04 2nd Wednesday in Lent

            I heard a story awhile back.  I wish that I could remember who told the story, so that I could give the proper credit.  But it certainly isn’t mine.  It is a story about a group of monks.  They lived together but each of them did their own thing.  I guess you could say they were like an NBA team that way.  They would bump into one another and grumble and complain.  It just wasn’t the most wonderful situation to live in. 

            One day a visitor came to see them.  Being the good hosts that they were, they fed the stranger and gave him a room for the night.  At dinner he told the monks that one of the brothers among them was no other than Jesus himself.  But he would not tell them which one it was.

            Do you have idea what might have happened?  Their whole demeanor changed.  For instead of treating one another as an annoyance and a bother or a burden, they treated one another as though that person might be Jesus.  They began to care for and serve one another.  They spoke to each other differently.  And suddenly it was a whole different monastery. 

            I don’t know where that story comes from, but it illustrates nicely the words of Jesus that we will meditate on tonight.  I was a stranger and you welcomed me.  The word for this is hospitality.  It is a concept, that I knew was important, but before I spent some time looking at this topic I didn’t fully appreciate just how important it was.

            This is a concept that is important because it is about life that is lived in a community.  And how we live our lives is important because it accurately reflects what we believe.  I may say that I believe something, but if you want to know if I really do believe it, then you can tell that from the way that I act, from the way that I live. 

            In the days of the Hebrew scriptures hospitality was an important concept.   It was just part of the culture and there was nothing particularly religious about it.  In fact there was a process that one went through, it was almost like a dance, and if either party missed a step then it was an insult.  This dance was danced as a way of keeping the peace between towns and tribes and so it was seen as very important.

            But when God set apart the children of Israel to be his people he made hospitality an important part of their lives.  Not just because of the social implications, but because of the spiritual ones.  You see being a stranger was considered a blessing.  Because it meant that you had to be completely and totally reliant on God and on his ability to provide and care for you.  This brought about a closeness to God and a dependence on him.  In addition to this was the fact that these people were once strangers themselves.  Do you remember when?  Right when they lived in Egypt.  And so they were expected to draw on that memory in order to show kindness to others.  The other reason is that it showed the character of God.  He is loving and caring, and provides, and the lives of his people, the ones who were in relationship with him, were to reflect this trait in their lives also.     So in God’s people, the role of hospitality is much more important than a simple polite dance done between strangers. 

            The authors of the Greek Scriptures also took this concept and ran with it.  They used it as an image for the Christian life.  For we are strangers in this world.  We are to be in the world and not of the world.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  And we are eagerly awaiting that day when Jesus will return and we will be home.  The Christian life is one that trusts in God.  He gives all that we need to support this body and life.  He provides and sustains us.  He gives us forgiveness of sins, freely through and for the sake of Jesus.  He keeps us going and brings us to faith.  These are things that we do not have or do on our own, but have them and do through the Holy Spirit.  We are reliant on him, and if it were not for him we would not be able to do any more than a corpse could do. 

            (IMAGE WITH THE CAR KEYS)

            So this brings us back to the monk story that I began with.  Since we know how God sees, us and what he does for us.  We then, because we believe these things to be true, are to show that same kind of care and support for one another.  The missionary efforts of the early church worked because in each town there were people there willing to provide care and support for the missionaries.  Caring for one another is a reflection of God’s care and love for us.  And so we seek to show that in our lives. 

            But we aren’t to care for just ourselves but also for the stranger in our midst.  We saw that in the video and heard it in the interview that we heard tonight.  As we make final decisions about the building expansion, we should keep in the forepart of our minds those we seek to serve, and how the new facilities will allow us to do that. 

            We care for, love and support one another because we know that is what our God does for us.  His love is transforming, and so having been touched by it, we cannot help but to seek to share that love with others.  With that in mind, something like the welcoming ministry at Our Father becomes much more important.  We don’t want to overdo it.  I’ve heard all kinds of stories about what not to do to make visitors feel welcome.  But certainly just saying, “Hi.  How are you doing?  Glad to have you here this morning.”  Makes all the difference in the world.  And for those of you who are afraid that you might be greeting a long time member you can say, “Hi.  How are you doing?  Glad to have you here this morning.”  It works either way. 

            It is very exciting because we get to live out our lives the way that God intended for them to be lived, and while we are doing it we are proclaiming his love and grace and mercy. For when we welcome the stranger in our midst, we are welcoming our Lord.