Sunday, June 28, 2026

Matthew 10:40-42  

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, 42 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.”   

Do you remember flash mobs?  

They were everywhere for a while — a lone dancer in a train station, then another, then suddenly dozens — and there's always that moment when it registers on a bystander's face: this is all connected. Something coordinated and beautiful is unfolding right in front of them, and they almost missed it.  

That's the moment Jesus is pointing to in this passage.  

Jesus tells his disciples that as they go out sharing the Gospel, there is a "reward" waiting for them. But the reward isn't what we might expect. It's not status or safety or even success. The reward is the revelation — the flash mob moment — of realizing that the kingdom of God is breaking into the world through ordinary acts. A cup of cold water, offered in his name. Simple. Unassuming. And somehow, charged with something larger than itself.  

Our lives can feel flat sometimes. Disconnected. We wonder where God is or whether what we're doing matters. But Jesus seems to suggest that it's precisely in the small moments where God is most at work — in the compassion we show a hurting friend, in the neighbor who opens their home to someone with nowhere to go, in the quiet generosity toward causes that reflect what we believe.  

These aren't just nice things. They are moments of revelation. Signs that God is up to something in our midst.  

This is part of what worship is for. Each week we gather and mark these moments — in the waters of baptism, in the bread and cup of communion, in the reading and preaching of the Word. These are the places where God's space and our space overlap, where we're reminded that the kingdom isn't far off. It's here. It's moving. And we're already part of it.  

So where have you seen it lately? Where has the kingdom been revealed to you?  

– Pr. Jason

God, give me the eyes to see your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.