A Cold Cup of Water
Reflection by Lauren Hodgson on June 26, 2011
at St. John’s Sunshine Coast United Church
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“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” What a beautiful image of hospitality offered to us by Matthew in today’s Gospel reading. Here, we find Jesus’ instructions to his first disciples – go out and share the Good News of God’s love, and receive and offer welcome and hospitality along the way; and while this passage illustrates the writer recounting Jesus’ message, it also allows the writer to speak to his own community of early church disciples. And consequently, it shares this message with communities of disciples throughout time, including us here today.
Go out and be welcomed, because whoever welcomes you welcomes God.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think that this passage was specifically chosen for our worship service here at St. John’s today. My entire internship experience over the past year has been defined by hospitality. After the overwhelming welcome that I received here at St. John’s in the fall, I traveled across the globe, and was immersed into an entirely new culture and place: Kenya. And again, day after day, week after week, I was welcomed… into people’s homes, into their places of work, welcomed to become involved with projects, welcomed into schools, children’s homes… and most importantly, I was welcomed into people’s lives.
“whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
I arrived in Kenya very late on a Saturday night in January. I will never forget when I first laid my eyes on this magical country; driving from the airport with my supervisor, Tim, and his three children, Marlene, Carla, and JJ. It was after 10pm by the time we arrived at Tim’s family’s home, where Preska, his wife was waiting for us, with a big, amazing dinner on the table. I was in absolute disbelief that this entire family had waited all night to have dinner; waited until late in the night when their guest arrived, just so we could all eat together. So, at 11pm, we sat at their kitchen table eating a traditional Kenyan meal, and I experienced my first of what would become daily offers of incredible hospitality in Kenya.
So, as some of you know, I was in Kenya working with one of our United Church partners, the Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children. KAACR for short – a somewhat unfortunate acronym, in my opinion! KAACR is a policy-focused NGO that is the umbrella of all organizations in Kenya’s children’s sector. They partner with various agencies on the ground, but are also involved in discussions with government bodies to advocate for change in children’s rights within Kenya’s highest governing bodies. For example, during Kenya’s recent writing of their new constitution, KAACR was a player that sat around the constitutional writing table, advocating for children’s rights to be included within the new constitution. And as a result, children’s rights are now there, clearly outlined.
KAACR also initiated a program called ‘child rights clubs,’ which helps primary and secondary schools throughout the country start these clubs (like a school would have a football club, it might also have a child rights club), where children gather and learn about their rights, and discuss the specific issues that affect them within their context. One of the great joys of my time in Kenya was that I was able to meet with child rights clubs across the country, and speak with them about the ways that they engage in their communities and the issues that are most pertinent to their lives. As I met with clubs across the country, I began to observe how, while education is a consistent issue affecting children throughout the country, the other issues that affect children on one side of the country are often quite different from the other side of the country…
Another part of my role was having the opportunity to visit children’s homes, sit in on government meetings, plan children’s events, and meet with youth groups and other community-based organizations whose work is related to the child rights movement. I was especially moved when I met with youth groups, by the fact that many of these organization’s leaders had started out involved with KAACR’s child rights movement; through the impact that KAACR had on their lives as children, they have gone on to create lasting ripples of change throughout their communities and the entire country.
Now, I invite us to travel back in time together for a moment, to Sunday September 26, 2010, the first Sunday I preached here at St. John’s. That day, I opened my sermon with the story of being at a concert in Malkin Bowl, and being struck by the number of people who watched the entire concert through the little screens on their digital cameras. Do you remember?
I invited to think about this as an image of how we sometimes hold so tightly onto the future that we lose the ability to actually be present in the moment. Like all those people .
It’s amazing how context changes things, though, isn’t it? I can hear the voice of one of my Emmanuel profs in my head saying, “context, context, context… context is EVERYTHING!” Because in this moment, informed by a new context, I have a different relationship with that little camera screen. And consequently, want to offer us a different lens today.
