETHNIC MAKE-UP.

I’M GUESSING, IF YOU HAVE, THE RESULTS HAVE PROBABLY BEEN LESS SURPRISING THAN THOSE TOUTED IN THEIR COMMERCIALS;

LIKE THE GUY WHO GOES FROM WEARING A KILT AND ATTENDING SCOTTISH FESTIVALS, TO WEARING LEDERHOSEN AND GOING TO GERMAN FESTIVALS, ONCE HE HAD HIS DNA TESTED AND FOUND OUT HE WASN’T WHO HE THOUGHT HE WAS;

OR THE WOMAN WHO FINDS OUT THAT GEORGE WASHINGTON IS PART OF HER FAMILY TREE (WOULD THAT BE A CHERRY TREE? – I KNOW, BAD JOKE!)

EITHER WAY, WITH THE COST OF DNA TESTING COMING WAY DOWN, AND WITH THE MARVEL OF INTERNET RECORD KEEPING AND WORLDWIDE ACCESS TO RECORDS, IT’S BECOME EASIER THAN EVER TO DISCOVER ONE’S ETHNIC ORIGINS AND ANCESTRY.

TODAY, BESIDES BEING THE WEEKEND LEADING UP TO THE FOURTH OF JULY, IT IS ALSO IMMIGRATION SUNDAY IN THE PCUSA;

AND BEFORE ANYBODY GETS THEMSELVES ALL TIED UP IN KNOTS…

I’LL NOT BE ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF BUILDING WALLS, OR SANCTUARY CITIES, OR TRAVEL BANS FROM CERTAIN COUNTRIES;

NOR WILL I BE TALKING ABOUT IF IT’S ACCEPTABLE TO USE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO DO THE WORK OF I.C.E. (IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ENFORCEMENT);

OR WHETHER THE CITY OF KEY WEST SHOULD DEFINE AND DEFEND ITSELF AS A SANCTUARY CITY.

IT’S NOT THAT THESE AREN’T IMPORTANT MATTERS, THEY ARE, FOR US AS CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND AS PEOPLE OF FAITH, BUT THOSE ARE CONVERSATIONS FOR ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE;

AND THEY ARE CONVERSATIONS, NOT SOMETHING ON WHICH I SHOULD BE OFFERING A UNILATERAL MESSAGE FROM THE PULPIT, TO WHAT AMOUNTS TO A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, WITHOUT YOUR ABILITY TO RESPOND IN KIND.

SO, I’M GOING TO RESTRAIN MYSELF, AND STICK TO THE SUBJECT OF WHAT MAKES US – US; HOW WE ARE ALL CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD;

AND WHY IT IS, THAT FIGURING OUT WHO WE ARE, MIGHT JUST INFORM US ABOUT WHO OTHERS ARE;

AND, IN DOING THOSE TWO THINGS, WHY, PERHAPS, WE ARE MORE ALIKE THAN DIFFERENT;

AND WHY WE MIGHT WANT TO BE MORE WELCOMING OF OTHERS, IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, THAN IN OPPOSING ONE ANOTHER.

TO DO THIS, LET ME POINT US TO TWO DIFFERENT, YET COMPLIMENTARY PASSAGES – ONE FROM SCRIPTURE, WHICH WE READ A MOMENT AGO;

AND THE OTHER, FROM THE WORDS INSCRIBED ON THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WHERE IT STANDS ON BEDLOE’S ISLAND IN NEW YORK HARBOR.

WORDS, LIKELY, FAMILIAR TO US ALL:

GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR,

YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BE FREE,

THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE.

SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, TEMPEST-TOSSED, TO ME;

I LIFT MY TORCH BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR.

IT MAY NOT BE GREAT POETRY, AND MANY A CYNICAL WORD COULD BE SPOKEN ABOUT HOW THE GOLDEN DOOR THAT THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY LIGHTS WITH HER TORCH, TURNED OUT FOR MANY TO BE THE DOOR TO A WRETCHEDNESS GREATER THAN THAT THEY LEFT…

OR WE COULD ARGUE ABOUT LEGAL IMMIGRATION VERSUS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS WE SAID WE WON’T TALK ABOUT HERE THIS MORNING, AND SO, WE WON’T!

THAT’S NOT MY POINT, ANYWAY.

MY POINT IS, THAT THE REASON THE WORDS ON THE STATUE OF LIBERTY STILL HAVE POWER, IS BECAUSE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, THEY ARE WORDS ABOUT US.

