Waterpeople – a free Lectionary Sermon

Matthew 10:40-42(Year A, Pentecost 5)

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The Third Monday in April

Every year on the third Monday in April, a relatively obscure Massachusetts holiday quietly rolls around. It’s called Patriots’ Day, commemorating the battles of Lexington and Concord — the opening shots of the Revolutionary War. Not a lot of people outside of New England pay it much attention.

But a lot of people pay attention to what happens on that same third Monday: the Boston Marathon.

Started in 1897 with just 18 contestants, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest full marathon — and one of the most famous. It draws competitors from every corner of the globe. This past April, over 32,000 runners lined up in Hopkinton to take on the legendary 26.2-mile challenge.

Now back when I lived in Massachusetts, I used to do the Boston Marathon every year on that third Monday in April.

I didn’t run it. I got in my car and drove the 26.2 miles.

And I want to tell you — that is exhausting. In Massachusetts.

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Heartbreak Hill

The Boston Marathon is considered one of the most difficult marathon courses in the world. Beginning in the quiet town of Hopkinton, the race winds through eight communities before reaching the finish line at Copley Square in Boston.

But the last six miles are where races are won and lost. This is where already-exhausted runners — their muscle glycogen stores nearly depleted — enter the Newton Highlands and face a series of four hills culminating in the infamous Heartbreak Hill. Many a Boston Marathon has been decided right there.

And it’s there, at that most grueling stretch of the course, that spectators get most deeply involved. They line the roadside and cheer, of course — but there on Heartbreak Hill, where lungs are burning and legs are cramping and quitting feels like a perfectly reasonable life choice, hundreds of people hold out little cups of water for the runners. And those small cups of cold water give people just enough of a boost to crest the hill and begin the last downhill dash into the city.

It’s amazing what a cup of water can do.

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Jesus Knew About Heartbreak Hill

Jesus talked quite a bit about cups of water. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d think Jesus must’ve run the Boston Marathon at one time or another — because he certainly knows a thing or two about Heartbreak Hill.

Heartbreak Hill is that place in life where you don’t know if you can go on. Where you are utterly exhausted. Confused. Hurting. Discouraged. Your Heartbreak Hill might be the road you find yourself on after the death of a loved one. Or the loss of a job. Or a serious medical diagnosis. Or a family crisis that seems to have no good ending. Or the grip of depression that just won’t let go. Or simply trying to accomplish something good and meaningful, and making no progress at all.

We all have our Heartbreak Hills.

Some of us have several going at once.

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Your Turn

The 10th chapter of Matthew’s gospel is about Jesus sending his disciples out into the world to minister to others. Up to this point, they’ve mostly been observers — watching Jesus heal, help, and bring good news to people. But now Jesus says, essentially: “It’s your turn. You’ve watched me do this long enough. Jump out of the nest and learn to fly.”

Christianity, it turns out, is not a spectator sport.

You can’t join a church the way you join an organization — settle into your seat, pay your dues, and watch the professionals handle things. Following Jesus means jumping into the ministry yourself. And so Jesus takes some time to brief his disciples on what to expect “out there.” He tells them the truth: it won’t be easy. It will take hard work and sacrifice. Some of the people you reach out to will not welcome you. Others will betray and abuse you. There will be days when you feel completely discouraged and you’ll want to give up.

Heartbreak Hill, in other words.

But then, at the very end of his instructions, Jesus tells them something wonderful.

“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.”

Jesus isn’t necessarily talking about children when he says “little ones.” He’s talking about these newly commissioned disciples — bright-eyed, a bit nervous, headed out into a complicated world. He’s talking about you and me and all of us amateurs who take up the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And what he’s saying is essentially this: as you go and serve God in my name, encountering all the challenges and heartbreak that come with it, there will be people along the roadway handing you a cup of cold water.

I call them waterpeople.

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Waterpeople Along the Way

I’ve been to Heartbreak Hill many times in the course of my ministry.

Not long ago, we had four memorial services in four days here at our church. That’s the thing about death and grief — it doesn’t wait until you have a clear calendar. These services fell around a weekend, stacking up alongside everything else that was already going on. By Sunday evening, we were spent.

And then, up there on Heartbreak Hill, someone handed us a cup of water. It was a card I found on my desk. It had nothing to do with the services — it was about something else entirely. But it was exactly what we needed.

“To the Tellico Village Community Church,

I learned first-hand that our Community Church is definitely Christian! After surgery on my ankle, I had an emergency need for a wheelchair. My friend J.E. stepped up and arranged for me to borrow your church’s wheelchair. J.E.’s husband declared that using your wheelchair made this little Catholic girl “half Protestant.” I thank him for that honor — I have certainly witnessed your Christianity. Thanks so much!”

After reading that note, our spirits were refreshed. We were reenergized for the work of the Gospel. That little card was a cup of cold water, handed to some thirsty disciples on Heartbreak Hill.

A few years ago, one of our members was climbing her own Heartbreak Hill. After a courageous battle with cancer, her dear husband passed away. All during his illness and in the months after his death, she was remarkable — still showing up, still leading her handbell choirs, still offering beautiful music to the rest of us. I don’t know how she did it. If you didn’t know what was happening in her life, you’d never have known by the way she served. She was handing out cups of water even while knowing the thirst of heartbreak herself.

And many of you handed cups back to her. One of the most meaningful was when her handbell ringers commissioned a piece of music in her husband’s memory and played it at his memorial service.

A cup of cold water, offered to one of Jesus’ little ones — right there on Heartbreak Hill.

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Heartbreak Hill Has a Name for a Reason

You may not know how Heartbreak Hill got its name. There’s a great story behind it.

At the 1936 Boston Marathon, Ellison “Tarzan” Brown was leading the race as it entered the Newton Highlands stretch. That’s when defending champion Johnny Kelley put on a burst of speed, caught up to Tarzan Brown, and — in what he apparently intended as a sporting gesture — gave Brown a friendly pat on the back as he passed him.

Well.

Losing the lead was one thing. But being patted on the back like that?

That gesture ignited something in Tarzan Brown. He took off after Kelley like a man with something to prove, caught him midway up that final hill, passed him, and went on to win the 1936 Boston Marathon. The next day, Boston Globe reporter Jerry Nason described the scene as having “broken Johnny Kelley’s heart.”

And that is how Heartbreak Hill got its name. From a pat on the back.

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A Cup of Cold Water for Others

You’ve had this experience, too — the experience of being reached out to as you climbed your own Heartbreak Hill. A card arrives at just the right moment. The phone rings and it’s exactly the right person. A friend shows up without being asked. A church family prays for you. Someone hands you a scholarship letter, or a handwritten note, or just says the right thing on the right day.

These are all expressions of the love of Christ for you and me — gifts from heaven, delivered by someone standing along the roadside.

And if we have received such cups of water, we must learn to hand them out, too. Cups of water come in all shapes and sizes:

A smile. A compliment. An encouraging word. A hand on the shoulder. A text that says, “I’m thinking of you.”

You know how we Christians got our name?

When the followers of Jesus went out into the world offering cups of cold water to thirsty people, others watched and thought: “They are just like Jesus.”

That’s what the word “Christian” means. Just like Jesus.

Go this week and celebrate the waterpeople who show up for you on the hills.

And hand a cup of cold water to someone who really needs it.

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Based on Matthew 10:40–42

RELATED SERMON: “Night Questions”