In Malkin Bowl back in September, I, at times, became the person behind my camera screen while in Kenya. And now, I am incredibly grateful for the preserved memories, allowing me to re-visit this entirely transformative time in my life. The photos and videos that are a result of me being behind that little camera screen allow me to continue to honour the lives of the new friends I made, the joyous and difficult realities of day-to-day life, and the many life-giving and heartbreaking stories to which I witnessed and shared. And they help me to share the stories.
Now, don’t get me wrong, some memories I am very happy to let go of and forget as quickly as possible – like the time I took a seven hour overnight bus trip from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, to Mombasa, on the coast, for a colleagues’s wedding. I woke up a number of times throughout the journey, looked out the window into the pitch black night, and seeing absolutely no other vehicles, or even roads for that matter, anywhere, I realized the bus driver had diverted us off into the middle of nowhere and was picking his own route. In that moment, all the horror stories that I had heard before I left came rushing through my mind, convinced I would never make it to Mombasa.
Or there was the time I sat in the back of a truck driving with some colleagues into Tanzania. I had absolutely no idea where we were going, I was feeling totally queasy from Kenya’s windy roads and reckless driving, and I didn’t understand a word of the Swahili that was being spoken around me. Suddenly, a woman I had never seen before hopped into the back seat next to me. She looked at me and smiled. I thought to myself, “who is this woman? Where are we going? HOW have I gotten myself into this chaos and confusion?!”
But even then, these experiences are part of what made my time in Kenya. And even if they aren’t the most comforting memories, they happened.
And so, just as it is in the Bible, with faith, and throughout life… Through a complex reality of tensions and juxtapositions, God invites us to enter into the in-between places, to honour the fragments as part of a bigger whole. Through these varied experiences, God invites us to live into even fuller versions of ourselves.
And that was the case for my entire time in Kenya. Through generous hospitality, an outpouring of life and authenticity, I was able to fully live into a place of tension: an in-between place of, in the very same moment, being more filled with joy and life than I have ever before, and also broken by overwhelming heartbreak and sadness. And because it’s really difficult to communicate this place to anyone else who wasn’t there with me, throughout each of my varied experiences, I am very grateful for the ability to capture, even just a tiny little bit, some of that in-between place that I feel in my heart… whether it’s photos, or short video clips, I am able to just for a second be transported back and submersed into something that is virtually impossible to describe with words.
“and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
“Little ones” comes from a Greek word, which is typically used in the Bible to refer to children. However, in this case, the writer uses this same word to describe the disciples. The fact that this word can be used for both children and disciples feels perfectly fitting, as children offered me some of the most incredible hospitality and discipleship I received while in Kenya.
One of my most poignant memories from my entire time in Kenya is when I spent three days living at a children’s home in an area known as Machakos, about an hour outside of Nairobi. The children at this home whole-heartedly embraced me as one of their own from the moment I arrived. Entire days were spent running around together, playing tag, singing songs, dancing and laughing. One afternoon, when we had all exhausted ourselves from the running around and sillyness, one of the children plopped herself down in the grass. And before I knew it, the rest of us had joined her, sitting in a circle. The mood of the group very quickly changed, as some of the children began to tell me about how they had come to live at this home. One of the girls, openly told me about how both of her parents had been killed in Kenya’s post-election violence in 2008. After, she had moved in with an aunt and uncle, and experienced severe neglect, as well as physical and sexual abuse, while there. As I sat there, bearing witness to this young girl’s story, I could not even imagine all that she had experienced already, in her short six years of life.
And then, in an instant, the mood changed, as one of the other girls gave me the chance to share a little bit about myself, which turned into a guessing game to try and figure out my age. They started at 18 and were more and more surprised, which turned into horror, as the numbers increased up and up… twenty-three… twenty-four, twenty-five… their faces changed from smiles and laughter, to complete shock. When finally they got it right and arrived at twenty-seven, one of the girls quickly turned to me and shouted, “do you have four children?!” Because, within their context, a twenty-seven year old woman would typically have at least four children!
