For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward

 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

- Mark 9:30-41

In yesterday's reading, we read that when Jesus came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."

  Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  My study bible tells us, "The disciples were afraid to ask Him, perhaps because they were aware of their own dullness and had become sensitive to His rebukes; or perhaps because they did not want to face the fact of His coming death."

Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  Repeatedly, the Gospels let us know that Jesus always seems to know what is going on with His disciples.  My study bible says, "While Jesus is revealing His future suffering and death, the disciples are discussing personal ambitions, having possibly misunderstood Jesus' earlier words about His second and glorious coming (8:38) and the power of the Kingdom (v. 1).  They miss the point of suffering and discipleship.  For they have performed many miracles and have exercised great power, and now they are tempted by pride and desire for position.  So serious is this issue that the remainder of this chapter is cast against its backdrop."  We notice how He gives the disciples a chance to tell Him what they were disputing, to answer His question, although He is already aware of what they were talking about.

.And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."   Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  My study bible says, "The passion for position must be displaced by a decision to be last, to serve all people.  Beyond even humility, service is active care and love for others."    There are several things we can notice here.  The first one is the immediate human response of the disciples to His words about coming into His Kingdom.  The first thing they think about is position, who will be the greatest!  They aren't really paying attention to His words (especially about His suffering, death, and Resurrection); in fact, they can't understand them at all.  The second thing we must ask ourselves is that surely Jesus, the knower of hearts, was aware of this possible response.  But we notice that He has waited until this problem raised itself from among them to begin to address it.  In all ways, He's a consummate teacher, and full of patience and care.  But now that the issue has arisen, it becomes a keystone of His teachings.  "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Jesus not only teaches them the meaning of humility within His Church, His community, but the importance of the littlest to Him.  They are to invoke not only Him in their minds, but even the One who sent Him, the Father.

Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side."  My study bible says, "This discussion is the aftermath of the argument as to who would be the greatest.  Sectarianism and triumphalism (the attitude that one creed is superior to all others) are forbidden, for God's working transcends our limited perceptions.  One is either for or against Christ, but it is not always ours to know who is on which side." 

"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My  name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."  Here is the logical reciprocal understanding of what He has just taught them about receiving little children in His name.  It is the same for those who would welcome them, giving them so much as a cup of water in His name, because they belong to Him.  Christ's presence is fully with and in those who love Him.  All of us in this community would do well to remember that.

Christ's teachings on hospitality (for lack of a better word) really must hit home to each of us.  All along through this Gospel, we have seen Him repeatedly expressing His compassion for others.  Through all kinds of healings, He has done so.  Through two feedings in the wilderness (of five thousand and then four thousand, among both Jews and Gentiles), He has expressed His gracious love, His presence with us.  But here, a turning point has happened.  He's not only expressed His future suffering and death, but the disciples have begun a kind of jockeying for position, having misunderstood His words about His death and Resurrection.  The turning point here in His teaching is now about their behavior as a part of His Church, His community.  Humility and service are the bywords, but there is more to it.  There is the action of grace that must be present in them.  They are to receive even the little children in His name as if they were receiving not only Himself, but even the One (the Father) who sent Him.  This is a tremendous teaching that tells us what He expects of us.  This is not a worldly kind of power and position, not to be a "lording it over others," but a community in which love and gracious behavior are the bywords.  And the same is true for themselves:  those who would give even a cup of water in His name, because they are His, shall not lose their reward.  This sets us in a very different place than the notion of worldly power and position and hierarchy.  It sets us in a place where love is the hallmark of power and greatness, where hospitality is the most important virtue, where truth lies in our willingness to understand the power in kindness, compassion, sympathy.  There have been many, many words spent on the praise of these virtues, in praise of kindness and true good manners of gracious behavior.  But we often forget that we don't know when we'll be called upon to extend this behavior beyond our normal ways of thinking about social relationships.  I've had people of many different denominations report going to a strange church out of town and no one comes to speak to them, a stranger.  I've been in churches where a social hour means friends only speak to those of their particular social circle, or family or extended kin and other relations.  I believe that kindness extends far beyond our usual barriers and the ways in which socially we think it makes sense to include others, because so often we're doing the same things the disciples do:  we're jockeying for position.  Sometimes it's as if there is a kind of disease we fear we may catch from holding company with those that aren't as impressive socially to the rest of the group.  Christ's concern here is with the least of these:  that we see the Father's presence there, and that we understand also His love for us at the same time, making those who extend kindness to us worthy of the respect God's blessing would confer, so that, in all ways, we are to take nothing for granted.  He waits for this moment to tell them about the value of relationships, the value of each person, and what we are capable of truly recognizing among ourselves if love and true understanding play their part.  No one is advocating here an encounter of great risk, or a community of toxic or harmful or abusive individuals.  But Christ's call is to love and respect, with a healthy respect also for what we carry when we follow His word in these commandments.  To judge who ultimately belongs to Him and who doesn't is not our call.  But to be truly great is to be like Him, to "follow Him."