A Cup of Cold Water

Matthew 10:40-42 (NRSV) 40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 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, 42 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.” Picture The language of “rewards” in the biblical text can sometimes cause apprehension. Too often we associate it with our American Prosperity Gospel which tells us God has big blessings in store for us, that the greater our faith, the more material success and wealth we will see in our lives. Since our consumerist culture puts the individual at the center and reduces people to commodities where worth is based on assets and possessions owned, this Marcion-like faith is highly seductive. Yet, it only ingrains our habitual cycles of greed and spiritually impoverishes us. It is not that God is ambivalent to our embodied needs or disinterested in our comforts, but the reality is, as my supervisor Derrick Weston has said, that in God’s economy any rewards are always more relational in nature. If we look at Israel’s trek through the wilderness in Exodus, for instance, they are learning how to become God’s people precisely by practicing cessation of labor and limitations rather than excess; the manna economy is one which starkly contrasts the Egyptian economy. The truth of our creatureliness, the interdependence on one another and on creation was honored. Rest for creatures and creation was intentionally practiced and resources were shared so there could be potential for more harmonious living. Throughout Scripture God is the One who continually challenges our too small vision of the world so we may participate in the transformational and redemptive work which always includes the whole. Key to these three verses in Matthew though is the designation of prophets. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel talks about how prophets are “highly disturbed individuals.” Anyone who has read the prophets might laugh at the ironic language of reward if it is equated to a modern conception, because the prophets were ostracized, exiled, and killed. You do not want to be a prophet, the one who tells the truth about the moral state of the people, who says that few are guilty, but all are responsible, who delivers judgments of God’s wrath (which is only ever a wrath against injustice and for the purposes of restoration). The ceaseless shattering of indifference is the primary task of the prophet, and that is never something encouraged among a comfortable, gluttonous people. Today in the Anthropocene, the undertaking of the prophet will still include no fringe benefits. The message that our rhythms of production and consumption mean that land, water, plants, livestock, and people are being abused will be resisted for the purposes of convenience and indulgence. Yet, the truth remains that we are failing to give the time or affection to properly nurture the gift of creation. We must cling to the promise of the prophet which has always been the same: a promise of presence, of Immanuel, God with us. Picture We look for the divine in so many of the wrong places. I am often looking too high and too far. But in Christ we are set free to be fully human and fully alive. We are no longer captive to the idols in our midst but practitioners of shalom, of boundary-crossing, transcendent peace. We learn to be where our feet are, welcoming and caring for others in a way which brings the Kingdom near and heals creation. And where God is, nothing goes unnoticed. It is why Jesus says that even giving a cup of cold water to a little one is something that will be rewarded. But how can we obey this simple task when human agency is polluting our waters? Where droughts have become so common? This command might hold even more significance to us in our modern age with our particular disregard for abundant and clean water. We must remember that God is not somewhere up in the clouds, but the one providing manna in the wilderness, calling prophets to critique and restore our socio-political institutions, shifting our eyes to the ones without water. Our promised rewards might be better understood as our spiritual well-being, which is tied up in our communities, which is never privatized for the few. It is similar to the promise of Immanuel. Cold cups of water may initially seem meager, but I hear it as a profound call to action for our water crisis, and we might be surprised to discover everything we have been searching for in such a provision. ​​ This command might hold even more significance to us in our modern age with our particular disregard for abundant and clean water. We must remember that God is not somewhere up in the clouds, but the one providing manna in the wilderness, calling prophets to critique and restore our socio-political institutions, shifting our eyes to the ones without water.