Have you ever had an experience where a particular quote, or saying is repeatedly offered to you over a short period of time? When that gem speaks so clearly to your lived reality within any particular context? Since I arrived back from Kenya, five people, on five different occasions have shared with me the same quote, after hearing about some of my experiences. So, I offer to you now these beautiful words by Frederick Buechner: "The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work that you need most to do and that the world most needs to have done....The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
So, I invite you to take these few stories of hospitality that I have shared today, and think about hospitality in your own life…. Both offered and received. May we not just think about the cup of cold water, but most importantly, HOW we offer the cup of cold water – how we participate in ministries of hospitality. Recognizing the importance of offering one another food, or a place to sleep, or helping to build a school for children in need…. But also recognizing that hospitality means being in relationship and asking the big questions about why hunger and homelessness and oppression exist. Taking a step back to examine the powers in place that reinforce systems of oppression… And because there is no role for spectators in this radical vision of hospitality offered through the Gospel of Matthew, we cannot HELP but act.
So friends, hold that cup of cold water out in front of you, take a gulp, allowing the living water to nourish you and enliven the places where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. And then, let us reach out and offer the cup around…
Because… “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
Amen.
A New Kind of Community in Old Town Vancouver
A word about First United Church Mission which has been
proudly serving the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood for 125 years.
By anybody’s standards the mission statement and objectives of First United Church Mission are laudatory. The services provided to those less fortunate than we lift their spirits to a level that enables them to face the tomorrow’s which often hold little hope. Hope is all they have but it is diminishing for many we serve and the numbers joining the ranks needing our help increase daily. Conditions on the street are not improving.
Breakfasts, midmorning coffee, lunches, day programs, community support programs, shower facilities, paralegal advocacy, assistance in meeting government agency demands, etc. all take time and money. Much of it comes from caring folk like you and for that we are, and more importantly, our clients are truly thankful.
Many of you make tax-deductable contributions on a regular basis through our pre-authorized donation system which allows automated monthly deductions from your bank account pr charges to your Visa or Mastercard. Some make welcomed ad-hoc donations. Others make it a regular alternative to buying gifts for those who have everything. Instead of another necktie, scarf or retail gift certificate a donation is made to First United Church in the name of the gift recipient.
Of significant importance are the funds received from those who remember First United in their wills. The more creative have even purchased life insurance policies naming First United as the beneficiary.
Some like the hands on satisfaction of volunteering their time to assist with our programs and regularly help at the Church on a weekly or monthly schedule.
Thanks to all of you. Without your financial and time commitment we would be unable to continue our mission. We encourage all to maintain your generosity and humbly request that you increase your donations if possible.
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Sharing Our Facilities
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Several community groups share the building extending our ministry further into the community:
- Prostate Cancer Support and Awareness Group
- Alzheimer’s Support Group
- La Leche League
- Threshold Choir
- Spinners and Weaver’s Guild
- Yoga with Sara
- Yoga with Carol
- Weight Watchers
- Canadian Federation of University Women
- A variety of concerts and workshop
Enquiries concerning the availability of space can be arranged through the church office.
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Beyond Our Walls
The ministry of our church family extends beyond our church walls
into involvement with a number of community organizations:
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And to live in a good way I need to balance this relationship. Stark example of this....Sechelt people lost land. It was stolen. And I now live 3 generations later on that land. This was never solved in my eyes or I suspect the eyes of the Sechelt nation. Furthermore, I believe that there are governmental policies and social institutions in place that disenfranchised indigenous peoples here. For example...there are boil water advisories on reserves that have been in place for over 13 years. This is a case of environmental racism. There’s over-representation of indigenous people in prison. And just recently I’ve heard that the Sechelt nations' life expectancy is around 45. Often these harsh realities are attributed to the dysfunction of individuals. Stereotypes out there.....Drunk Indians, lazy, need to just get on with it. Move on! But I see these and many other people are seeing these issues are the direct result of colonization. Colonization isn’t an event that happened in the past, it’s a process and this process is alive and well today. “Post colonial Canada”...one person said “post colonial??? Did they leave? 
