Cup of Cold Water United Methodist Church

Scripture — Mark 9:30-37 (NRSV)

Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Devotion

A long time ago when I was a pre-teen my family was involved in a church plant. One of my fond memories of the early days of the church plant was that we were a small enough group that we found it easy to go on all-church retreats at the United Methodist campground nearby, staying in just a few cabins and enjoying camp activities together. One of our core values as a church was intergenerationality: children were to be included in all church activities rather than being segregated into children’s ministries. This meant that when we had important business to discuss, the adults would gather around and sit on their folding chairs and talk, but the kids would also be in the room, playing, reading, and simply existing. We weren’t required to speak, but neither were we forbidden from speaking.

So, at one of these retreats, I remember that our leadership had decided that it was time to choose a name for the church. (Nowadays these things are probably decided by focus groups long before churches launch, but in our case, we had simply been using the name “The United Methodist Fellowship of [Town].”) All suggestions were welcome—even from the kids. Which is how I remember someone suggesting the name “Cup of Cold Water United Methodist Church” (from Mark 9:41, “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”) That wasn’t the name we chose in the end, but it was a name that arose from our intergenerational discussion because it was a very real part of who we were and who we wanted to be.

I thought of this story when I read this passage for two reasons. One is that the “cup of water” verse immediately follows this passage, and so they are connected in my brain. Jesus spends the latter half of Mark 9 describing what the kingdom will look like. It will be a kingdom where no one will seek preferment and where followers will have childlike faith (Mark 9:30-37); where all of those trying to follow the Way will be welcomed even if they aren’t part of the “in” group (9:38-41); where children will be honored (9:42); and where sin will be dealt with so that it does not keep disciples from the mission (9:43-50).

The harshness of 9:43-50, if you happen to go read it (it’s the passage about cutting your hand off if it causes you to sin), is still connected to the much more welcoming aspect of Mark 9:30-4—through the very concern that started this whole discourse off in 9:34; the disciples fighting over who was the greatest. Whenever _that _spirit rises up, Jesus says, we need to turn away from it in the strongest way possible and turn towards the least of those among us.

And the second reason I thought of the Cup of Cold Water United Methodist Church story is because I was a child who was welcomed in Jesus’s name. I was one of the least of these, and people loved me because Jesus said so.

Go thou and do likewise.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: An Unexpected Truth About Becoming Great.