This past week, I was in Columbus, Ohio, for the kickoff of this year’s age Age to Age program. As I explained a bit in the Messenger, Age to Age is focused on creating spaces of intergenerational belonging and inclusion, grounded in who we understand God to be. As their mission statement for this year best describes, “Cohort 3 of the Age to Age Initiative exists to resource, educate, train, and accompany faith communities with a focus on disability and neurodiverse inclusion ministries that reflect God’s inclusive vision for the world. By creating and advocating for a nurturing space that supports all people, these faith communities will mirror the notion that if Christ is for all, we can be for all too.”
While the specific focus on the cohort and the project is on making our worship and education spaces more inclusive for kids of all abilities, we know that the work of becoming more welcoming and inclusive impacts the entire community, when we allow ourselves to be changed and shaped by the voices, stories, and experiences of those who have long been excluded or harmed in the church. The reality is that all people are created in the image of God, and our unique embodiments of that reflect the glorious diversity of our God! The more people that are included, the more we come to know about God.
But, as we also addressed this week, intentional welcome can be intimidating and scary for institutions to enact. Sometimes, we don’t want to change because we like to keep things the way they are. Sometimes, we are shaped by our theological upbringing that equates disability with sin, even though Jesus debunks that in the Gospels (John 9: 2-3), because society and our churches have still retained that undercurrent of belief that the person deserves it somehow. This is incredibly harmful language because it implies that someone the person isn’t faithful enough or that God intentionally disabled them for the sake of glorifying God. Make no mistake, people of all abilities radiate the love and image of God, and their unique gifts allow for a variety of expressions of faith, but that does not mean that God required it for God’s own sake. And, one of the most common hesitations about making the space more welcoming is the fear about how much it will cost us, financially and socially.
In this way, our world isn’t that much different from the one into which Jesus is sending his disciples, recognizing that some places will accept them and others will not. We hear this powerful message today, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Matthew 10: 40). Maybe it’s just me, but I have almost always heard today’s Gospel reading read from the perspective of the disciples, as a part of the group that is being sent out. But, I want to flip that today. Given everything I spent the last week talking about, and the fact that a group of us is about to leave to go to the Pride parade, what does it mean to hear this reading from the perspective of the people who are being tasked with deciding what it means to welcome Christ’s followers into their midst and whether they want to do so or not?
When we welcome someone who is made in the image of God and who is capable of sharing the Good News of Christ through their very presence among us, (which hint, hint…can be anyone!) we are welcoming Christ into our midst and are thus in the presence of the divine. Holiness dwells among us through the very gathering of people created in God’s image, bearing the promises of God’s love. Welcome is about an intentional restoration of dignity and humanity to all people, including those who have been made to feel less than throughout their existence, especially in the church. It is about doing the hard work of reconciliation, acknowledging the ways we have intentionally and unintentionally caused harm, whether we had good intentions or not. And, it is about listening; to hear from people what they need, to have them help create and re-create our gathering through their presence, instead of deciding what everyone wants or needs for them, and then wondering why they aren’t more thankful.
At times, we are going to be receptive to this new presence of God among us, while at other times we may be quick to judge based on someone’s appearance or mannerisms. We may be afraid of the ways that our community will change when we fling wide the doors in welcome. That is to be expected; change, any change, can be scary and bring a sense of grief and sadness. But, if we remain rooted in our fear, we will miss out on so much of what God is up to in the world. As Jesus reminds his disciples, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me” (Matthew 10: 40). When we exclude others, not only are they impacted, but we too miss out on all the ways that God’s presence could be moving in our midst.
Our sense of welcome and belonging, then, isn’t grounded in this being our church or our resources. This, dear friends, is Christ’s church. It is not yours, just as it is not mine, but we are entrusted as its stewards for the sake of sharing God’s love in the world. When we view our welcome and belonging from this foundation, we can see how it isn’t ours to limit or withhold. Rather, we are called to an expansive vision in which each person helps us glimpse God just a little bit more fully, as all are created wholly and beloved in the image of God.
Our calling, then, isn’t just to go out and share the Good News with others, assuming that we know everything we possibly could about who God is or what God is up to in our midst. But, our calling also includes being receptive and welcoming to the other ways that God is moving and speaking, even if that is different than what we originally expected or thought we wanted. Because all are made in the image of God, and all have beautiful and unique ways of sharing their experience of the divine with us, if only we can take a moment to slow down and pay attention; to welcome the ways God is working in and through all people, and just might change us for the better too.
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Sunday June 21st, 2026 Worship