Who Is the Greatest at Hospitality
The Rev. Mark Sherwindt, Pastor
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
Pentecost 17: September 23-24, 2006
They came to Capernaum; and when Jesus was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, 'If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.' And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.' [Mark 9:33-37]
These conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings? You want something and do not have it, and covet something you cannot obtain; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and evil will flee from you. Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you. [James 4:1-4]
How do you measure true greatness? In the academic world, you measure greatness by the volume - volumes of published works, like Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics and the 55 volumes of Luther's Works, pages upon pages of published reflections to inform the world and enrich the conversation among those who are seeking knowledge of God and an understanding of the truth. On the other hand, in different fields it's not volumes but brevity that establishes greatness, as in Albert Einstein's scientific revolution. Einstein's theory of relativity actually shrunk the world of unexplained complexity by fitting it into a smaller, neater and simpler framework of explanation. In the million dollar clubs of real estate, it's how much have you sold? In the world of category killers like Walmart, it's how low can you go. Speaking about how low you can go, earlier this week in New York City, the United Nations showed the world how low they could go and how petty they can become by broadcasting for all to hear what men sound like when they are arguing about who's the greatest. It's not pretty. It's not funny. In fact, it can get pretty ugly. In some form or fashion, this is what the disciples were doing at a time when they weren't paying attention to what Jesus was trying to teach them as they passed through Galilee.
“These conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from?” James asks in our Second Lesson. I'll tell you from whence the come. “They come from your cravings, from your lusts, from wanting what you do not have, from coveting what is your neighbor's.” James doesn't say that they come from competing visions of the good, or from contrasting strategies for seeking justice, and certainly not from different ways of doing justice. They come from competing visions of selfishness. They come from not having as much as what our rivals have too much of, according to us. It's not really about what we need, or what anybody needs. “You covet something you cannot have; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly.” Now asking wrongly can occur because we're asking at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, or for the wrong thing. James is focusing on this latter mistake. “You do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to direct what you have and spend what you get on yourself, on the things that suit you, on the pleasures that serve you. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil - and we're not talking about George W. Bush - and evil will flee from you.” This verse reaffirms a fundamental biblical truth, that good is more powerful than evil, but we've got to have the courage, the fortitude, the strength to say “No” to what is wrong.
There is no doubt about the fact that these themes that connect the Second Lesson and the Gospel contain some pretty heavy observations that are both timely and relevant, given what has been happening in New York City, Baghdad, and the Middle East. Some might say that James has hit the nail on the head when looking at the world stage. But it is really at you and me, as individuals making our way through our personal lives, that God's wisdom is most aptly applied. Nation-states, at least since Machiavelli, are by nature and by definition selfish, designed to seek their own aims, extending their own will and power as far as they can, as far as others will allow. Nations as powerful as ours sometimes make the mistake of extending our reach farther than our strength can sustain. Then, the less powerful can exploit the weaknesses that are exposed when the strengths of the strong are stretched too thin. But again, as I just said, neither Jesus nor James are addressing the nations. They are addressing the church, the community of disciples who can sometimes be found asking the wrong questions when we're just talking among ourselves, seemingly out of earshot of the Lord. Jesus surprises his disciples by knowing exactly what they were talking about, and his comments, together with the wisdom of James, contrast speculation about who's the greatest with the most ancient of virtues to hold sway among God's people.
What is the virtue? It is hospitality. Jesus calls it welcoming even the child. A couple of weeks ago, James called it showing no partiality when greeting visitors. Thomas Ogletree summed up the whole of Biblical ethics with the phrase, which he used as the title of his book, Hospitality to the Stranger (1985), and that is truly the key to understanding how we become God's people, and the key to how to respond to the call to be God's people. Ogletree has it exactly right when he introduces his Introduction with three quotations from Scripture. The first quote is from Exodus 23:9. “You shall welcome the stranger. Listen, you know what it is to be a stranger. For once you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” And what did God do? God welcomed them. In the words of that familiar Biblical refrain, “You who once were no people, I have made my people.” You who once were simply strangers - sojourners as the Bible calls them, homeless itinerants just passing through - God has made his own children, citizens of the kingdom, heirs in Christ. That is why hospitality to the stranger is so fundamental to faithfulness. That is how we became God's people way back when; that is what it means to be faithful here and now.
