Communities of the Broken and Blessed
Matthew 19:13-15
Emmanuel Baptist Church; Rev. Kathy Donley
March 15, 2026
Note: A recording of the worship service in which this sermon was preached may be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYbzCUANTjQ
It was my privilege to spend some focused time with Jasmine over the last year as she prepared for her baptism today. I remember in one conversation, she made a point to say that her decision to follow Jesus and be baptized was something she needed to do as an individual, and she would be doing it even if her family didn’t share and support her faith. In fact, Jasmine’s mother and grandmother were baptized in that same baptistery. Making a conscious individual decision is at the core of Baptist’s theology about believer’s baptism, but I’m grateful for Jasmine’s sake that she doesn’t have to choose between family and following Jesus.
However, the earliest generations of people who followed Jesus were not always so fortunate. Family was everything in the ancient Mediterranean world. Your family was your source of status and connection to community and also your primary economic, religious, educational and social network. Loss of family was the most serious loss a person could suffer. But the earliest Christians often chose the way of Jesus over all other allegiances. One person’s choices reflected on the whole extended family and many families chose to cast out a new Christian whose faith was inconvenient or embarrassing to them. It was significant then, that churches became surrogate families for each other.
There is a lot of dysfunction in human families and that same kind of dysfunction is often mirrored in the church, so I usually avoid the image of family as a metaphor for the church, but “this is what the church was originally about – a place for all those who had been broken by life or rejected by the powerful and who came to experience God through the crucified Jesus as the One who met them precisely in their vulnerability. . . . it was a community of the broken, of the vulnerable, of those at risk”[1] who relied on each other for their very survival.
This season, we are reminding ourselves of the good news in Jesus’ core teachings. The verses from Deuteronomy provide specific instruction on how to care for the immigrant, orphan and widow by leaving part of the harvest of each crop for them. We Christians often act as though the God of the Hebrew Bible and the God of the New Testament are two different Gods, but that’s just not true. In both, God is the one who offers protection and care for the vulnerable. This is who God has always been; it is the behavior that God has always called God’s people to do.
And then there was the day that the disciples wanted to keep the children from bothering Jesus. They rebuked the mothers who brought them, until Jesus stopped them. We can’t imagine the disciples acting that way, because we think of children in our twenty-first century context. Clear your head of all your sentimental ideas about children and understand this: Childhood in antiquity was difficult. Fifty percent of children died before the age of five. They were the weakest members of society. They were fed last and received the smallest and least desirable portions of food. They were the first to suffer from famine, war, disease, and natural disasters. Recent estimates are that more than 70 percent would have lost one or more parents before reaching puberty.”[2]
Jesus does not welcome children because children are cute and innocent. Jesus welcomes children because children were some of the most vulnerable, least powerful and lowest status people in his world. Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to them.
Who are those people in our world? Well, children are still among them. Things have improved. We have laws against child labor and child abuse. We offer formal education and music lessons and sports activities to some children. But current estimates are that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in this country will experience sexual abuse. Firearms remain the leading cause of death for children. More children die from gun violence than cancer or car accidents. [3]
But who else, would Jesus have us welcome or protect? Who are the vulnerable among us?
We speak often of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, currently being targeted and deprived of due process, held in wretched conditions for unspecified lengths of time. There are children among them.
Our transgender siblings are also being targeted. In Kansas last month, transgender folks received just a one-day notice that their birth certificates and driver's licenses will no longer be valid. There has been a surge of anti-trans legislation across many states, affecting access to health care, education and legal recognition. Research shows that the harm of such legislation extends beyond whether bills pass. Political debates surrounding anti-trans policies have been linked to increased anxiety, depression, and stress among transgender people, particularly youth.[4]
We might also think about ex-cons, who have done their time, paid their debt, but can’t find employment, can’t find a welcome anywhere, except possibly among those whose activities would lead them back to prison.
The list of vulnerable people is long. And frankly, any of us might land on it at any time, whether it is because of a family crisis or a medical diagnosis or the lingering effects of trauma.
So far, you would be hard pressed to find much good news in this sermon. I hope you can hang in a bit longer.
Rev. John Perkins died on Friday at age 95. He was born in rural Mississippi during the height of Jim Crow. His mother died when he was an infant. His older brother survived his service in WWII, only to be shot and killed by police after he returned. John grew up to become a civil rights activist and a Baptist minister who devoted his life to racial reconciliation and justice. Jesse Jackson died last month. We are losing the generation of elders who led the Civil Rights movement at a time when we really need their wisdom. Most of us aren’t familiar with John Perkins but he founded community ministries in Mississippi and California that are still thriving. And he wrote several books. In one book he said, “I am all for churches being part of the nonviolent marches and protests that have happened in the wake of violent killings, but those protests happen only after a tragic event has taken place. I want the church to be the community that is so dedicated to loving our neighbors, to caring for the poor and neglected, and to living out true reconciliation that these killings do not even take place.” [5]
Jesus’ good news is protection and care for the vulnerable, which happens because we form communities of radical welcome and refuge. We advocate for those who have been broken by life or rejected by the powerful. We are generous and mutually supportive and kind.
I just recently learned something about this word kind. Kind can refer to things that are in the same category. The same kind of things belong together. Kind can also refer to kindness, how we treat each other – with friendship and generosity. Both meanings of kind are related to the words for kin and kindred – words that speak to belonging and shared identity. To be “kind” originally meant to recognize someone as your own kind. It carried the idea: you are of me, and I am of you. Kindness, then, was never just about politeness or good manners. It was about seeing oneself in another person. It was about mutual recognition — the understanding that beneath differences, there is shared humanity.
In a world that often feels divided, where individuality is amplified and differences are highlighted, this deeper meaning feels especially relevant. When people stop seeing each other as the same kind, community begins to fracture. There can be no true sense of belonging, tribe, or safety without kindness at its foundation.[6]
This is what Jesus calls us to – recognizing that we are, at our core, the same kind. All of us made in God’s image. To all of us, the community of God belongs.
Today, Jasmine stands among us as one who has said yes to Jesus’ call to discipleship and community and kindness. May her testimony and the presence of each other encourage us to strengthen our own commitment to Jesus’ good news for the vulnerable. Amen.
[1] https://www.davidlose.net/2015/09/pentecost-19-b-communities-of-the-broken-and-blessed/
[2] True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary, edited by Brian K. Blount, Gay L. Byron, and Emerson B. Powery, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024). 120.
[3] https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/guns-remain-leading-cause-of-death-for-children-and-teens
[4] https://prismreports.org/2026/02/09/anti-transgender-bills-2026/
[5] John Perkins, Dream With Me: Race, Love and the Struggle We Must Win (Ada, Michigan: 2017).
[6] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kQbwrGYdkxs