Hospitality
(COVID Edition)
“The lost art of the Christian church.” Perhaps that is a little harsh but I don’t think so. The atomization of the human experience into a life of cocooning has been going on for a long time. It may be a stretch to say fasting is a new phenomenon but it is clearly waning in significance. How often do we entertain the stranger in our midst or reach out and welcome friends and acquaintances into our orbit? The deeper question might be, Why do it at all? What is the purpose?
As believers, we believe that God is inclusive. It is the core teaching of the Beatitudes in Jesus’ great discourse on the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5) God cares about those who are left out. Our world tends to be strongly exclusive in its gatherings and politics.
James Bryan Smith in The Good and Beautiful Life writes:
“When we speak of hospitality we are always addressing issues of inclusion and exclusion. Each of us makes choices about who will and who will not be included in our lives... Our entire culture excludes many people.
If you are in a wheelchair, for example, you are excluded because there are places you can’t go. If you are young, if you are old, you are excluded. In high school you can be excluded if you don’t wear the right shoes or listen to the right music. Women are excluded, as are people of color, and those who practice a different religion from our own... The poor are always excluded; they are our embarrassing little secret.”
When we live in the kingdom of God we are asked to mimic God’s heart by including others because our King is a God of hospitality. We are made vulnerable by interacting with others’ moral postures and behaviours. There are even times when the fear of the other places us in a position of trust and the knowledge that God has surrounded that moment with his grace issuing through us to love and encourage another.
Whether it’s a backyard BBQ, a walk in the woods, a cup of coffee at your favourite roastery, the art of “preparing a table” (Psalm 23) allows God to do the same as we are his hands and his feet and his mouth for another to experience grace and acceptance.
Even in a time of COVID we can find ways and means in anticipation of the call to be a host when things break open and we can meet freely again...and soon.