Rev. Jennifer Whipple
Congregational Church of Brookfield (UCC)
Hospitality
201
Hebrews
13:1-2
Mark
6:1-13
July
8,
2012
Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our
minds and hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, for you are our strength
and our redeemer. Amen.
Have you ever had someone say to you, “The last time I saw you, you
were this big,” or, “I remember you when you were knee high to a
grasshopper”? This story about
Jesus is kind of the ultimate one of those stories.
Jesus returns not only to familiar territory this week, he returns to the
ultimate in familiar territory – his hometown, the place where he grew up.
And it seems that the local folks won’t let him forget that – giving
him a taste of humble pie. At first
they listen and are in rapture about his lessons and the fact that the humble
carpenter knew so much about God and God’s will.
Then they think back a bit to the memories they had of Jesus from his
growing up years, some of those stories that we wish, thinking about our own
past, would be more fully erased from the minds of our neighbors and friends.
Those stories that insight someone to say, “Oh, I am going to hold this
over you forever!” This is one of
the few stories in the Bible that actually refers to Jesus’s family (his
brothers and sisters) and that points to the fact that Jesus did actually have a
childhood, believe it or not. Because
of the fact that Nazareth was not exactly a town of great significance, and
therefore no one super special was expected to come from that small agricultural
village; and because of their knowledge of who Jesus was before he officially
claimed his position and calling as the Son of God, they find it difficult to
believe him or to believe in him. Their
knowledge becomes the stumbling block to their faith, and because of that Jesus
finds it so difficult to minister to them in any way.
The hospitality Jesus receives in his hometown is less than perfect,
definitely lacking in a variety of different ways, so he goes to plan B and
heads out into other villages and towns to preach, teach, and heal in God’s
name – hopefully to people who will come to believe in his message and to have
faith.
The other thing that is going on in this passage is Jesus’ realization
that the message about God’s Kingdom and all the work that he is doing will
not go nearly as far unless he does some major delegating.
So he sends the disciples out – using the buddy system no less –
deputized to preach, teach, and heal. After
all before the time of mass media, the spread of both major religious and
philosophical ideas was done by traveling missionaries.
“The catch?” one might ask. The
catch is that they were allowed to bring no provisions.
“Go out into the world,” Jesus commanded them, “but bring nothing
with you except for a staff and some of the clothes on your back.”
Because of the fashion and traveling customs of the time Jesus basically
told them wear your underwear and bring a walking stick.
Then he went on to explain that they were to rely on the kindness,
generosity, ad hospitality of people wherever they may go to be sure that they
were cared for, fed, and that their work could be accomplished.
In one translation of this passage (The
Message) Jesus is recorded as saying, “Don’t think you need a lot of
extra equipment for this. YOU are
the equipment…keep it simple.” If
they were to find welcome in a particular place they were to stay in that place
for as long as they were able to carry out their ministry.
If they did not find welcome they weren’t to resort to violence or even
name-slandering, rather they were to shake the dust off their feet in a symbolic
action of rejection of that particular place as well.
So really what we can read into this story is that it is not just a story
of commissioning of the disciples, it is also a story, much like the first part
of this scripture where the Nazarenes failed, about hospitality.
You see, hospitality in the ancient Near East was not just about inviting
someone in for a cup of tea along their way.
It was instead, tied to all sorts of customs and traditions – as one
article put it, hospitality was “an intricately choreographed dance”
in which both the guest and the host knew their roles and their moves.
It was the process of receiving outsiders and changing them from
strangers into guests and friends. There
were three stages of the dance. The
first was the stage of testing the stranger to be sure that they weren’t
dangerous in any way. Once they
passed the test their feet were washed to help them settle in from the road,
which marked the movement to the next stage.
That stage involved an established member of the community acting as host
and protector of the guest while they were in the new community.
The major part of this was not only to be introduced to others in the
town without offending anyone, but also to accept things that were offered –
especially food items. The third
stage then was the stage that moved the visitor from guest to friend.
If the time together went well then the stranger guest would leave as a
friend and would sing praises of the host, especially to those who sent the
person to stay in that community in the first place.
In the case of the disciples they would go back and tell Jesus who they
had received great treatment from on their missionary journeys, and Jesus would
not only appreciate the hospitality and generosity of those folks, but would see
them as true believers – as children of God and followers of God’s way.
All of these things were done because of the belief, based on ancient
stories like those of the angels visiting Abraham and Sarah way back in Genesis,
that entertaining strangers might mean entertaining God or at least entertaining
God’s most precious messengers. As
it says in Hebrews, “Show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so you might
be entertaining angels without knowing it.”
