Welcoming All

Gospel: Matthew 10: 34- 11: 1

People who use religion for political purposes love to use today's Gospel portion as a cudgel in order to cajole people into their political camps.  Both the culture warrior and social justice warrior reduce Jesus to a political figure for their own agendas, just as the Pharisees and Herodians sought to do to Jesus in their day.  It is from these camps that the authentic disciple will find opposition and derision.  

Both political camps have as their foundation the notion of self-interest, an idea utterly foreign to the Gospel. "He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself to nought for me discovers who he is."  It is clear in context that we bring ourselves to nought for Jesus when we welcome others because we see him in them. When we see Christ present in every person without distinction and welcome them, we will find ourselves at odds with those in religion who use it for political intent.  

Jesus calls us to welcome every person because all are created in God's image, all are another Christ, all are temples of the Holy Spirit.  The political warriors only see Christ in themselves and seek only the ruin of the other.  The follower of Jesus seeks to care for all without discrimination or distinction, leading to being hated by those who would limit Christ only to themselves and their own tribe.