Who, really, are the Least? – 2 July 2023

Matthew 10:40–42

The whole of Matthew 10 is taken up with the sending of the disciples. These final verses take up the matter of the reception of the disciples by those to whom they are sent. Jesus tells the disciples that when people receive them in their mission they are actually receiving Jesus himself. In fact, they are receiving the God who sent Jesus to send the disciples. Hospitably receiving the disciples is an act of receiving God.

Jesus uses reward language. Receiving a prophet because one is a prophet is to receive a prophet’s reward. Receiving a person who is truly righteous is to receive a righteous person’s reward.

Then Matthew uses the language of the “little ones.” To give a cup of cold water to a disciple, a “little one,” will also bring a reward to the hospitable one. The bulk of the scholarship on the matter takes “little ones” as a reference to the disciples. –– Richard A. Jensen

Romans 8:12–23

Shall we sin so that grace may abound? Sounds like a good idea to me! If the more we sin, the more we are forgiven, and the more we are forgiven, the more grace we have received, then it seems totally logical to take advantage of God's peculiar math and sin all we want, knowing we will be forgiven. We could do this, you know. If God's grace is as radical as promised at our baptisms, then it is possible to say that we are forgiven the moment we sin—although it usually takes recognizing the sin to recognize the forgiveness.

So suppose we did—sin all we want. Lie rather than tell the truth. Cheat on our relationships. Steal from our friends, family, and places of work (and I don't just mean bringing pens and sticky notes home). Suppose we stopped worrying about whether our business or our investments actually hurt people in other countries or had a negative effect on the environment because—well, we'll be forgiven anyway.

God's forgiveness and grace are holy and precious. They are the only things that can heal relationships, fix broken hearts, and turn something bad into something good. Without forgiveness, we would all carry around the burden of shame, knowing we had hurt someone and would never be able to do anything about it. Without grace, we would be weighed down by guilt, aware at all times of the ways we have let people down, and defining ourselves by all the ways we have been less than we are. We could do this, but why would we want to? If a child drew us a picture, would we rip it up and throw it away? If a friend spent all day making us a cake, would we throw it on the ground and stomp on it? If our parents saved up all their money to send us away to college, would we act as though we did not know them when they came to visit us? We could, but why would we want to? –– Daphne Burt

Jeremiah 28:5–9

Jeremiah’s message was unwelcome amid Judah’s nationalistic fervor. Hananiah, perhaps an official court prophet, declares that God will break the power of Babylon and restore the fortunes of Judah. Jeremiah wishes that such a hopeful message were from God, but recalls how true prophets never announced peace. –– Aaron Couch

Richard A. Jensen is a retired professor of homiletics emeritus at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Daphne L. Burt, an ELCA pastor, has served in church and college settings as pastor or chaplain in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia, Illinois, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. She has a Dmin from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.

Aaron Couch is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 38, no. 7 (2005): 39–49.