A sermon about Christ whom others see living in us, and the acts of justice that comes after that.

Romans 6: 12-23                                                                                                         Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Matthew 10: 40-42                                                                                                                             June 28, 2026

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

Prayer: O God, of Jesus Christ and our God, please open our inner spirit to your Spirit, so that you may live in us and others may see you in us. Amen.

As I was preparing these remarks, I began thinking that next Saturday is our nation’s 250^th birthday!  And of course, I will be offering a message more germane to that topic next Sunday, but I thought of America’s history a little, and how our nation was strengthened years ago when America put out the welcome mat to the world. Ours was the land of opportunity, and everyone who wanted freedom from oppression and kingly tyranny was welcome here. Anyone who was tired or poor or homeless, anyone yearning to live in freedom and liberty, all were welcome here in our nation.

The famous words from Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The Colossus” on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty say, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Dramatic, right? Talk about words of welcome! Back in the late 1880’s up to the 1950’s, millions of immigrants were welcomed to the USA at Ellis Island and several other places in the name of our country. They got the reward of becoming part of our nation and living a life in freedom. 

 And anyone doing the welcoming—call them customs officials, or immigration officers, or even family members already here—they were like the representatives of our entire nation and its values. These welcomers were alongside the newbies, and they embodied the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They were like the equivalent of our nation’s founders two and a half centuries ago living out the dream of this experiment in democracy.

Something like that equivalency happens in our spiritual lives, I think. Call it spiritual equivalency. Let me explain. Like Paul says, each of us can choose to live our lives dominated by sin and reckless living (which leads to a spiritual death, by the way, just sayin’), or dominated by Christ’s Spirit living in us.  The risen Christ has the authority to impart his living spirit into each of us which leads to life. The fancy theological word for that is ‘sanctification.’

Being sanctified doesn’t mean we are sinless. No one is. Nor does it mean that I can sin as much as I want because I know God will forgive me.  No.  It means that I am so dominated by Christ’s living Spirit in me that I get changed fundamentally on the inside and transformed into someone who lives like Christ. Who embodies love like Christ. And I am more interested in living faithfully, like Christ.

So, when we are sanctified, we have Christ’s spirit dominating our lives, it’s like the equivalent of embodying Jesus himself, standing for what he believes in, living by the values he preaches, participating in his love, his mission and ministry in the church and the world.

This past week I was with my family—all 20 of us, 12 adults and 8 grandkids, all under age 6! Whee-o! We celebrated all kinds of things – Father’s Day, birthdays. And one night, I made a toast to our anniversary couple and our newly engaged couple. And at the end, I toasted our family. I said that “While I know that not all of us are religious (meaning that maybe 6 of the adults go to church), I think all of us are spiritual in that we know and feel the love we have for each other as family. So here’s to our family and the love we share.” And we raised our glasses. And I feel like the love we share is the equivalent of embodying Jesus himself. And we can see Christ in each other. Whether we’re practicing religious people or not.

So, with Christ within, Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me.” Meaning that it’s a three for one deal. Whoever welcomes and receives you into relationship, that person simultaneously welcomes Christ because Christ is in you, the strongest influence in your life.  At the same time God is welcomed, too, because God is Christ, and God is love. So, when someone welcomes you, they get Christ and God and the Holy Spirit, all rolled into the one and only you!

You remember the saying that “You might just be the only Bible someone reads?” Well, I think that a derivative of that saying applies here: “You might just be the only Christ that someone may ever know.” 

And even though we live in a world where the words on the Statue of Liberty seem to go on deaf ears, where the welcome mat is mostly withdrawn, where deportation seems more likely than immigration these days, where empathy and compassion are considered as weak and are often replaced by violence and war mongering, where hatred for other races and religions is fostered within our leadership and consequently our people, where marginalized people are not accepted and laws are designed to cut them out of basic rights, where uniformity is more valued than unity, where difference and tolerance are an anathema…where dividing lines and barriers separate us…

Again, this past week, the place we were at in the Poconos had a pond. I could go fishing. But halfway around the pond there were eight signs six feet apart, like a fence going down the bank away from the pond making a straight line dividing the pond in half. The signs said, “No trespassing.” “Private property.” “Do not cross this line.” And a Confederate flag was seen flying on the property on the other side. Obviously, there was contentious past! I threw my fishing line over to the other side of the pond anyway!

Even though we live in this kind of a world, I still have hope…  

I have hope because of all of you. Because when you do even the smallest act of restorative justice, like a giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty child, you are embodying Jesus himself. You are the spiritual equivalency of Christ. When we welcome anyone into our church, we are showing Christ in us, and very likely we can see Christ in that person. When we welcome new members into our church we are adding on to the base of participants in Christ’s mission and ministry., When we support and participate in the variety of social justice and outreach organizations in our area, we are showing our spiritual equivalency. When we don’t let a racist remark, or a misogynist remark slide by without pushback, that is living by the values Jesus teaches.



When we act in Christ’s name because he lives in us, even when we act in his name to dismantle the horribly unjust, non-Christ-like actions and legislations done in his name, we are participating in Christ’s love, mission and ministry.

Such actions give me hope because little by little, when we welcome each other, and welcome Christ, the world will gradually change, and the reward will be felt by all. All will be included. Thanks be to God! Amen.