A FAMOUS minister was
scheduled to preach at a small church out in the country. When
that Sunday came, every seat in the sanctuary was filled, and
a crowd was standing outside.
As the church was a small one, it didn't have a PA system. So
just before the preacher was about to begin his sermon, one of
the ushers went up to him and said, "Speak up! Remember the
people on the outside."
Remember the people on the outside. Really, that's what our church
is all about.
Israel was commanded by God to show hospitality, not only to fellow
Jews, but to the "sojourner, the stranger in your gates".
Deuteronomy 10 says, "Remember, you were a stranger and a
sojourner and God took you in."
You do the same. We live in a politicised world. Sometimes, we
hear that it is not what you know but who you know. Connections
are so vital in life and relationships. The newcomers are disadvantaged
in this old boys' or old girls' network. As a result, they may
be vulnerable.
How do we treat them? Do we treat them the way we ourselves would
like to be treated? How do we initiate them into our community?
Do they experience God's peace, acceptance and the spirit of Shalom
here?
We tend to find security with those who are like us. We like people
who agree with us. Birds of the same feather flock together.
But Jesus calls us to choose the path less travelled. He calls
us to dare to be different -- to embrace the other.
Hospitality is making room for the stranger and as a result we
make room for God. It is when we do this that we grow in our faith,
that we enlarge our notion of family. Maybe that's why Jesus says
that a great test of our faithfulness is: " ... I was a stranger
and you welcomed me".
Fred
Craddock spoke of a church that has lost the gift of hospitality.
This church has become exclusive instead of being inclusive. The
church has become more a country club than the body of Christ.
Pastor Fred was serving in a beautiful, little church in Tennessee.
Almost overnight, the little bitty city began to bloom with atomic
energy. People came in from everywhere and pitched tents, lived
in wagons, in trailer parks, lived in everything temporarily to
work. The church was not far away.
AFTER church one Sunday morning Fred asked the leaders to stay.
He said to them: "Now we need to launch a calling campaign
and an invitational campaign in all those trailer parks to invite
those people to church."
"Oh, I don't know,"
one of them said. "I don't think they'd fit in here. They're
just here temporarily, just construction people. They'll be leaving
pretty soon."
"Well, we ought to invite
them, make them feel at home," Pastor Fred said. They argued
about it, time ran out, and they decided to vote the next Sunday.
Next Sunday, they all sat down after the service.
"I move," said one of them, "I move that in order
to be a member of this church, you must own property in the county."
Someone else said, "I second that." It passed. I voted
against it, but they reminded me that I was just a kid preacher
and I didn't have a vote. It passed.
Some years later, when we moved to these parts, I took my wife
to see that little church because I had told her the painful,
painful story.
The roads have changed … but then there, back among the pines,
was that building shining white. It was different. The parking
lot was full - motorcycles, trucks and cars packed in there. And
out front, a great big sign: Barbecue, all you can eat.
It was a restaurant, so we went inside. The pews were against
a wall. The organ was pushed over into a corner. There were people
sitting eating barbecued pork and chicken and ribs - all kinds
of people. I said to Nettie, "It's a good thing this is not
still a church, otherwise these people couldn't be in here."
(Craddock Stories, p.28).
We live in a global village and we are interconnected to one another.
The Gospel based on Jesus Christ is hospitable and inclusive.
We celebrate diversity as a gift from God. John Wesley would cut
across oceans, national boundaries and human-made barriers to
minister to others. " … he collected money for Native
American schools in America ... When he learned that the British
authorities were mistreating their French prisoners of war, he
invited his Methodist people to contribute money that he used
to buy clothing and blankets for the Frenchmen, persons who have
never occupied a high place in British affections". (John
Wesley, a man who shook the Spiritual Earth by John McEllhenney).
The Church is a place where outsiders become insiders.
The Rev Gabriel
Liew is Pastor of Kampong Kapor Methodist Church.
QUOTE:
MAKING ROOM FOR GOD
'Hospitality is making room for the stranger and as a result we make room for God. It is when we do this that we grow in our faith, that we enlarge our notion of family. Maybe that's why Jesus says that a great test of our faithfulness is: " ... I was a stranger and you welcomed me". '