Only a Cup of Cold Water
Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2020
There was a school crossing guard that everyone called “Old Bill”. Every morning and every evening Old Bill would man his corner, leading the children safely across the street. Mrs. Franklin, whose house was on the corner where Old Bill worked, got into the habit on hot afternoons of bringing Bill a tall, cold glass of fresh lemonade and a few cookies. Bill would thank her shyly as he waited for the children. Then one day there was a knock at Mrs. Franklin’s side door. There stood Old Bill with a sack of peaches in one hand and a dozen fresh-picked ears of corn in the other. He seemed embarrassed and said, “I brought you these, Ma’am, for your kindness.” “Oh you shouldn’t have,” exclaimed Mrs. Franklin, “It was nothing really, but some lemonade and cookies.” Then the crossing guard said, “Maybe it wasn’t much to you, but, Ma’am, it was more than anyone else did for me. So thank you.” Mrs. Franklin, of course, was reaching out to Old Bill from the kindness of her heart.
In today’s gospel Jesus says, “Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, he will surely not lose his reward.” One of the things that strikes me is the word “cold”—a cup of cold water. I was in Israel once in the month of April, and in the southern part of the country it was already ninety-eight degrees! In ancient times, and in many places even today, the only water available in that climate was from wells. People would go to the well, sometimes a significant distance away, draw water, and then carry it, balanced on their heads, back to their family. But, of course, as the day progressed and the sun grew hotter, that water would lose its coldness.
There is also another factor involved in many parts of the world. Pope Francis had pointed out in his encyclical on the environment that when resources are wasted, or water is polluted, it is the poor in third world countries who often pay the price. At about the time that document of the Pope was released, I was listening to a report on British radio. A correspondent was in Africa, near a river that was gradually turning more and more orange in color, and gradually developing a horrid stench. It was discovered that an old mine, long abandoned by its first-world owner, was leaching acid into the river. The water, upon which the local population depended, was being poisoned. So finding a cup of even safe, decent water, in many parts of the world, is becoming difficult to find.
So, why does Jesus make it a cup of cold water? I think the “coldness” of the water means that he wants us to put a little effort into our hospitality, kindness and compassion. It’s not enough to just give second-hand, run-off water. It’s not enough to be begrudging or impersonal in the giving. It’s certainly not to be done in an arrogant, prideful or condescending way. It’s more like what Mrs. Franklin did. Her heart went out to Old Bill on the hot, sweaty days of summer, and she made some lemonade and brought some cookies. She did something lovely, and it revealed her loving, caring heart. She decided to show hospitality and to reach out because she recognized Bill as a fellow human being. Her humanity touched his.
I believe that this explains the significant reaction of people around the country, and also around the world, to the video of George Floyd with a knee on his neck, complaining that he couldn’t breathe, for eight minutes and forty-six seconds, until he was dead, with the perpetrator arrogantly looking toward the phone that was recording the incident. This was a total disregard for the humanity of another human being. This was racism at its worst, as an entitlement that made a man think that he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Far from receiving a cup of cold water, a cup of kindness and compassion, George Floyd was deprived even of the air we human beings need in order to breathe.
Jesus calls us, he always calls us, to be the soothing, healing, life-giving, cold water of love and compassion that each and every human being deserves. We are at a moment in our nation and in our world when we need to examine our hearts and to decide where we stand, what we will support, and what we will reject. We are at a crossroads, both individually and collectively. Which will it be: a cup of cold water or a knee on the neck?