Date: August 25th & 28th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
First Reading: Proverbs 25:6-7
Psalmody: Psalm 112
Second Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14
When I was in seminary, I took a course called Historical Christology and Modern Cinema. Or, in simpler terms, I watched a bunch of movies and TV shows and discussed how they handled Jesus and other historical religious topics. It was a great course, and I learned quite a bit, but it took some time to get into the right mindset as we learned. At the beginning of the course, we had a list of possible characteristics that Christians attribute to Jesus, and so when we found a Christ figure in these movies, we had to figure out which of those characteristics were present in that character. It was fairly difficult at first, not because knowing who the Christ figure was in the show was hard, but because we had never taken the time to make these connections.
Over the course of the semester, we began to notice connections between the films, and found ways to identify traits or characteristics more easily because we had continually built up and practiced our skills in doing so. Sometimes the best way to learn something, to make it stick, is to allow for time and repetition to work together until eventually you not only have a foundation to understand that topic, but a background of sturdy tools and understanding grounded in that foundation, that have even more room to grow. As I was preparing for our worship this week, this was the feeling I had as I read our readings for the first time. It felt like we have been circling the same topic for a long time, and now the time is here to face the topic head-on and consider what we have been taught the past month and a half in our worship services.
Many of our readings these past few months have been circling a similar topic, and we have woven in and out of them but today, I want to focus on what it feels like these passages have been leading up to and contributing to week after week. And that theme is—radical hospitality. These past weeks have had readings about the disciples searching for hospitality among those they visit in new towns and villages, a Samaritan caring for a stranger in trouble on the road, Abraham and Sarah welcoming strangers to their tent and caring for them, Mary and Martha welcoming Jesus, a parable of someone searching for food for their friend in the middle of the night by waking a third friend from sleep, another parable warning against greed and storing treasure for oneself without sharing, and just last week, Jesus healing a woman on the sabbath even when others might have sent her away to return another day.
And so, after all these weeks of readings, we arrive at this day’s Gospel and have Jesus telling two parables about how to act properly at a feast held by someone else, and how to properly throw a banquet when you are the host rather than the guest. Time and time again these stories have uplifted the characters who have welcomed abundantly and without question, while casting warnings on those who fail to do so. Sometimes it can take a long time for ideas to truly settle into our heads and I think the lectionary has done a great job to prepare us for this week’s reading by slowly reiterating the importance of radical, hospitable, welcome. But what exactly does “radical hospitality” mean?
Deacon Ryan Dunn of the United Methodist Church states that radical hospitality, “…sends a message beyond, “you are welcome to join us.” It says, “We see you and want to join you, wherever you are.” In short, radical hospitality doesn’t just ask “do you want to be with us?” It says “how can we be with you?”” OR another definition, this one from the Metropolitan Council in Minnesota describes it as, “a practice of putting extraordinary effort and emphasis on making people feel welcome. This concept is often referred to as “radical welcome,” and focuses on breaking down barriers that prevent people from participating in a…community. Overcoming these barriers means accommodating things like scheduling, transportation, and childcare needs, as well as addressing the verbal, environmental, or behavior actions that may result in participants with identities outside of the dominant culture…feeling unwelcome.” Both of these explanations may be helpful in grasping what radical hospitality is, but in practice they do little when it comes to the actual actions that define being radically welcoming and hospitable.
For that today, I turn us to our readings, both from Luke and from Hebrews. They offer some concrete, though difficult, ways to begin living into radical hospitality. Some of the commands in our readings today are as follows: Do not sit down at the place of honor when attending someone else’s banquet. Do not invite people to lunches or dinners you host who can repay or invite you in return. Invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. Remember those in prison and those being tortured. Be content with what you have. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have.
That is quite the list when you put them in succession like that. Not only in the scope of who is included, but also in the ways it responds to real life scenarios we may encounter.
Are we prepared for all this is asking? To extend invitations to those among us who are poor, disabled, imprisoned, or strangers? And when we extend those invitations, are we making sure that the table they are invited to has been prepared properly for all? Is there space for a wheelchair, does the available food account for allergies or other dietary needs, are menus or signs printed in more than one language, are booster seats or highchairs available, is there a locked door to the dining room before even being able to approach the table?
These are just some of the questions that might allow us to consider what it means to be radically welcoming like Jesus is calling us to be in this passage and the ones that have come before it. These are not the only questions to ask, they are only the beginning of exploring how we as both a community and as individuals can offer radical hospitality to all. And we do this not for our own benefit or pride or righteousness, Jesus warns us against these traps in the first part of the parable that he tells in this passage. Rather, we do this to create a better space that is truly made so that all can share in mutual love and fellowship regardless of who they are.
It is not merely about saying the table has an open invitation, but about preparing and changing the dining room and the table itself so that when someone new shows up, it is ready to welcome them exactly as they are. Because embracing radical hospitality does not mean we always have the right answers or we are always prepared for any situation of welcome, it means that we are willing to make a commitment to adjust and change when an example of our lack of welcome comes to our attention. Radical Hospitality has been in our readings time and again over these past months, building and building our reference for what it means to welcome all people, at any time, in every place. And now, after all this time and repetition, we are called to put into action what we have been reading and learning. So, let us go forth, asking the questions that foster a welcoming space for all, and embracing God’s call for undeniably radical hospitality. Thanks be to God.