It really is fascinating to think about the work and energy that would
have gone into any type of visiting and relationship building that would have
taken place at the time. And as I
read more about ancient hospitality customs I couldn’t help but think about
what customs we hold to today. After
all there have been numerous books written, web pages and newspaper columns, and
assorted other modes of communication dedicated to appropriate manners and shows
of hospitality. Miss Manners, Emily
Post, and a variety of others have helped to keep us briefed on what it means to
show appropriate hospitality to others. In
any of those articles, books, or otherwise are loads of information about how to
decorate your home, prepare a mouthwatering multi course meal, what fork to use
when, and how to spark conversation
with certain topics that stray away from anything controversial, of course.
As I checked out some modern day blogs about hospitality a few things struck me
in particular. The first was a blog
that talked about “How to Be a Bad Host So You Will Never Have to Host
Again,” which recommended everything from serving only crackers and Velveeta
cheese at a gathering to freezing your guests out of your house to showing up to
answer the door with an aluminum foil helmet claiming that they need to get
inside immediately or the aliens will get them.
Thank you to a gentleman named Brock for a fabulous chuckle reading those
pointers. The other one that piqued
my interest though was a blog by a woman named Dawn Gibson who wrote on a
conversation stream called “Faith Barista” about her sense of hospitality.
In a blog entry entitled “Practicing Real Life Hospitality” she
questioned whether, if following all of the rules that are laid out in books
about appropriate fork usage and decoration and conversation topics, her guests
would feel comfortable? If they
would want to return to visit again?
I
have often times wondered the same thing – partially because it is enough for
me to keep my house relatively clean between busy schedules and two little folks
and partially because I didn’t grow up in an environment where entertaining
included multiple forks, not that offering guests lavish multiple course meals
is a bad thing…but the question comes up in my mind about what is most
important in showing true hospitality to others.
The best lessons that I received about hospitality did come from my
family when I was growing up. I was
talking with some of the folks about this as we were preparing the cottage for
our new family just a little while ago. As
I helped just a little bit in cleaning the kitchen people would come in and ask
if I wanted to do that for them in their house too…which by the way is always
more fun than doing it in my own house. I
joked around about how my mom, and various other family members used to say as I
was growing up, “Jennifer, we may not have the cleanest house on the block,
but our house is lived in. People
are always welcome, and the tea kettle is always ready.”
The neighborhood kids always knew that they were welcome at our house
when we were younger, and that there would always be something for them to enjoy
when they walked through the door – even if just crackers and Velveeta cheese.
Our neighbors knew that they could stop by for a cup of tea and a chat,
and it was on occasions few and far between, and only because they legitimately
had to go somewhere in less than fifteen minutes, that my parents would not be
willing or able to stop what they were doing and host someone for a visit.
So what I learned about hospitality is that it was less about what was
offered as that the door was open, and people were welcome to come in for a
heart to heart. People knew that
they would be listened to. Even when
the fine china comes out at my parents house, although now it is more often than
not interspersed with kiddie plates, the most important part is less the décor
than it is the conversation, the laughter, the love and friendship that is
shared…a feeling and a goal that I aspire to now when Ryan and I have a chance
to host people at our house for a holiday or event ourselves – which will
involve no fine china (after all we never registered for it when we got married)
and may more than likely, at least if I am cooking, will involve hot dogs and
some pudding type substance. (Now
don’t you all want to come over?)
So what does this have to do with us?
The truth is that the kind of hospitality that the disciples relied upon
so many years ago was more the Miss Manners/Emily Post type of hospitality –
the hospitality that held within it the intricacies of the dance.
However, what Jesus came to do and to challenge, and why I believe he was
so upset after his own experience in Nazareth that day, was more about the
hospitality of the heart. After all,
he was the one who sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners offering
them all that he had. He was the one
who knelt down and washed the feet of his disciples – serving them even as he
was preparing to go to the cross for them. He
was the one who offered them the simple gifts of bread and wine to make a
lasting memory that we continue to hold tight to today.
Jesus didn’t do it all out of custom, some yes but certainly not all.
Instead he did it out of love – love for God and love for his family of
faith. He did it in order to show
what the Kingdom of God could look like – could possibly be.
So that is the lesson that I think we need to carry with us today – not
only as we welcome our new family to be among us, but as we welcome new guests
to our worship, and as we go back out into our homes, our places of work, and
into other opportunities for showing radical hospitality.
I truly believe that God does not care as much about whether the fine
china is out or the dance is followed to the “T”, but God does care that we
open ourselves, our hearts, our ears, and our lives to others – that we might
come to know the angels God sends to be among us, and that we might show God’s
love and grace to those who need it most. May
it be so. Amen.
