Many years ago when my family was
young and we lived in Buffalo, we took a drive one Sunday up to the
shore of Lake Ontario. We had four little kids at the time; it was a
hot day. Our old car just gave out and there we were, stalled by the
side of the road. There was a house nearby and I went over to see if
I could make a phone call. In those days they didn't have cell
phones. I was invited in and the elderly couple inquired about my
family. They told me to bring them to the house. While I was
frantically trying to find someone who could help me, the lady of the
house gave my children some juice and a cookie or two. I finally
reached triple A and they told me that with my level of membership
they would tow my car to the nearest repair shop, which was a long
way from where we lived. As I was relating all this to my wife, the
man of the house overheard me. He said that I should borrow his car
and I could bring it back when my car was fixed. I couldn't believe
someone would loan a car to a total stranger, but there it was. In
any event, they took my car to the local garage, I drove my famly
back home in a very nice sedan, and the next day Joan and I drove
back to pick up my car and drop off their car. I offered to pay, but
they weren't hearing it. The man was a retired judge, and he told me
he was good at reading people and he could tell that I could be
trusted.
Today's first reading talks about
hospitality. Jesus in the gospel reading also talks about this. We
have a few other sayings of Jesus, about being worthy of him, and
losing our life so we will find it, but I tried to tie all these
sayings together in another sermon, which fortunately you won't have
to hear. I want to talk a little bit about hospitality. Jesus
thought it was important, the author of the first book of Kings did
also, and in the book of Genesis, we could read many examples of
hospitality, especially the one in which Abraham offers the three
strangers a meal and they in turn promise that Sarah will bear a son.
So what is hospitality? Why is it so
important for a Christian, or a Jew, or a Muslim – I think every
religion humans have practiced prizes hospitality.
Hospitality is not the same thing as
charity. With charity, we recognize the need of another person and
try to fill it. We give food to the hungry, clothing to the naked.
Charity says that I have something, you need it, and I will give it
to you. You are the recipient of my generosity. In this particular
area, I am your superior. Charity, I have to say, is a really good
thing, and there is nothing wrong with us rich people helping out
poor people. And hospitality is not something you have to do.
Having your boss over for supper might fall into that category. But
hospitality is different.
Anyone can show hospitality to anyone
else. You don't have to be rich, the recipient doesn't have to be
poor. The person being shown hospitality doesn't need what you
offer. But there is a certain reciprocity to hospitality. There is
the person doing the offering and the person doing the receiving. We
can see in the life of Jesus that he not only offered hospitality, as
when he fed the five thousand with the loaves and fishes, or when he
washed the feet of his disciples, or prepared breakfast for his
apostles on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but Jesus readily
accepted hospitality as well. We remember many such occassions –
being waited on by Peter's mother in law, taking part in the wedding
feast at Cana, having supper with Martha and Mary, or with Simon the
Pharisee.
So what is hospitality, then? I think
a good definition is that it is the attempt by two or more people to
create a mutual space in which both lay down their defenses. We all
go through life with our defenses up. We don't like to have our
personal space violated. When we sense that such might happen, we
all have ways of defending ourselves. We avoid eye contact. We make
excuses that we have to be somewhere else. We conspicuously look at
our watches. Or we may just smile, say a few words of greeting, and
move on. In summary, we treat the other person as an annoyance, a
bother, an “it”.
When we exercise hospitality, though,
we deliberately attempt to relate on a person to person level. This
means giving up time, giving our full attention, setting up a
relaxing atmosphere to the extent that we can. That is why
hospitality is so often associated with a meal. In that situation,
whether we are waiting on or being waited upon, our body language and
our actions say, “you are a person worthy of my time and effort,
you are a person from who I will accept kindness.” Hospitality
makes us more human.
I think that's why we see so many acts
of hospitality in the scriptures, and indeed, we see Jesus himself
calling us to hospitality. Jesus says, “He who receives you
receives me, and the one who sent me.”
Sometimes when we think about our
religion it seems to be a list of dos and don'ts, most of which are
slightly unpleasant. Of course if they were all fun we wouldn't need
a list, would we? But there are many things that our faith calls us
to do that are actually sources of joy, and the call to hospitality
is one of them. Jesus after all said that he came to bring us joy.
In the first part of today's gospel we
hear about ways in which we are not worthy of Jesus – loving
parents or children more than him, failing to take up our cross and
follow him. But I think Jesus is reminding us that we aren't worthy
of him, no one is. But He then tells us that if we work together to
create that mutual space in which we exercise hospitality, in which
we strive to see the other person as a person, not a thing, even if
it is only a small act of kindness, Jesus will be there in our midst,
along with his father. And that is indeed a great reward.
