Enthusiastic Hospitality
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 18:1-20; PM Psalm 18:21-50; Isa. 41:17-29; Eph. 2:11-22; Mark 2:1-12
One January, fifteen years ago, I was traveling in central India with some members of my church. I had organized a trip to learn about Christianity, specifically in a place where it was not the dominant religion. It helped that my friend, the Rev. Milind Sojwal, was from Pune and loved to help people visit and learn more about his country of origin. He agreed to lead our trip and off we went, halfway around the world to spend three weeks traveling and learning all we could about the world’s second most populated country.
Our trip led us to spend time in Pune, Chandrapur, Nagpur, wrapping our trip up in New Delhi and Agra. You can’t travel all the way to India and not visit the Taj Mahal! Our trip included time at a Christian seminary, visiting famous Hindu sites, an entirely new palette for food, and meeting more people than I could ever remember.
However, the most interesting part of the trip was the few days we spent visiting rural villages that the Church had been successful in converting to Christianity. These rural churches had no running water, no electricity, and the people there had never met a Westerner or person with white skin. We would go and share, often eating rice out of giant teak leaves careful not to consume anything that hadn’t been cooked well. Sometimes I would share a story and Milind would translate into Hindi and then one of the missioners traveling with us would translate into the local dialect. With two translations taking place, I am sure that a lot was lost.
Even fifteen years later, I am moved by how we were welcomed by these villages and communities. One village waited several hours after we were supposed to arrive and greeted us with a vibrant drum circle and festive meal. We were welcomed for no other reason than being fellow Christians, affirming their new hope in Jesus Christ and renewing our own. We were welcomed because of our shared identity in Christ. It is almost haunting how beautifully these communities extended hospitality and something I have rarely experienced or extended to others here in the United States. We might feel welcomed when we share a friend in common or even our denomination, but not usually because of our Christian identity. Especially not if we are coming from different traditions that seem at odds.
Listen to the words of the letter to the Ephesians: “You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” Earlier in our reading, the author talks about how the community is brought together through this shared identity.
I would be lying if I told you I didn’t have some serious reservations with how some people understand God and their Christian faith. While I have a lot of pride for our country, I am troubled by what I see as a surge of Christian nationalism. However, what I find encouraging in our text is the author of Ephesians speaks wisdom about not taking an “us and them” approach. Where I might be able to do work of reconciliation and healing, is to first see a shared identity with those whom I disagree with and even consider problematic as members of the Christian faith. As many of us have discussed heavily over the past few weeks, the “us and them” approach is not working. How different would the world be if we learned to truly welcome each other into our lives when we encounter those we disagree with by beginning with what we share in common and then move from there? What if we learned to welcome people into our lives with the same enthusiasm as the villagers in central India? Could our world like different?
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: When have you felt truly welcomed into a new environment?
Daily Challenge: Do you have a nemesis or person whom you can’t stand? Create a list of five to ten things that you have in common with that person.