Radical Hopitality

Deuteronomy 10: 17-19

1 Corinthians 16: 1-4

Luke 10: 38-42

Radical Hospitality #2

A couple of weeks ago Myrna and I sat and talked with an Amish man from over near Pleasant City. We had a long conversation, in which he told us his experiences with Lime’s Disease. If let go, Lime’s Disease becomes chronic and requires life-long treatment. He was misdiagnosed for over a year, because his was one of the first cases in Ohio. To get his treatments now he goes out to California on a train a couple of times a year. Now there are no Amish where he goes, so he was a stranger there the first times he went, and to be honest a rather odd looking one too in amongst the modern English there. {Some of us might look strange there too.}

What was fascinating is, his first visit out there he was befriended by a Catholic Bishop. This Catholic Bishop realized he was truly a stranger in a strange land and offered to drive him where he needed to go. They have become good friends. Each time this Amish gentleman  goes out there, they have meals together, he gets driven to appointments, and is treated like a true friend.

The Catholic Bishop had nothing to gain by befriending this man. There has not been an attempt at conversion. But there have been serious discussions over time now about God, Jesus, and faith. As a result both men have grown spiritually, both have gained respect for another person’s understandings of God, and both have broadened their understandings of God and God’s love.

The Catholic Bishop has been practicing radical hospitality. The act of going above and beyond to love others as God loves them. Doing something at great cost because it benefits someone else. Doing something without assurance of getting something back in return. Just as Jesus loved and served others with no strings attached.

On TV this week we saw another simple act of radical hospitality. This time by a young boy at a baseball game who caught a foul ball that was about to go into the hands of a much younger boy. The boy, who got the ball fair and square, without urging by anyone, turned back and gave the younger boy the ball. Simple, but an act of caring that touched the lives of so many who have seen it. The boy explained that it was because his parents had taught him to care about others.

Radical hospitality is not just coffee and donuts. It is not a greeter at the door. It is not a warm hello to someone visiting at church. It’s not a pot luck attended by church members, friends and family. It is not saying to someone, “Come to church sometime.” It is an orientation of our very being that sees everyone, inside and outside of church--especially outside the church--as a valued person of God.

It is a desire to share God’s love with everyone we encounter, not so much with words but by our actions, the way we live every day, the way we learn to see other people as God sees them. It is the desire to develop new relationships with new people so they will be drawn to Christ.

Radical hospitality is not just a “You should come to church sometime.” Or, “We are having a potluck next week, you should come”.  Those are not invitations. And more likely they will build resistance, not lower it.

Stop and think. If you were told by someone you hardly know, and you are not sure really cares about you, about an activity you know little or nothing about, held at a place you know nothing about, would you go? Alone, on your own? That is not an invitation.

Maybe we have been misled by scripture about what an invitation is, since Jesus seems to have simply asked those he wanted as disciples to “follow me” and they did. The example of Jesus walking along the shore and saying to Peter and…. Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.    What we sometimes forget is that Jesus was undoubtedly already known to these men, and in the Gospel of John we learn that some of them were followers of John the Baptist with whom Jesus already had a relationship. So this invitation from Jesus did not just come out of the blue.  He was extending an invitation to people who already knew him and he knew them. They were not strangers. They already trusted him, and knew he liked them for who they were.  They already had a relationship with him. Also, Jesus did not apply pressure, he did not beg. He was interested in them for their sake, not his.

So, how do you develop a relationship with someone that might finally get them to come to church? Over time, engage in conversation. Ask a question or two about them, to get them to tell you something about themselves. Listen to their answers and let them lead you into conversation with some nudges from you about what their interests are. Show genuine interest in them for who they are.  Leave as much of yourself out of the conversations at first as possible. Each time you meet pick up where you left off, get to know them a little better. Do not become judgmental about what they talk about. Jesus didn’t. Then maybe after several times of such conversation invite them to have coffee or lunch with you and mean it.  Pick up the tab. Open up a little more about yourself. Let them ask questions of you. Then perhaps several weeks later, offer to bring them to a church activity as your guest—a picnic, pot luck, musical group--something relaxed and more entertaining not requiring a lot of thought.. There introduce them to people and let them become comfortable with others too.

This all might take a year or more. But if you pray daily for the person, if you pray for the opportunity to develop that relationship, if you pray for God’s guidance as you speak and listen, if you learn to care about the person for their sake, no matter how different at first they may seem to you, you will find God is at work.

Not everyone Jesus invited accepted, even when they knew they could trust him. The work of God is not quick and easy, It took Jesus three years to develop a core of persons who could go on to spread God’s message throughout the Roman Empire. And in the end, he was killed for it. But those few transformed the world. And the transformation continues as relationships are built between those who know and love and serve God reach out to those who don’t. It isn’t God’s kingdom on earth yet. The continuation of the work has been left to us.

There is an interesting phrase in Psalm 62 that reads “One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard.” “One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard.” I kind of wonder if the call to love God and love neighbor can be seen like that: one word spoken by God and heard as two separate things to our ears, hearts and lives.

How do we develop a relationship with someone such that they might want to know about our Savior and Lord?   Loving God by loving neighbor; loving neighbor by loving God.

Fear

Genesis 3: 1-8

1 Peter 3: 13-14, 2 Corinthians 7: 5

Matthew 14: 22-33

Fear

Mark Twain tells a story in one of his books about his a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked."

There seems to be no limit to our fears. In a peanuts cartoon strip Charlie Brown goes to Lucy for a nickels worth of psychiatric help. She proceeds to pinpoint his particular ‘fear’. “Perhaps”, she says, “you have hypengyophobia, which is the fear of responsibility.” Charlie Brown says no. “Well, perhaps you have ailurophobia, which is the fear of cats.” No. “Well, maybe you have climacophobia, which is the fear of staircases.” No. Exasperated, Lucy says “Well, maybe you have pantophobia, which is the fear of everything.” “Yes”, says Charlie, “that is the one!”

In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to and we literally hid from our searching parents. Finally God finds them, as we know that He will, for, after all, where can we go to hide from God? God asks them why they are hiding. Do you remember the response that Adam gave: “Because, I was afraid?”

I think this story reminds us that fear is so basic to whom we are as humans, it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. To be human is to experience fear.

Sometimes we feel like we are afraid of everything. We are afraid of ourselves. We are afraid of people. We are afraid of the future. We are afraid of the past. We are afraid of life. We are afraid of death.

“Do not be afraid.” The scriptures make this announcement over and over again. These are usually the first words out of angel’s mouths. Abraham, Moses, Mary, Joseph, shepherds tending their flocks, Paul sitting in a jail cell, the women looking for Christ’s body at Easter and disciples rowing a boat in the strong wind all hear these words. In all, these words occur almost 100 times in the scriptures. Apparently, humans are very fearful creatures and we are in need of faith to function properly in the world.

Every person, every Christian, must fight their own fears. Even Paul, the sturdy Christian warrior, had to do so. Paul had fallen flat on his face in Athens. He did exactly what he intended not to do, and in his own eyes he had failed. He wrote of his arrival in Corinth: “For when we came into Macedonia we had not rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings; within were fears.” Paul was full of fears, just like you and me--the fear of inadequacy, the fear of failing.

But perhaps the most surprising fear of many people and one that we do not like to address is the fear of God. It is the fear that God is not really on our side. It is the fear that God will put us out on a limb and leave us.

It is not a new idea. One of the great fears of the ancient people was that their gods would fall asleep. Can you imagine such a thing? When the prophets of Baal could not get their Gods to rain down fire on the top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah taunted them: Maybe your God is asleep, he said. On the other hand, the Jews took great comfort in the fact that the God of Israel neither slumbered nor slept.

Over and over again the message of the Bible is fear not. When Abram took his family to the Promised Land he feared that he was turning his back on everything he knew, his security for the unknown. God spoke to him: Fear not Abram, I am your shield and your reward will be great. When the Jews stood at the Red Sea and could see Pharaoh’s chariots coming on the horizon, they cried out that they would all be slaughtered. Moses said to them: Stand still, fear not, and see the salvation of the Lord. When the angel of the Lord came to Mary and said that she would bear a child, she trembled with fear. What would become of her? Said the angel: Fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God. Fear not! Fear Not! It is how we would like to live. How do you do it?

The disciples were afraid when they saw what seemed to them like a ghost coming toward them on the water. That seems like a very natural fear. I think I would be afraid too, out on a lake at night with the wind churning up large waves, and then seeing this thing approaching. But Jesus calms them quickly. And Peter suddenly has this bold bit of courage and challenge. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

Notice Jesus accepts the challenge.  “Come”, he says. And Peter begins to step out and walk, But Peter is too caught up in what he thinks is the reality of the situation. He realizes that he is out of the boat, over the deep lake, and this is something not normal at all. He lets his fear take over, lets the distraction of his surroundings overcome his faith and he takes his eyes off Jesus, and he begins to sink.

That describes a lot of us. We allow the distractions of the world around us take our minds off God’s will for us, and then sooner or later, we begin to sink and fear sets in.  But further on in the passage we read that Peter cries out “Save me”.  Jesus does, despite the weakness of his faith.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but it is living by faith and doing what is right in the face of distractions and what we think is reality. It is living in the reality of God’s promise that he will support us, even when we step out onto the deep. Our fears compel us to live irresponsible lives or prevent us from doing that which is responsible and from being bold in sharing our faith. We get caught up in the “What if’s” when we are faced with a challenge by God, and that leads to irrational fears.  Every irrational fear is based on a falsehood. We must pray for God to reveal what lies beneath the surface of our worries, our controlling fears and pray for victory over them.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters."

What we fear most is uncertainty, and in these times there’s plenty of uncertainty to go around. God wants us to fear the right things, but he does not want us to fear everything. He especially does not want us to fear trusting him, and that’s what can make all the difference for us. God wants us to know he is with us and for us.