WHETHER WE ARE RICH OR POOR, WHETHER OUR ANCESTORS SAILED IN ON THE MAYFLOWER, OR WERE THOSE WAITING ON SHORE TO GREET THEM WHEN THEY ARRIVED;

OR IF OURS CAME IN A SLAVE SHIP FROM AFRICA, OR ARRIVED ON A 21^ST CENTURY JET AIRLINER;

THOSE HUDDLED MASSES ARE A PART OF WHO WE ARE, BOTH AS INDIVIDUALS, AND AS A PEOPLE.

THEY ARE OUR FATHERS AND MOTHERS.  THEY ARE OUR COMMON PAST.  THEY ARE OUR PRESENT LIFE, AND OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT.

THEY ARE OUR BANKER AND BAGBOY; OUR CO-WORKERS AND FIELD WORKERS; OUR WAIT-STAFF AND MEDICAL STAFF.

THEY ARE US AND WE ARE THEM – AND WE’VE GOT THE DNA TO PROVE IT!

IN COUNTLESS WAYS, BOTH HIDDEN AND NOT SO HIDDEN, IT’S YOU AND I WHO ARE THE HOMELESS AND TEMPEST-TOSSED, WAITING ON OUR OWN ELLIS ISLANDS FOR THE GREAT PROMISE OF A NEW WORLD, A NEW LIFE, WHICH WE HAVEN’T YET FOUND.

WE ARE THE ONES WHO YEARN TO BREATHE FREE!

AND TO READ THE STORY OF OUR IMMIGRANT FOREBEARS AS IT IS SUMMARIZED ON THE BASE OF THE OLD STATUE IS TO READ OUR OWN STORY;

AND MAYBE IT’S ONLY WHEN WE SEE THAT IT IS OUR OWN STORY THAT WE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND IT, OR OURSELVES, OR OTHERS.

AS PROMISED, THERE’S ANOTHER PASSAGE FOR THIS MORNING; IT’S WHAT WE READ A FEW MINUTES AGO FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW;

IT IS A FORMULA, OF SORTS; A THEOREM; POSTULATED BY CHRIST HIMSELF.

AS I HAVE CONFESSED TO YOU IN THE PAST, MATHEMATICS WAS NEVER MY BEST SUBJECT, SO WHO KNOWS WHY I’VE SLATED SERMONS FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS USING ARITHMETIC LANGUAGE.

FOR THIS MORNING I’VE MADE UP A NEW WORD, AND A NEW THEOREM TO GO ALONG WITH IT.  I CALL IT THE CHRISTHAGOREAM THEOREM.

A THEOREM, YOU WILL REMEMBER, IS “A GENERAL PROPOSITION NOT SELF-EVIDENT, BUT PROVED BY A CHAIN OF REASONING; A TRUTH ESTABLISHED BY MEANS OF ACCEPTED TRUTHS.”

THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM, FOR INSTANCE, STATES THAT THE SQUARE OF THE HYPOTENUSE (THE SIDE OPPOSITE THE RIGHT ANGLE) IS EQUAL TO THE SUM OF THE SQUARES OF THE OTHER TWO SIDES OR: A SQUARED +  B SQUARED = C SQUARED.

WELL, THE CHRISTHAGOREAN THEOREM AS IT APPEARS IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW THIS MORNING SAYS THIS:

“WHOEVER WELCOMES YOU WELCOMES ME, AND WHOEVER WELCOMES ME WELCOMES THE ONE WHO SENT ME.”

OR, WELCOME YOU = WELCOME ME = WELCOME GOD.

THERE’S MORE HERE, ABOUT GIVING AND RECEIVING, AND REWARDS, BUT WILL LEAVE IT AT THAT FOR NOW.

THE CONTEXT OF THIS PASSAGE, YOU MAY RECALL, IS JESUS SENDING HIS DISCIPLES OUT ON THEIR OWN FOR THE FIRST TIME, INTO THE SURROUNDING TOWNS AND VILLAGES, TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THE GOSPEL; AND ABOUT THE LOVE, GRACE, MERCY, AND PEACE OF GOD.

BASICALLY, JESUS SAYS, JUST AS GOD HAS SENT HIM, NOW HE IS SENDING THEM; AND WHOEVER WELCOMES THEM, WELCOMES HIM, AND WHOEVER WELCOMES HIM, WELCOMES GOD…

WITH THE INFERENCE BEING – WELCOMING HIM INTO THEIR HEARTS, THEIR HOMES, THEIR LIVES.

