Episode 3: It Don't Cost Very Much
Greetings Friends and welcome to episode 3 of the Fish Sandwich Heaven podcast. I’m your host Candace Simpson.
At the chopping board:
I can reimagine what it means to do the right thing. I can recalibrate my efforts for justice in ways that accommodate the presence of a virus. There are ways to be useful to the Movement that are in line with my gifts. There is space for everyone to show up and grow into grander versions of ourselves. We may not all do the same thing, but each of us must do something.
Our fish sandwich:
Matthew 10: 40-42 NRSV
40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever 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; 42and 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.”
It Don’t Cost Very Much
If you have ever given water to a child after they come inside from a long day of playing outside, you know how special water is.
They may have been playing tag, or hide and seek, or double dutch. And they come inside, smelling like outside, dirty and sweaty. And after they wash their hands, they stand in the kitchen and they chug that water down, and they do the thing all kids do.
“AHHHHH.”
And in that AHH is every word of gratitude they can’t share with their actual mouths.
That AHH translates to “thanks for the refreshing drink,”
It’s something small, but it matters.
I’m not sure if Jesus is talking about children, or someone else. Because “little ones” can mean, quite literally, children. It can also mean, the youngest, OR the smallest in number. It can also mean the lowest in rank or smallest in influence. And Jesus was concerned about the people who were the little ones.
And in this homophobic and transphobic world, I got to give a shout out to The Kids. The Girls/Gworls. The Bois/Boys. The Babes. The Honeys. The Boos. The little ones. Wassup Y’all?
If you let certain folks tell it, there’s a gay agenda. But the facts remain. Even though we live in a world with Laverne Coxes, Lena Waithes, Billy Porters, and Janelle Monaes, the AVERAGE lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual (or otherwise non-cishet) person has numerous struggles.
It comes from family. Friends. Schools. Churches. Legislation. The workplace. The street. If you are visibly (or even rumored) to be one of the “little ones, you could lose a lot.” If you are exploring yourself, and who you are, and what you desire, know this. There is no pressure to “come out” and make yourself a spectacle. Take your time [as you are able]. Those of us who are out here, whatever that means, have a responsibility to make this world safer so that a. “Coming out” is not traumatic and b. it’s not necessary in the first place.
Cis people never have to come out, and neither do straight people. That’s the problem!
[Addendum not in the audio podcast: For many, “coming out” is not a choice. People are outed because the dominant cishet narrative is obsessed with labeling and categorizing The Other, all to issue consequences.]
I wonder what Jesus was trying to argue here. This passage comes in a long teaching sermon. Jesus is trying to get the disciples to understand what their call is. The tenth chapter of Matthew is also where Jesus commissions the twelve disciples (or at least, that’s what the text tells us, I’m not convinced there aren’t other people, namely women, involved, but that’s another story).
The unspoken question that I imagine the disciples have is -- How can I be of use? Here, Jesus has the disciples gathered around. And he’s giving them their assignments. Earlier, he “gives them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and sickness.” And he continues to tell the disciples how they should move as his chosen family. “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Give without payment.” And he goes on talking about the humble way that the disciples should move about the world. He warns the disciples that what they’re getting ready to do is indeed a threat to the present administration. In this Chapter, Jesus gives the disciples a warning.
He says, “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of the wolves.”
Don’t trust everyone. Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t go live at the action. Don’t repost photos of protestors without blurring their image. If they apprehend you, be careful of what you say. Anything you say can and will be used against you. The holy spirit will speak through you.
Can you imagine being one of the disciples and hearing all these instructions? Can you imagine being in the middle of a hostile climate? Can you imagine being under a police state where your very movements are being tracked and used against you? Can you imagine what it feels like to be under occupation? Or to go outside and see people being beaten and disappeared because of what they feel or think or talk or tweet about? How does Jesus expect the disciples to do all of these things when, the world is so clearly falling apart around them?
My city, state, country and GLOBE has responded to the extrajudicial state-sanctioned murders of Black people. And in any other time (because this has happened before), many of us would be outside. We would be sharing bullhorns and rides. We would be taking the train home together. We’d be getting coffee afterwards and debriefing. But the threat of the coronavirus has forced us to be creative. Because many of us have made the decision to stay inside. And while preliminary data suggests that June’s massive protests did not causing a spike in cases (likely due to the communal efforts of organizers to distribute masks and sanitizers), on an emotional and spiritual level, I absolutely empathize with the fear of being in groups now.
