The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
July 18, 2010
Vol. 13 no. 28
The perennial battle of the Marys and Marthas always seems to overlook what the two sisters were attempting to do for their guest. They were doing their best to be hospitable, to be gracious hosts.
The Lectionary this week offers an alternative Old Testament reading from Genesis 18 to go along fittingly with the Mary and Martha “choosing the best part” episode. The two fit well because they are both about being hospitable to divine guests: the sisters hosting Jesus, and Abraham and Sarah receiving the three angels out of the desert nowhere. Sure, both get around to less mundane conclusions, but they begin with making their guests welcome.
Why do you need to do that? One of the cardinal principles of ancient Near Eastern culture was the requirement to receive strangers and guests into your home, feed them and relieve their pains, no questions asked. In such a subsistence arid environment, it was literally a matter of life and death on occasions. To not be gracious - full of the free gift of God’s love - would be a shameful reputation to have to bear and nobody would trust you with anything. Some of you know about farmhouse doors never being locked out on the vast prairie for pretty much the same reason. Hospitality can be a life or death matter.
Sometimes you receive more from being hospitable than you give. The three men that appeared in front of Abraham’s tent in the desert gave Abraham and Sarah the laughable assurance of a new future. Martha fed everyone, just as the Good Samaritan had rescued the robbed and beaten man, but it’s just as important to sit down and listen to your guest’s stories. It’s not an either/or dilemma, but a both/and opportunity.
Robert Kitchen
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan