Humility and Hospitality
Jeremiah 2:4-13; Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16; Luke 14:1,7-14

August 29, 2004

It is an embarrassing experience to be reseated to a lower position. I know better than to take a seat of honour at a wedding banquet, even though, as the officiant, I am the most important person at the wedding. That status, however, evaporates the moment the register is signed. I have adopted the policy, unless one of the parties is a personal friend, of not going to the wedding banquet. I have never received any feedback indicating I was missed!

There have been other occasions, however, when I have been moved to a lower position. A year ago Jean and I took the Norwegian Coastal Voyage Cruise. For the noon meal there was open seating in the dining room. We found a well-appointed table, with a superb view and sat down. A waitress rushed over to inform us that we could not sit there - it was the Captain’s Table.

In spite of the occasional glitch, travelling by cruise ship beats the bus, especially between the stops! We took a bus trip a few years ago from Regina to Victoria. If you have ridden the bus you know that the best seats are the front right row. Here you have the best view of the road ahead. You are in a strategic position to give advice to the driver (which is much appreciated), and you can be the first off. I have never been quick or aggressive enough to get those seats. And the couple who do get them claim permanent occupancy. The chances are more likely for Ralph Klein to be removed from power than to dislodge the occupants of those seats! But we were fortunate to have a clever, fair minded tour leader, who legislated a seat change at every stop. She moved the group in clockwise rotation around the bus. We started the voyage near the back of the bus. But when we were going through splendid scenery of the Rocky Mountains we were occupants of those coveted front seats. So this was one instance that demonstrated the validity of Jesus’ words: For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Luke 14:11)

Two attributes that Jesus desired in his disciples are HUMILITY and HOSPITALITY. These two attributes complement each other. The basic premise of both is that we belong to, and are made for COMMUNITY.

To be humble is not to be a doormat, allowing people to walk over us. And more obviously, humility does not permit us to use others as doormats, or stepping stones, for achieving our purposes or reaching our goals. The essence of humility is that we value both ourselves and others as God’s creation, and joyfully affirm that we all belong to the family of God.

Today’s Old Testament reading is from Jeremiah. Jeremiah was called to be God’s prophet during the final days of Judah. Judah was all that remained of Israel after the ten northern tribes were resettled by the Assyrians and disappeared from history. Jeremiah’s Israel was roughly the territory that is now modern Jerusalem. Jeremiah was commissioned by God to speak the Word to his nation’s last three kings. All of them were epitomes of unhumility and inhospitality. Neither the message nor the messenger were well received. Because of his faithfulness Jeremiah spent time in jail. He was publicly humiliatedBput in stocks in the public square on one occasion. Another time he was thrown in a cistern, which mercifully had no water in it, only mud. Jehoiakim was especially nasty. Jeremiah’s word from God were delivered to him on a scroll. The king cut up the scroll and burned it in the fire. We may sometimes wonder if that is the fate of the briefs our Church sends to our governments. Not likely. They are very professionally filed away, but the end result is often the same.

It is a message of doom that Jeremiah delivers to the rulers of the nation and Jeremiah lays out the reason for the coming punishment:

for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

They forgot who they were. They forgot that they were a creation of God. They trusted in themselves. They did not trust in God. Their fall was the result of a failure in humility. They still believed they were God’s chosen people. But they had forgotten WHY they were chosen. They did not understand that they were not called for privilege, but for service, that they were called to be a channel of God’s blessing to other nations.

This interpretation of chosenness was inherited many years later by the Pharisees of Jesus’ time. They harboured no doubts that they were perfect. Humility and hospitality were unknown qualities to them, and also unnecessary. It is hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way! In a room full of pharisees there are some practical concerns when every guest feels entitled to the best seat. The problem could have been easily resolved if the host had had the foresight to provide place names. This oversight provided Jesus with the opportunity to offer some helpful advice to guests to go and sit at the lowest place. There will be no embarrassment if their host moves them to a higher place.

And then Jesus offers some advice on hospitality to his host. The current guest list is made up entirely of peers. The expectation then, as it is today, if you invite friends over, they will return the favour. It is an unwritten rule that they must invite you back to at least an equally lavish feast. And they feel indebted (like a debt unpaid) until they do. Jesus’ advice is to invite those who cannot pay you back

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. (Luke 14:13)

All of these overlooked people belong to God’s family and deserve our hospitality. If you did your homework for this Sunday, you would have read Hebrews 13:2 which was listed in last Sunday’s bulletin as the lectionary readings for today.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

The reference is to Abraham’s visitation by three men, whom he does not at first recognize as angels, who announce that Sarah will have child. He entertains them graciously and generously before their identity or mission is revealed. (Genesis 18:1-15)

A few weeks ago your minister, Bob Kitchen, told the story of a young man who stopped to help a motorist who was having car trouble (I’m throwing this in to let you know I wasn’t sleeping in Church). He fixed the problem and refused to accept any payment. For him it was simply the right thing to do. He did not know that the stranger was Donald Trump. The story ended with him getting all his debts and mortgage paid.

Do not practice hospitality with the expectation of being similarly rewarded. Do it because those strangers you help are your family. Your reward comes at the resurrection.

I have been reflecting on the report of a discussion that took place at the Interim Ministry Network Conference that was written up in that organization’s newsletter. Participants were sharing their predictions of what the Church might become in the Post-Christendom Era, which seems to be emerging. Will it still be around? And in what form?

Three views of the Church were identified, viz. 1. The Church of ME, 2. The Church of US, and 3. The Church of THEM

1. The Church of ME: Members of this Church are believers, but they have no involvement in a congregation. They believe in God and Jesus and Heaven. At one time they may have belonged to a Church congregation, but somewhere along the line they became detached. They may have been turned off by some of the controversial social stands taken by their denomination. Perhaps no one from their congregation called when they were sick. Or they don’t like the new hymns. Many members of the Church of Me are highly spirituality minded and are avid readers of the constant stream of new books that appear on the religion and spirituality shelf in the bookstores. The Church of ME has its attractions. You are not hounded to serve on committees. You are not pressured to contribute to the organ or furnace funds. It may be the fastest growing Church in this new century. The favourite songs of its members are Jesus loves ME, and In the Garden, which includes the words: He walks with ME and talks with ME, and tells ME I am his own. . .

2. The Church of US is struggling to find acceptance in this new world. A high value is placed upon the Church as community. Its members are actively involved in every aspect of congregational life. They attend worship faithfully. They serve on committees. They give of their time and money generously. As members of this Church we welcome all who will accept and embrace OUR values, OUR programs, OUR goals and OUR mission.

3.The Church of THEM also values community. Its primary mission is to serve those outside itself. Its members feel strongly called to serve those who have never darkened the door of the Church, and possibly never will. The Church of THEM welcomes those who are different, along with their differences, and are open to risking the changes that may come, when they respond.

Which of these Churches would you choose? This could be a productive discussion exercise to explore those three views of Church. But the truth is, there is only ONE Church. And it is not the Church of ME. It is not the Church of US. It is not the Church of THEM. There is one Church, and it is God’s Church. God’s Church transcends all our views and analyses and categories. In God’s Church there is room for Me, and Us, and Them. God’s Church includes all of God’s people.

Can we have the humility to receive Christ’s invitation to belong to his body, and take the place he has for us?

And as the Church will we practice the hospitality of Jesus, who invited all to come to him without condition?

Preached by Howard Hanson
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan