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HOSPITALITY STORY Read Luke 10:38-42
Two women desperately wanted to show Jesus hospitality, but they went about it in two totally different ways. Martha wanted to make sure all the preparations were in place, she was busy cooking, straightening, doing all the last minute details. While it is good to make sure our environment is ready to welcome our guests, that its clean, that our family is all together, that we’ve read all the announcements in the Weekly – it is possible to get so wrapped up in all that that we miss the bigger picture and forget to practice hospitality. Mary had it right – she focused on the guest, the most important PERSON in the room at the time – not the most important THINGS or TASKS. She sat and listened and interacted and related to the guest. When it comes to worship – what is most important is relationships – relationships to God and to each other and to our guests. Without building relationships, we miss the entire point. HOMILY – 1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-26Our text today comes from 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, so if you could take out the Bibles in front of you and please turn to that chapter. It’s interesting because this chapter actually came up in Midrash this past Sunday. Midrash is the adult Sunday school class that meets to discuss the lessons for Sunday. There is always a meaningful discussion about the various lessons relate to our life and if you’ve never had the chance to go, I strongly encourage it. No doubt, the class and discussion will deepen your faith. They meet at 9:30 back in the choir room. That’s my commercial. Anyway, somehow this past Sunday, even though this wasn’t our assigned lessons, this passage came up for discussion. We got to talking about First Communion and the dangers of taking Communion in an unworthy manner. It was a long held view in the church, at least in the Lutheran tradition, that you should not take your first Communion until you were confirmed and had the proper instruction. The reason we had such a tradition centered around chapter 11:27-29. READ THIS. We didn’t want to offer Communion to anyone without proper instruction so that they wouldn’t drink judgment against themselves. We wouldn’t want them to miss, in verse 29, discerning the body of the Lord and come under any unnecessary condemnation. Seems reasonable, and this is why some churches, such as our Missouri Synod brothers and sisters, still have close communion. Well, within the last 20 years or so, the age of taking communion has been gradually lowering and now we have 6 and 7 years olds taking their first communion. At seminary, we even had babies taking communion as soon as they were able to eat solid foods. Are they not potentially eating and drinking judgment upon themselves by not discerning or recognizing the body? And what does this passage possibly have to do with hospitality, which has been our theme throughout Lent? Well, I think that when Paul is talking about not recognizing the body of the Lord, he’s not talking specifically about the bread and wine. He’s incredibly clever in his writing, and I never caught this until I started preparing this little sermon. Look at the very next chapter – chapter 12. Paul again talks about the body of the Lord, only he’s not talking at all about bread and wine. He’s actually talking about us – the people of God – chapter 12, verse 27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” He’s helping the people to see that each one of them is part of the body of Christ, and is therefore, vitally important. Now, skip back to chapter 11 and look at what Paul is talking about right before all that condemnation talk. Chapter 11, verse 17-22. READ THIS He’s criticizing them for their divisions, for separating themselves from each other. Some are feasting on bread, getting drunk on wine, while some of them are starving and not getting to participate in the meal. They are making a mockery of the Lord’s Supper and what Jesus intended for it. Paul’s argument about communion isn’t really about what you think about the bread or the wine. The Corinthians’ sin is that they don’t recognize the body of Christ – each other. And by not recognizing each other as part of the body, that is how they drinking judgment upon each other. This really is a passage about offering hospitality to those within our midst, about welcoming those who are less fortunate, or more fortunate, about recognizing that each of us has a role to play in the kingdom and that there are not supposed to be divisions among us. And the thing that Paul uses to tie it all together, as the ultimate example of hospitality and togetherness and unity, is the Lord’s Supper, verses 23-26. But what I think is so cool about this is to think about all the different Lord’s Suppers there were throughout the gospels – all the different meals that Jesus shared with people and who was always with him. Luke is actually the best gospel when it comes to talking about meals and food and who Jesus always ate with. So here are just a few examples of Lord’s Suppers from Luke’s Gospel. 5:29 Jesus is found eating with Levi and the other tax collectors 6:1 Jesus is out in a grain field with his disciples on the Sabbath 7:34 Jesus is called a glutton and a drunkard for eating with tax collectors and sinners. 8:55 Jesus eats with Jairus’ daughter, whom he has just raised from the dead 9:17 Jesus eats with 5000 people with just 5 loaves and 2 fish 10:38 Jesus is at the home of Mary & Martha – two women 11:37 Jesus ate with a Pharisee 14:1 Jesus ate at the home of a prominent Pharisee 19:5 Jesus goes and eats with Zacchaeus 22:14 Jesus eats with his disciples at the Last Supper 24:30 Jesus ate with the two men who were on their way to Emmaus
In every one of these meals, Jesus is showing us how to be hospitable, how to truly care for people, and who is it that belongs to him. In his kingdom, there are no divisions, Jesus is truly for everyone. And the only reason we can practice good hospitality and the most important reason why we should try so hard in being hospitable is because Jesus offers us ultimate hospitality. He comes to us, invites us to his table, feeds us, nourishes us, cares for us, listens to us, and makes us the most important thing in his life. He never really cared about the rules or regulations, about the expectations or the perceptions. The honest truth was and what got him in trouble time and time again was this fact – He ate with sinners. He eats with us, so we can eat with strangers and those different from us. He feeds us, so we can feed strangers and those different from us. He welcomes us, so we can welcome strangers and those different from us. We all belong to the body and failure to recognize that fact is what will get us in the most trouble. Just ask Paul. So, now its time for our little hospitality practice and tip. It’s pretty easy. It’s called 5 Good Minutes. One of my favorite TV shows is called Pardon the Interruption. It’s a sports talk show on ESPN and its basically two guys yelling at each other the whole time, offering their opinions about various sports topics. Well, anyway, they always have a segment on their show called 5 Good Minutes, where they stop yelling at each other and instead interview some athlete or coach. Our tip today is called 5 Good Minutes and its kind of related. One of the best things about coming to church is that you get to see all your good friends and you get to find out how their life is going, and you get to check in with them. After all, odds are that you haven’t seen them in a WHOLE WEEK! So much can happen in a week. Well, here’s how 5 Good Minutes works. As soon as the worship service is over, your goal as the body of Christ, is to give 5 Good Minutes getting to know a part of the body that you don’t know. Rather than focusing on seeing your friends and people you see every week, spend the first 5 Good Minutes recognizing and meeting a new person or stranger. And if you think you know everyone, then pick out the person you know the least well. All it takes is 5 Good Minutes. I promise, your friends will still be here after 5 minutes is up. I promise, there will still be time to catch up with them over a donut or coffee, especially if they are also practicing 5 Good Minutes. But unless you talk to the new person in those first couple minutes, they’ll be gone and you may never see them again…part of the body you’ll be missing out on. Now, it may take some guts on your part when it comes to your friends. You may have to say to them, can you wait for 5 minutes while I talk to this new person? If they’re truly your friend, I’m sure they will. 5 Good Minutes is enough time to meet someone new, find out a little about them, find some common ground, and even begin to form a relationship. Our new Commons area is going to be a place for this, but its going to take each of you dedicating those first 5 minutes after the worship service to welcoming someone you don’t know. So, let’s practice this. You now have 5 Good Minutes to mingle and talk to someone you may not know very well. I’ll even put up some conversation starters on the screen. 5 Good Minutes – Go! Okay, I hope you enjoyed that. The time goes by pretty quick if you engage someone. But for a visitor or for someone who has not been welcomed or talked to, 5 minutes can turn into 5 minutes of hell. Jesus has welcomed us to his table. Let’s be sure to welcome the entire body of Christ. Amen.
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