So many of us had to sit and wonder, hmm, how can I support my folks without putting myself or others in harm’s way? And we wrestled with the truth that no matter where we go, what we do, how we protect ourselves with masks and sanitizers, we are still vulnerable in a world that hates us. If you are Black, or queer, or woman, or disabled, or chronically ill, or undocumented, or poor, or unhoused… or some combination therein, you may be wondering, “how can I be of service to the movement, if I can’t do what I usually do?” And if you are in this group, or not, and you can hear what I’m saying, you can empathize with these disciples.
“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.”
I like this image of Jesus because you get the sense that he realizes that the disciples are overwhelmed. This is a major task. Cast out DEMONS, Jesus? Abolish PRISONS, Jesus? Heal without a COPAY Jesus? Spend time with THEM? Jesus? Now? How are we gonna make THAT happen? I imagine that the disciples are pacing, trying to figure out how to move money from the savings to the checking to go on a quest for christ. The people have real needs and concerns. And it sounds like Jesus has just given the people an impossible task.
Give a gift of COLD water.
Why water? Water is a human need. Water sustains life. We go on space explorations to different planets, looking for water because where WATER is, so too is the hope and promise of LIFE. Water is something every living thing, including humans, need. And to give a gift of water is to acknowledge that someone sees your humanity. CLEAN drinkable water.
Water is necessary. And gifts of water come in all shapes.
All around the country, there are reinvigorated or absolutely new mutual aid networks. Mutual aid is a very faithful expression of love. It is the embodiment of “bearing each other’s burdens and joys.” It’s college showers. It’s $25 in a teenager’s hand. It’s rent parties. It’s what we as Black folk have always done. It’s the legacy of Callie House, who organized hundreds of thousands of formerly enslaved Black folks through an organization called “The National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association.”
She said it this way. ““We are organizing ourselves together as a race of people who feels that they have been wronged...If the government had the right to free us, she had a right to make some provisions for us, and since she did not make it soon after Emancipation, she ought to make it now.” This is the spirit of Juneteenth.
It’s also the For the Gworls project, a group of people who raise money to assist with Black trans folks’ rent and affirming surgery. The reason why organizations like these exist is because the existing spaces that “do charity” (like churches) are notoriously transphobic and queer-antagonizing. And so, these are organizations that have figured out how to be faithful to their communities when the rest of the world has denied them water.
Just a cup of water. It don’t cost very much.
“Whoever gives even a cup of water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, truly i tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
If you are in a position to share, remember that your sharing as a Christian ought be done in the name of the one who sent you. This is not for allyship cookies. This is not for street cred. These gifts of water ought not be given so you can right a wrong that you feel guilty about.
Imagine people all over the world who are beneficiaries of human kindness and concern. I don’t mean this in the kind of “what if we all were nice and just didn’t see color” kind of way.
I mean, imagine if we had the kinds of institutions and communities where people could be heard. And where complaints turned into actionable steps? Not just a series of town halls?
Where folks could name their hurts and pains.
Where people could ask for assistance without being labeled or judged?
Where people can offer their talents and gifts to the community and be compensated for doing so.
Imagine if we had the kind of world where this proverbial water was a free vacation for parents and trustworthy childcare?
You know better than I do what the cool refreshing drink is for YOU. I bet if it’s good to you, it may be good to someone else too.
God lives in this water. It is why, in my tradition, we baptize people. There is something generative about returning to the source of life as part of your commission. You are not just dunked (or sprinkled) so that you can get into heaven. You are baptized because this is an initiation into a worldview that knows that water sustains.
This is abolition. It is investing in the needs of the community and treating humans with dignity and compassion. It is investing in the little ones, whoever they/we may be.
To Go Bag
So here’s your homework. Think of someone who showed up and offered kindness towards you. It can be a big gesture or a small gesture. How did it make you feel? What did it help you do? It doesn’t have to be something someone else did for you. What kindness have you extended to yourself?
That’s all for this round, thanks for listening. As always, you can follow us on Instagram at @FishSandwichHeaven and check out the website at fishsandwichheaven.com
Toodles, my chicken noodles!
Cover image from nappy.co