Matthew 10:40-42; June 28, 2026; Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Truly I tell you, none of us will lose our reward if we just:
- Welcome strangers and believers.
- Welcome prophets and righteous persons.
- And give a cup of cold water to little ones.
On first reading, that last verse seems a bit out of place, doesn’t it? Not like the others. It’s so specific, it just stands out from the rest. Give a cup of cold water to little children and we’ll be okay.
Okay?
One commentary I read says it simply means that: “even a minimal act of kindness will not go unacknowledged and unrewarded.”
Which makes sense.
But honestly, giving and sharing our water (or anything, really) is no minimal act at all. At least, not back in Biblical times and certainly not right now in our times, where so many seem to be content hoarding everything.
I just got back from a trip out to the southwest. To New Mexico and Colorado. But mostly to Ghost Ranch, this magnificent 21,000-acre retreat center owned by the PC (USA). If you follow my mostly inactive accounts on Instagram, perhaps you’ve seen some pictures. It was a great time. Inspiring, soul-giving, awesome.
However, one inconvenient truth was there in the background the whole time. There was no water. The Rio Grande was completely dried up, at least from the parts we saw. 84% of New Mexico is in severe to extreme drought and their governor has declared emergency orders.
Moreover, the guy who helped teach Anya and Seth how to ride horses (no way I was getting on one of those things, what with my back issues and princess-level aversion to discomfort) explained that even making hay was a problem due to the lack of water and the restrictions on its use. They were bringing in their hay from out of state; which in turn was killing their margins; which in turn could mean that Ghost Ranch might have to start selling off some of their steed.
The problems are like dominoes. One starts falling and the rest go with it.
Have you ever wondered how these ancient civilizations are like unearthed in the sand regions, imagining how people ever lived out there in the first place? Well, in a nightmare scenario you can see several of these cities out west suffering the same fate. Ghost towns abandoned and buried in a second dust bowl.
Water is life, and without it, there’s not much of it. So, how do we protect it, and share it, so that everyone has access to it?
And more, how do we do that in times of drought, in days of scarcity, in this age of data centers (don’t even get me started); and, when according to Yale University, 90% of drinking water in this country contains some amount of forever-chemicals.
As we all know, PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances… They are man-made chemicals created around the time of World War II, and according to Yale, there are 14,000 different compounds of them.
They are often called ‘forever chemicals’ because they are highly resistant to breakdown. As a result, they persist in the environment for decades or longer—in water, soil, and even living organisms. And they are linked to early onset cancers in young people (in all people) and are likely responsible for low birth weight and accelerated puberty, not to mention obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, colitis, and neurodegenerative issues in children.
Remember our verse from today?
“Give a cup of cold water to little ones.” Yes, cold… but better yet, how about clean?
The Bread of Life offers Living Water to all. But Jesus, I have to imagine, also wants pure drinkable water, indeed the source of all life, made available to all. Especially children.
Remember how the list began in our text and how sort of place that verse seemed at first? But that it was mentioned at all emphasizes just how important this issue was to Jesus. To Matthew. And more, just how important it should be for all of us as Christ’s disciples too.
For you see, Jesus was actually pro-life. Like, really pro-life. Not just pro-birth; pro-procreation, or whatever. He wanted all people, especially children after their birth, to have access to water, to pure water, to his water, to life.
Sometimes we lose sight that children were not only loved by Jesus but also protected by him. Not because they were these cute, funny, innocent little creatures like ours are here today. But because they were dirty, thirsty, and often thought of as annoying and inconsequential in general.
How do I know this? Well, when the Biblical Archaeological Society has an article archived on their website titled: “Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People?” chances are kids were not so highly regarded.
Yes, kids back then experienced a tough, tough life, my friends.
According to a couple of books that I had the displeasure to recently read (“Death and Disease in Ancient Israel” and “The Social History of Palestine in the Herodian Period”), infant mortality rates were around 30%. 30%! And of those who were fortunate to live beyond infancy, 33% were dead by the age of 6. By 16, 60% were estimated to have died.
Can you imagine? Makes you think that Jesus making it to 33 puts him in some privileged old-age company.
In the Old Testament, we have examples of child sacrifice; and in the New we see teens being wed to older men (Mary, anyone?). And according to our own Greg Mauer, who once told us this in Bible Study: “children had no legal rights to speak of. In general, they stayed at home with their mothers until the sons were old enough to work and the daughters were old enough to marry. They had nothing and were often regarded as nothing.”
Yes. times back then were rough, my friends. Especially for children.
So, give a cup of water to these little ones? Well, that verse makes a heck of a lot more sense, now, doesn’t it?
Friends, we are about to sing a hymn with lyrics that go: “God of great and God of small, God of one and God of all; God of weak and God of strong, God to whom all things belong, alleluia, praise be to your name.”
And I think those words are worth remembering and repeating today: For our God of the small, and God of the weak, sent Jesus to be Lord and Ruler of us all. To be One not like the others. To be One who always stood out from the rest.
For though he came from everything, he was born from nothing. He was mocked and died as nothing. And yet, he rose again as the everything we might ever need! Offering living water to all like him, so that even those from little would inherit the reward of the eternal.
Amen?
And perhaps greatest of all, he said there were no barriers to the eternal and no requirements for it, such that we all could obtain it! That is, if we just did this: sell everything that possesses us (these party politics and ideas) that stop us from giving to others. From sharing it with them. From welcoming them:
- Strangers and believers.
- Prophets and righteous persons.
- Widows and orphans.
Disadvantaged children who need us, our attention and our love, who are just looking for some water to help sustain them.
Amen.
