“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.”
I’ve puzzled over these words – what sort of axiom is this? Then I realized Jesus was telling his followers before they went out “on mission” that they were the prophets, they were the righteous whom others would be welcoming, or not. By giving people the opportunity to welcome them, they were giving those people a chance to be greatly rewarded.
If we don’t think we’re offering a gift when we share our stories and our prayers with other people, of course we’re going to fear rejection. Many churchgoers are so afraid of “bothering” people who don’t go to church; it doesn’t seem to occur to them that they are withholding from others something that is so precious to them they’re willing to make significant sacrifices for it. That’s all that is asked of us, that we not hide under a bushel the light we feel comes into our life through Christ, that we not keep to ourselves the healing, restoring, transforming love of God we share in our communities.
When we speak God’s message of love and forgiveness and justice, we are acting as prophets – and we give people the opportunity to receive us as prophets, and thus to receive a prophet’s reward themselves (whatever that is...).
Prophets are simply those who convey messages for God. Who has functioned as a prophet for you, reminding you of your belovedness, or calling you to amend your thinking or behavior in some way? Who invited you to consider a relationship with Christ – maybe in words, and maybe just by living with a kind of hope and light and peace that you found compelling? They gave you that gift of welcoming a prophet, and so receiving a prophet’s reward.
For whom may you have functioned as a prophet? In prayer today you might ask God whether God has a message to share through you with someone in particular or a group in general. The message may be given through a conversation or writing a poem or article or blog, or by something you post on Facebook… there are all kinds of ways.
Let’s give people the opportunity to receive a reward by giving them the chance to share in a gift we have been given, without trying to pressure or persuade. That’s not bothering someone; it’s honoring their spirit by sharing your own.
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