1-5-22 - Welcomed

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here. 

Our world is in the midst of a protracted refugees crisis, with some 26.6 million refugees as of mid-2021. The U.S. continues to see unaccompanied minors on our southern border, and to contend with violence against immigrants. Jesus’ call to welcome the stranger is hotly debated, even among those who claim to follow him.

Spiritually speaking, we are all refugees, people who have been welcomed into what Jesus called the Kingdom of God, a realm wholly separate from the realm of this world but accessible from anywhere. And the rite by which our welcome is sealed is baptism. In baptism, we are given a passport and all the rights of citizenship – insight, hope, and power beyond comprehension. There are no second-class citizens or resident aliens in the Realm of God. All have equal rights and equal status – and equal responsibility.

The reason that we, our holiness imperfect at best, can be welcomed into the Realm of God where holiness reigns, is that Jesus brought his perfect holiness into the realm of this world. In that sense, he too was a refugee from another place, needing to acquire the language and customs of an alien land. His baptism in the Jordan River was a sign of his taking on this world, submerging himself in human reality, including the reality of death.

And, as we know from the story the Gospels tell, Jesus was about as welcome as many refugees are in today’s world. The clash of values, and the discomfort both his poverty and his power caused, led ultimately to his death. Yet in that death and his rising again he opened the way for us to be welcomed into God-Life.

How does it challenge you spiritually to think of yourself as a refugee welcomed into the Realm of God? What new customs and language and ways of relating to others do you need to learn in order to thrive in this land? What support groups might you join to ease your assimilation into this Life? And how might you help others assimilate?

As we explore the gifts of baptism this week, let’s remember our dual citizenship and seek to become ever more comfortable in that land where there is no death. And let’s reach out our hands to offer Life to those seeking to join us.

Tonight I begin a new bible study on the Gospel of John - please join me 7-8 pm EST on Zoom.

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7-1-21 - Radical Hospitality

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Many churches use the term “radical hospitality” to describe their processes for welcoming visitors. In practice, this often means good signage, an alert and well-trained cadre of greeters, easy-to-follow service booklets, and people who are ready to help newcomers navigate the liturgy and escort them personally to coffee hour. On a deeper level, it can mean that a congregation is trained to welcome people who come “as they are,” not to impose its norms upon visitors, to create an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance and openness to the gifts a visitor might bring.

This is the kind of hospitality which Jesus’ disciples were to seek out as they went out in twos on their first mission without Jesus: 

He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.”

Since he’d already told them not to take any money or extra clothing, it was clear they wouldn’t be bearing hostess gifts. They would be bringing the power to heal, authority over unclean spirits, and the Good News of release and wholeness to be found in Jesus Christ. If they found people willing to take them in and care for them under those conditions, they were to remain there, not moving from house to house looking for the best breakfast. The point was to leave their time and energy free for preaching and healing.

And if they couldn’t find that kind of hospitality, or the people in a given town didn’t want to hear their message? Then they should keep moving, and find somewhere more fruitful: "If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

This might sound harsh to us, but Jesus wasn’t sending his disciples on a Grand Tour. He was sending them to proclaim the Good News and to exert authority over evil. To do that they would have to become what a New Yorker writer humorously described herself to be: “fiercely dependent" - and discerning about where to spend time.

Hospitality that is truly radical allows a wonderful exchange between visitor and host. It does not treat a visitor as a guest, but welcomes her as family the very first time she comes. It does not put all the focus on what we can offer, setting up an “us and them,” or subtly seek to exert power through generosity. We should seek a mutual sharing of gifts when we bring dinner to the homeless shelter as much as when someone joins us for worship.

Truly radical hospitality recognizes that each person may well be an apostle of Jesus Christ, with gifts and a message for us. I wonder how many more church visitors might come a second time if, instead of asking, “What can we do for you?” we asked, “What are the gifts you bring? We welcome them as we welcome you.”

Sometimes radical hospitality is what we're called to find, and sometimes it's what we're called to offer. Both ways, we are called to give and to receive, all at the same time. And in that giving and receiving, community is formed.

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