A reflection for Sunday 2nd July 2023 Trinity IV by the Rev'd David Warnes
“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.”
A cup of cold water. It seems such a small thing, though whether it is a small thing depends on the context. The saying reminded me of the generosity of Sir Philip Sidney, the English poet, courtier and soldier who was fatally wounded when fighting against the Spanish in the Netherlands during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. His close friend and biographer Fulke Greville described what happened next. Sidney was bleeding badly and was very thirsty. He asked for a drink and a water bottle was brought to him. Just as he was about to drink from it, he noticed a badly wounded soldier lying close by. He passed the water bottle to him and said:
“Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.”
Philip Sidney was a devout Christian with a deep knowledge of the Bible. His death some days after that act of generosity interrupted a poetic project to which I’ll return later.
Today’s Gospel is a small part of a lengthy passage in which Jesus commissions his disciples to go out on a mission. He has warned them that they will experience rejection and persecution, he has said that they may be alienated from their families, but he has also reminded them that their Heavenly Father will be with them, telling them in the verses on which Russell reflected last Sunday that God has counted the very hairs of their head, in other words God loves them and knows them better than they know themselves. In today’s passage he strikes another encouraging note. Some people will welcome the disciples, and they will be rewarded because in welcoming the disciples they will have welcomed Jesus and welcomed the one who sent Jesus – God the Father.
And then comes a very important teaching about the nature of discipleship. Jesus tells his followers that they are called to a threefold ministry. They are called to be prophets, to challenge injustice and to call people to follow the way of God. They are called to be righteous ones, to walk the walk as well as talking the talk, to show people that they are practising what they preach; that they are following the way of God.
At that point, the disciples were probably wondering what was coming next. In the Hebrew Bible, when things come in threes, the third item is always the most important. They were all too human. They may have expected a word or phrase which would confer an even higher status on them. Instead, they hear that as well as being prophets and being righteous, they are also called to be “little ones”.
“And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones…”
You may be representing me and representing God, Jesus tells them, you may be called to be prophets and exemplars of the righteous life, but don’t let it go to your heads. You are also called to be “little ones”. Your vulnerability, your needs, your dependence on others is vital to the success of your mission. Your calling is to receive welcome and to offer welcome.
On Thursday the church celebrated the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. At this time of year, known as Petertide, many men and women are ordained as Deacons and as Priests. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of Dean’s ordination to the priesthood, of his taking up of that threefold calling to prophetic witness, righteousness of life and to the vulnerability and costly availability of being one of God’s “little ones”, receiving and offering welcome, accepting the weight of other people’s sorrows and the burdens of administration.
In those thirty years he has touched the lives of thousands of people for the good, in Maidenhead where he served as curate, in Lockerbie and Annan, in Dalmahoy, as Mission Adviser in this Diocese, as Provincial Mission and Stewardship Coordinator, as Team Priest at the Cathedral and as Rector of the Good Shepherd since 2009. I know that you will all want to join me in offering congratulations and thanks for his ministry, for his friendship and kindness and for his generous self-giving.
In bestowing a cup of water on a wounded soldier, Sir Philip Sidney showed a self-giving love which was Christ-like and therefore priestly. His death some days later, just short of his thirty-second birthday, cut short a poetic project on which he had been working with his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke. This was a translation of the Psalms into rhyming verse. They had got as far as Psalm 43 when Sidney was sent to the Netherlands. Almost the last verse that he wrote was this:
To God's altars tho’
I will boldly go,
Shaking off all sadness;
To that God that is
God of all my blisse,
God of all my gladness.
The priesthood is a great privilege, and at the heart of that privilege is the ministry of the altar, the place where heaven and earth come close and where Christ’s priestly self-giving draws us into his welcome. On this the anniversary of his priesting, we wish Dean continuing joy and gladness in his ministry.