Proper 8A and Cindy Blaine & Marlin Turbett Wedding
The Rev. Susie Shaefer
June 26, 2011 – St. John’s Plymouth

Very small things sometimes mean a great deal. My sophomore year in college, I went with a group of students from the college chaplaincy to Nicaragua. It was an alternative spring break sort of trip to a retreat house in Managua, a mix of service work and learning about the country and culture. Of course, there was also time for fun, which included playing Frisbee and basketball with the two young kids who lived across the street. One afternoon, we were playing with a purple ribbon from my suitcase. Ana, the little girl, was enamored with the shiny ribbon, and so I gave it to her. My Spanish was barely passable, but it was enough to talk with a six year old. Before we left for home, Ana had discovered that by tearing the ribbon lengthwise, she could have more ribbons – and so she returned the gift by giving me a strand to wear as a bracelet. The simple gift was so moving that I kept the ribbon tied around my wrist until it broke, nearly a year later.

Offering welcome to one another is really that simple – it is about giving and receiving, sharing our time and our space, and exchanging small gifts and kindnesses with the people who cross our paths. These are the actions that we call hospitality and it’s what Jesus calls us to practice in our reading today. In giving us this ministry of hospitality, Jesus promises that when we welcome others – whether familiar friends or complete strangers – meeting their needs as best we can, offering them a place of rest or an ear to listen – we are welcoming Jesus himself. Could it really be that by doing something as simple as offering a glass of water and a place to sit brings us closer to God?

The Bible is full of stories that teach us just that truth. Abraham and Sarah welcome three strangers into their home, offering food and shade, only to discover that they are hosting angels of God. The disciples on the road to Emmaus invite the stranger to stay for dinner, and find that the stranger in their midst is the Risen Christ.  Perhaps you have had such an experience, where a simple invitation and a gift of time has become an experience of God’s holy presence.

Because the beauty of hospitality is that anyone can practice this ministry. Welcoming the stranger, sharing what we have, offering a cup of water is something we can all do. It does not require a deep understanding of theology, a certain level or wealth or education or a particular job. My two-year-old daughter recently received a play tea set – and loves to pour pretend tea and give us cups to drink. So it would seem, offering basic hospitality doesn’t even require the ability to complete sentences!

Of course, simple things are not always easy things.  Like many activities in the church, the gift of hospitality can get distorted when we start to believe that it’s all about us. With the best of intentions, we start to dream of the ways our hospitality, our gifts, our service can change THEM – the people we don’t know, the people who have less than us, the people who need something. We like to imagine the ways our hospitality can change others and even change the world – and, it can do those things - but God calls us to be people of welcome because it changes us – brings us closer to who God wants us to be as followers of Christ. As a song by folk-rock band The Indigo Girls claims, “we may not see it when its sticking to our skin, but we’re better off for all that we let in.” Expanding our worlds, our lives and our hearts by welcoming others in brings us closer to God – it changes US. Maybe it changes the people we encounter – but God calls us to the work of hospitality because it affects our hearts and shapes our own souls.

The work of welcoming someone into our lives brings us back to where we are here, today, and what we are doing this morning: celebrating the marriage of Cindy & Marlin. In just a few minutes, they will stand here in front of all of you – their community of faith – and promise to do exactly what Jesus asks of us: to open their lives and their hearts to one another, to make space to be together. Your new life together will be one of hospitality to each other – the giving and receiving of time, care, comfort and joy. Your ministry of hospitality will demand that you respect the different experiences and perspectives you each bring to your marriage, and to love one another through, in and because of who you are. Through God’s grace, the more you are able to love and respect and share who you are together, the more able you will be to offer a resting place for those who come your way – to be a haven of rest of peace to others.

May your life together be a sign to all of us of God’s love and grace, and a reminder that when we offer ourselves in love, we are changed for the better.

Offering our love and respect to those we encounter is the essence of hospitality, whether the guest is spouse, friend or stranger. The practice of welcoming others into our lives draws us closer to God and helps us see the world with God’s eyes. A story of an ancient rabbi explains it this way:  The ancient rabbi asked his students how they could tell when the night had ended and the day was on its way back. “Could it be,” asked one student, “when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?” No, answered the rabbi. Another student offered “Is it when you look at a tree in the distance, and can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?” No, that is not it, answered the rabbi. “Well, then, what is it?” demanded the students. “It is when you look on the face of any person, and can see your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do this, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.”
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Each time we welcome someone into our lives, we come closer to seeing as God sees. By offering hospitality, we can bring ourselves closer to the light of world, and help shine Christ’s light in the darkness. Amen.