In today’s gospel, Jesus is speaking of hospitality.
And, I hope that reads as both providing
hospitality and also receiving it. It is my desire
that folks who come into this building experience
extreme hospitality. I found a sermon of mine that
I gave in 2020 based on Proper 8A and it begins
with this:
A prayer by Barbara Glasson, president of the
Methodist Conference, Britain: “We are not people
who protect our own safety: we are people who
protect our neighbors’ safety. We are not people of
greed: we are people of generosity. We are your
people God, giving and loving, wherever we are,
whatever it costs for as long as it takes wherever
you call us.” She was speaking of wearing masks
and keeping social distance and well, isolating
ourselves from others as a form of hospitality.
Kyndall Rae Rothaus speaks of hospitality in
another light: “As Christian nationalism continues
to plague the United States, I find myself asking
the question: Who pays the price when faith
separates itself from humanity? History is clear. It
is the children. The mothers. The women. The
foreigners. The outsiders. The marginalized.
Who reaps the reward when we reconnect faith to
the unlimited compassion of Jesus? All of us. All of
us. All of us.
Never in my lifetime has it felt as critical as it feels
right now to make Christianity Christ-like again.
Critical, as in people are dying. Critical, as in
babies are starving. Critical, as in we are losing our
very souls.
I recently saw a Facebook advertisement
promoting the ‘right way’ to teach your children
about the Christian faith so that they wouldn’t be
overcome by secular arguments in college and
become atheists. …
I know many people who have left the church. Not
one of them left because an atheist out-argued
them. Everyone I know who has left the church left
it because they experienced a church that was
cruel instead of compassionate. … many of them
have rejected the theology of the church too, but
it’s almost always a rejection of the part of that
theology used to prop up cruelty, misogyny,
racism, etc. Most of those I know have not rejected
Christ so much as they’ve rejected the hypocrisy of
his followers.” End of quote.
In today’s readings, we have the story of Abraham
who also went where he was called for as long as it
took to realize his dreams for his family and for
God. By the time Isaac was a teenager, Abraham’s
faith in God had matured-though he was old when
he started his journey from the land of Ur. And one
has to wonder why a man who argued with God to
save Sodom’s inhabitants would oblige a request
to kill his own son. Jewish midrash has struggled
with this story, too. Did Abraham misunderstand
the request? Or, was it expected that he would
realize the absurdity and violence of the request?
Or did Sarah secretly follow them with a ram that
she provided? Then there is the possibility that the
angel called Abraham’s name twice to penetrate
his thick skull. Abraham trusted God. And, God
provided for him-had been for the whole journey.
And Isaac was spared. In the Quran, Ishmael is
replaced for Isaac and God does not ask for human
sacrifice which also exhibits how bizarre this story
is.
During Pentecost, “the Triune God interrupts and
invades our ordinary lives. We can either close our
eyes and ears and ignore it or we can be caught off
guard and get swept up in the transforming work
of making all things new. We are invited to join-to
participate in bringing kingdom order out of
worldly chaos.” Enuma Okoro (paraphrased).
In The Message version of Paul’s letter to the
Romans, “Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all,
you’re not living under the old tyranny any longer.
You’re living in the freedom of God.” “thank God
you’ve started listening to a new master, one
whose commands set you free to live openly in his
freedom!” This is the kind of interruption we all
need. Paul is speaking of this freedom as
obedience to God’s call. Which is what the poem
by B. Glasson above is talking about obeying God’s
call to think of others and their safety during a
pandemic. And, in Matthew,
The Message goes like
this: “We are intimately linked in this harvest
work. Anyone who accepts what you do, acceptsme,
the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts
what I do accepts my Father, who sent me.
Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being
God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as
good as giving someone help. This is a large work
I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by
it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water
to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The
smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a
true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”
We are part of the Body of Christ-a community.
We speak up when poor people go hungry, aren’t
housed, and don’t have access to good health care.
We can speak up when black and brown people
are not honored and are killed in the streets. We
can be allies for the LGBTQ+ communities who
also experience similar harassment and death.
Accepting the Triune God into our lives can be a
kind of rescue. And it also gives us a purpose for
living outside our own small lives. We can accept
the idea that there are miracles waiting to happen.
We can also look for that opportunity to provide a
cool drink for someone, or a meal, or a word of
encouragement and support.
As Celeste Kennel-Shank (Mennonite pastor living
in Chicago) noted: “Taking sin seriously means not
only fighting back against oppression but taking a
hard look at myself. In my feminism, am I aware of
and working to end the ways misogyny
particularly oppresses black, brown, Asian, and
Indigenous women, as well as queer and trans
people? Do I put my own concerns first or truly
seek liberation for all people?”
“wherever we are, whatever it costs for as long as
it takes wherever you call us.” Amen.