AND IN THIS, THERE IS THE PROMISE OF REWARD FOR BOTH THE GIVER AND THE RECEIVER.

(BY THE WAY, IMMEDIATELY AFTER WHERE WE STOPPED READING IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW FOR THIS MORNING, THERE’S ALSO A WORD OF WARNING FOR THOSE WHO DON’T WELCOME GOD’S WORD INTO HEART OR HOME OR LIFE…

AND INSTRUCTIONS TO THE DISCIPLES TO QUICKLY “WIPE OFF THE DUST OF THAT TOWN, THOSE PLACES, THOSE PEOPLE, FROM THEIR FEET, AND MOVE ON TO OTHERS.)

SO, IN BOTH OUR PASSAGES FOR THIS MORNING, THAT FROM THE BASE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, AND THAT FROM THE WORD OF GOD IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, THE OPERATIVE WORD IS “WELCOME.”

AND IN BOTH PASSAGES, THOSE BEING WELCOMED, AND THOSE DOING THE WELCOMING, ARE STRANGERS TO ONE ANOTHER.

STRANGERS WITH GOOD NEWS, HIGH HOPES, DREAMS OF A BETTER LIFE, AND A GREATER DESTINY.

AND THE STRANGERS, AND THE WELCOME-ERS, ARE US!

YOU AND ME.  US AND THEM.  WE AND THEY.

OUR STORIES ARE THEIR STORIES, AND VICE VERSA.  WE SHARE A COMMON DNA.  WE SHARE AN INTERTWINING FOREST OF FAMILY TREES.

THE ISSUES OF IMMIGRATION AND WELCOMING THE STRANGER;

OF BEING A NATION OF LAWS AND BORDERS, YET AN IMMIGRANT NATION AT HEART, FROM OUR BEGINNING TO TODAY, IS COMPLICATED.

IT DESERVES THOUGHTFUL DISCOURSE AND DECISION MAKING;

NOT, RANCOR AND RHETORIC FUELED BY OUR PREJUDICES AND INSECURITIES; OUR FEAR OF OTHERS; OR A MINDSET OF US AGAINST THE WORLD.

COMPLICATED ISSUES DESERVE COMPLICATED SOLUTIONS; WORKABLE SOLUTIONS;

SOLUTIONS THAT STRIKE AT THE CORE OF WHO WE ARE AS A NATION; AS A PEOPLE; AS FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS;

AND FOR US, AS BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST.

HOWEVER COMPLICATED IT IS, IT ALSO ALL BOILS DOWN TO SOMETHING RATHER SIMPLE, WHICH IS WHY I BELIEVE JESUS SAID IT SO SIMPLY, SO PLAINLY:

“AND WHOEVER GIVES EVEN A CUP OF COLD WATER TO ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES… TRULY, I TELL YOU, NONE OF THESE WILL LOSE THEIR REWARD.”

IT IS THE CHRISTHAGOREAN THEOREM.

“WHOEVER WELCOMES YOU WELCOMES ME, AND WHOEVER WELCOMES ME, WELCOMES THE ONE WHO SENT ME.”

IT’S A CHRISTIAN PROPOSITION “NOT SELF-EVIDENT, BUT PROVED BY A CHAIN OF REASONING; A TRUTH ESTABLISHED BY MEANS OF ACCEPTED TRUTHS.”

OR MAYBE, MAYBE, THESE TRUTHS ARE SELF-EVIDENT, AS IN THE WORDS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:

“WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT:

THAT ALL ARE CREATED EQUAL;

 THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS;

 THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.”

THESE WORDS COME NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND WE KNOW THEM WELL, BUT DO YOU REMEMBER THE WORDS AT THE END OF THAT DOCUMENT?

“AND FOR THE SUPPORT OF THIS DECLARATION,

WITH A FIRM RELIANCE ON THE PROTECTION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE,

WE MUTUALLY PLEDGE TO EACH OTHER

OUR LIVES, OUR FORTUNES, AND OUR SACRED HONOR.”

I WISH YOU AND YOURS A HAPPY 4^TH OF JULY;

AND MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA…

AND EVERY KINDRED, EVERY TRIBE, ON THIS TERRESTRIAL BALL.