The Exodus passage is then connected directly to Jesus in Luke 9:38. For Jesus was a sojourner and stranger among us. “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head”, nowhere to hang his hat, nowhere to call home. Matthew 25 then draws the right conclusion: “Well done, good and faithful followers…. Enter in the glory promised to you…. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was naked and you found me some clothing. I was sick and you took me into your home. In other words, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” Welcoming the stranger, godly hospitality: that is exactly what God has done to us and for us in Christ.
I must admit, whether by accident or design, it couldn't be timelier that we are discussing the first pillar of our Membership Covenant between the services during the Sunday School hour in Luther Hall. We offer our course on the topic of being Healthy Members in a Healthy Church every year with the start-up of the Sunday School year. It's a great class, and it is so important to revisit what we think membership at Zion means. This week we are focusing on supporting the unity of our church, and the very first plank refers us to a Scriptural passage that focuses on hospitality, Romans 15:7 - “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.” Good, old-fashioned hospitality: it's basic to being a healthy church; it's basic to figuring out how to be faithful to Christ. It's a quality that draws upon the source of God's being graciously open to us. In the desert cultures of the Middle East, it was the number one social virtue. Among early Christians in the first century, hospitality was the chief bond that brought the church its sense of unity. It is certainly a different world today, where welcoming the stranger seems almost like an act of parental negligence. But the truth is that welcoming the stranger was no easier for the ancient Bedouin than it is for suspicious suburbanites living in our towns and neighbor-hoods. Sure, today we have a wider safety net for strangers and sojourners, but the essence of the gospel still involves learning how to look for God's visiting us in the lives of those who need us.
Finding God in the stranger continues to acquaint us with the essence of the Christmas stories we share to open our eyes and our hearts to how it was that God surprised the world with the young Hebrew maiden and her baby born in Bethlehem. In fact, I recall a poem I have often read on Christmas Eve, written by Emma Lent, entitled Unawares, which does a great job of reminding us of this very lesson. I think it'd be a good idea, while we are yet a ways from celebrating Christmas Eve, to read portions from this poem.
They said, 'The Master is coming to honor the town today. And none can tell what house or home the Master will choose to stay.' And I thought while my heart beat wildly, what if He should come to mine? How I would strive to entertain and honor the Guest Divine….
[Then,] right in the midst of my duties, a woman came to my door. She had come to tell of her sorrows, my comfort and aid to implore. And I said, 'I cannot listen, nor help you any, today. I have greater things to attend to.' And the pleader went away.
But soon there came another, a cripple, thin, pale and gray. And he said: 'Oh, let me stop and rest a while in your house, I pray! I have traveled far since morning. I am hungry and faint and weak. My heart is full of misery, and comfort and help I seek.'
And I cried, 'I am grieved and sorry, but I cannot help you today. I look for a great and noble Guest.' And the cripple went away. And the day wore on swiftly; and my tasks were nearly done. And my prayer was ever in my heart that the Master to me might come.
And I thought I would spring to meet Him and serve Him with utmost care, When a little child stood near me, with a face so sweet and fair - Sweet, but with marks of teardrops; and his clothes were tattered and old; A finger was bruised and bleeding; and his bare little feet were cold.
And I said, 'I am truly sorry for you. You are truly in need of care; But I cannot stop to give it. You must hasten otherwhere.' And at the words a shadow swept over his blue-veined brow. 'Someone will feed and clothe you, dear; but I am too busy now.' …
I waited 'til night had deepened, and the Master had not yet come. 'He has entered some other door, ' I said, 'and gladdened some other home!' My labor had been for nothing. I bowed my head and wept. My heart was sore with longing; yet, in spite of it all, I slept.
Then the Master stood before me; and His face was grave, but fair; 'Three times today I came to the door, and craved your pity and care; Three times you sent me onward, unhelped and uncomforted. And the blessing you sought was quickly lost, and your chance to serve has fled.'
'O Lord, dear Lord, forgive me! How could I know it was Thee? My very soul was shamed and bowed in the depths of humility. And he said to me, 'The sin is pardoned. But the blessing is lost to thee; For in comforting not the least of Mine, you have failed to comfort Me.'
Hospitality to the stranger, welcoming the visitor, or, as we say it in the Membership Covenant, pillar #1, plank #1, acting with friendliness and love toward one another: these are the key to Christian living, the foundation of Biblical faithfulness, a key ingredient in supporting the unity of our church, in finding our way on that path that leads to a healthy church, in following the way that leads to our learning to live … in Jesus' name. Amen.