Proper 6a  Ministry is hospitality, hospitality is ministry

It might surprise you how many people depend on the kindness of strangers.  It might surprise you that several times a week, I get a call from the 911 dispatcher about someone who is walking through town with no place to stay.  Or a knock at the office door here at the church, from someone who is hungry and has no where to spend the night.  It might surprise you that like the ancient nomads, we still live in a desert with many lonely travelers who are looking for a moment of peace, for a cup of cold water or for a sign of encouragement.  Ministry is hospitality, and hospitality is ministry.

 It was always so, and the lesson from Genesis points out that before there was a Super 8 or a Motel 6, hospitality was a commandment.  Abraham practiced hospitality and in the story we hear today, it was the hottest part of a Middle Eastern day. To give you some idea of what the temperature was like, the forecast today for Bagdad is 105 and for Southern Israel 104 degrees.  Abraham was shading himself under his tent, when from out of nowhere three strangers appear.  As the story goes, he ran from his tent to meet them. Abraham follows the first law of hospitality which is to provide a free and friendly space for the stranger, a space in which the stranger can become a friend instead of the enemy. And so Abraham urges the three men, not to leave, to stay for a while: “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.” This is how it works.  We sit down together, we discover how much we have in common, and suddenly the ones who were strangers become guests and maybe even friends.  In an atmosphere of hospitality the ones who strangers, the ones who were possible enemies are treated guests and therefore as potential friends.

Next, Abraham performs the second rule of hospitality.  He offers the newcomer’s gifts. Abraham offers them a little water and bread for them.  But something happens through the miracle of hospitality. We see that Abraham does far more than the bread and water he first promises to the men. He tells his servant to prepare choice flour for bread and to bring one of the tender and good calves for the guests. His hospitality exceeds not just the expectations that any guests could have but even what he has represented to them.

Finally, the third rule of hospitality.  These strangers, who are now guests, give gifts to Abraham and his wife Sarah. We still have this custom.  We bring a bottle of wine when we are invited to dinner or a small gift when we stay with friend.   The third law of hospitality is to reciprocate, to return a gift to the one who shows us hospitality. Although they expected nothing in return Sarah and Abraham are richly blessed by the promise of a son.  It is a part of the third rule of hospitality to accept the gift from the stranger.

You know it is often hard to accept a gift.  Many fathers today will receive ties or shaving mugs designed like golf bags.  We should not underestimate how hard it is for Abraham and especially for Sarah to receive gifts.  After all it is only a promise. Sarah laughs out loud (LOL as we say) and it seems a bit rude to her guests.  But she is underscoring the necessity of openness, and even more, poverty of spirit to receive the gifts from the strangers.  It requires of us humility and poverty of heart and mind to receive the gifts that strangers bring—in other words, we have to believe that we don 't know it all and have not experienced it all, but we are receptive to learn from newcomers. 

In addition to all this there’s an element of mystery in our reading from Genesis.  So powerful was this story that the author of Hebrews picked up on it when he urged his congregation to demonstrate hospitality. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for by this some have entertained angels unawares" (13:2).   Tradition tells us that the three persons that Abraham served and provided for were the three persons of the Holy Trinity.   Ultimately the host is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God is the ultimate Host - hospitality reminds us that we are all guests of God who ultimately the Host who welcomes us.  According to the first rule of hospitality, God creates a free and friendly space in this Church and around his own table.  God provides this space so that we will no longer be servants and strangers but now friends.  Secondly God gives us a gift.   He offers us bread and wine.  We recognize through faith that he has given us so much more, the life of his own beloved Son as our Spiritual food. For our part we must have openness and poverty of spirit to really appreciate and accept the ultimate gift.   Finally, according to the third law of hospitality, we must give back, we must reciprocate. We accept the cup of salvation and we promise to go out and do the work that God has given us to do, to love and serve as faithful witnesses. The first act that we perform is to open the doors of Hunter hall to create a free and friendly space for our guests.  The cycle begins again because ministry is hospitality and hospitality is ministry.  Amen