August 29, 2010
Strangers and Angels
- Hebrews 13:1-8
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Hospitality to strangers is a theme that is constant through scripture. Some people just seem to know how to do it naturally. Others have forgotten.
When I began planning my sabbatical on the theme of welcoming strangers and entertaining angels it only made sense for me to begin at Our Lady of Grace Monastery. For the Benedictines- hospitality is an act of faith And they do it very well. It also made sense to include the Eritreans and Ethiopians for whom hospitality it is a way of life. I had no idea what I was in for.
In my 56 years I have lived in over 20 homes. Feeling “at home” is not something I know much about. And on a three month sabbatical, when we slept in 28 different beds, navigated three different countries in five different languages, endured a dozen airline flights, and traveled about 6000 miles in jeeps, cars, buses, vans and taxis what is hospitality exactly?
I have decided it tastes like food.
It feels like friendship.
It sounds like faith.
When the author of Hebrews speaks of welcoming the stranger it is a reference to Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament. They welcomed three strangers, who appeared at their camp,
giving them food, water, and shelter. These strangers turned out to be messengers from God
and they brought a blessing for Abraham and Sarah. Biblical hospitality is not about entertaining friends or family. Biblical hospitality is about taking in the stranger- providing provision and protection. Food, friendship, faith. It is not about being Martha Stewart. It is about welcoming Christ.
In the Old Testament times hospitality was a practical necessity. People were nomadic, they wandered. There were no Super 8 Motels, no Bed and breakfast directories, no McDonalds’ or Taco Bell. So people depended on strangers for food, and a place to stay.
Jesus encouraged the early Christians to continue this practice of hospitality. In this morning’s gospel lesson we hear him reminding his followers- Don’t just entertain the rich and the powerful, don’t only invite friends and neighbors to your table. Invite the poor, cripple, lame and blind and in doing so- you will be blessed.
When Jesus sent out his own disciples he required that they participate in hospitality- as the guest. He told them to take nothing with them on their journey but to depend entirely on the kindness of strangers.
After his resurrection Jesus was on the road to Emmaus and he became the stranger. Only when those two disciples invited him to join them as a friend and invited him to share their food; only when they reached out to the stranger in faith were they able to see Jesus.
We are called to welcome, care for, and befriend the stranger, the needy, the destitute the unloved, the unlikeable, the weird and the strange. We are challenged to imitate the table manners of Jesus, recognizing that the stranger may challenge us, may in fact change us, and could completely remake our world. That is one of the risks of hospitality It can backfire and do more for the host than it does for the guest.
Because times have changed since the biblical days, families have changed, communities have changed... We have by in large, turned the care of strangers over to professionals. We have created social welfare agencies, homeless shelters, feeding programs, hospitals and charities. These are all good and helpful and faithful but they do not relive us of personal responsibility.
Our concerns for personal safety and security should not keep us from experiencing the blessings of hospitality. Fear for our own future should not lead to accumulation and hoarding
so that we miss the joy of sharing. Our fear of scarcity must not allow us to tighten our grips on what we have and close our hearts to others in need. Jesus does not want us to miss the joy
and the blessings that hospitality has for us in the simplicity of food, friendship and faith.
Biblical hospitality is not a one sided ministry that we do to others. It is interdependence and reciprocal. Biblical hospitality requires us to be the host and the guest The stranger and the child of God. Without reciprocal relationships hospitality will be reduced to a demeaning form of charity.
When we were planning our journey to Ethiopia and Kenya I kept asking folks- What can we bring you? What do you need from us? What can we give you? I was thinking charity. They were thinking hospitality and the answer was always the same.
Just come and be with us.
Give us your presence.
Give us your time.
Give us your attention.
Sit at our table.
Listen to our stories and tell us your stories.
Hospitality is counter-cultural in our task oriented society. It is not about doing or accomplishing. It is about being and experiencing.
The Ethiopian Coffee ceremony is a traditional way to welcome guests.
We took part in that ceremony at the airport,
in the lobby of the Addis Hilton Hotel,
at the table of a seminary professor at Mekane Yesus Seminary
in a dirt floored hut outside a monastery on Lake Tana
in Shimelba Refugee Camp
in the home of Zenebesh, Meheret’s mother,
in the home of Solomon- our hired driver in Axum,
in the home of Estelu, our tour guide in Lalabela.
The ceremony takes much longer than a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
First, the fire is lit.
The, incense burned
as a way of signaling family and neighbors
that there is a coffee ceremony taking place and they are invited.
Popcorn is popped and shared.
The coffee beans are roasted
and then everyone has to smell the aroma of the roasted beans.
The water is heated and the cups are rinsed out.
The beans are ground and poured into the pot. (bunna jebena)
The coffee boils.
Eventually, the guests are served, beginning with the eldest.
One cup. Two cups. Three cups.
It is impolite to stop until you have consumed at least three cups, as the third round is considered to bestow a blessing. Transformation of the spirit is said to take place during the coffee ceremony. It works.
One evening in Kenya we were going to meet our host, Joseph for dinner.
I was very tired and worn out from visiting schools all day.
It was hot and late and the last thing I wanted was more conversation.
I really wanted to go to my room and sleep. But I went to dinner.
Over dinner we asked Joseph some simple question about his childhood.
For the next two hours, he told us a story
that changed the way we knew him, changed the way we understood Kenya,
changed the way we see the church and changed the way we understand ourselves.
Just a bit of food, little friendship and some faith.
I don’t have time to tell you all the experiences we had sharing food with strangers,
becoming friends with angels, sharing faith with brothers and sisters we never knew we had.
Hospitality is the vocation of every Christian. It is in sharing a table with a stranger that we see God. It is in sharing stories with a stranger that we see ourselves. It is in sharing ourselves with a stranger that we see the Kingdom here and now.
Amen.