Every year in the Church of the Nazarene, each church is called to have an annual meeting at which the annual reports of the pastor and the various ministry groups present their reports. I have seen many ways of presenting the pastor’s annual report, but the one seeming most appropriate is the sermon. A sort of “state of the local church” if you will, where the highlights of the past year are remembered and a vision for the coming year is laid out. My report to you this year, is titled: “The Kingdom of God: An Hospitable Kingdom.” The text for my report this year will be Luke 18:15-17. Hear the Word of the Lord.If there is one word that can sum up the last year, it is the word “change.” It was nearly 9 months ago that two people packed up a moving truck, just like they had done four years prior to that. The first move was on the heels of their wedding. During the course of the four years between moves, they had gained a new identity as a married couple. They had become part of a church that they were deeply in love with. They had built deep and lasting friendships. They began fulfilling their lives’ calls, one to pastor and one to teach. They were mentored by the very best pastors and teachers they knew. They could not have wished or prayed for a better life. But all good things must come to an end. Four years later they found themselves driving into the sunrise, as they headed east on I70, catching one last glimpse of the life they loved as it faded in the rear view mirror.
When they arrived, they found themselves living in a community that very much shared their story. That community had a long history. It was a long history of very short pastorates. Just recently, however, the relationship between pastor and people began to solidify. After having pastors for about two years at a time, one young pastor came to be their pastor. He stayed beyond the two-year mark. Two years became five, and five years became ten. Ten years became fifteen, and fifteen years became almost twenty. During those years, the two became one. Many exciting things became part of life: a live nativity, complete with swimming livestock; an outreach ministry to people the pastor grew to love. Life was good for a while, but all good things must come to an end.
Both the couple and the community were forced to grieve the loss of a past life that they loved so dearly. But more than that, both the couple and the community shared an excitement about the new lives that spring forth from the old ones. Every ending means a new beginning and that excitement was shared. Both knew that transitions can be very difficult, but both welcomed the challenge. And when the couple arrived to join their new community they found a community that welcomed them and loved them just as if they’d been one of them all along.
The house they found when they arrived looked nothing like the one they’d seen when they visited. They learned that the whole church chipped in and worked together to get things ready. Everyone worked hard right up until the move in day, when paint was still sticky! They found a brand new stove, which they expected to have to buy when they arrived. For months after, they regularly found little tokens of love that were left anonymously: a lasagna in the refrigerator, a Toronto football shirt, a Ford Racing hat. They left a community they loved. They found a community that welcomed them and loved them, even thought the community didn’t yet know them. That is good old fashioned, biblical, hospitality. And for that hospitality, this couple thanks you all.
Our scripture lessons today were lessons of hospitality. The first lesson is set in ancient Egypt. It was there that the Israelites were enslaved. It was there that they quickly grew stronger as a people. Pharaoh felt threatened, so he issued a decree that said every Hebrew boy that was born was to be thrown into the river. When Moses was born, he was thrown first into a basket and then into the river where Pharaoh’s daughter found him. She made sure he was taken care of. She found an Israelite woman who could nurture him. It just so happens that Moses’ mother was chosen. When Moses was old enough Pharaoh’s daughter took Moses as her son, and eventually even Pharaoh took him as his own.
The second lesson also concerns infants. Jesus was busy teaching when a group of young mothers began to approach him. They were carrying their own babies. Jesus was busy and the disciples tried to turn them away. Jesus, however, turned this confrontation into an opportunity to teach about the Kingdom of God. He welcomed the little children. He suggested Kingdom of God belonged to them. Accordingly, the Kingdom of God was a place where even they are welcome, and no one who fails to welcome them will enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus showed hospitality and defined his Kingdom in terms of hospitality.
In our Faith Promise service, Rev. Shmidt told a story that happened to him in the African wilderness. They were driving through the desert looking for one of remote villages that pepper the landscape there. They drove and drove but could not find the house they were looking for. As night fell on them they saw a house. They knew it would not be a good thing to be lost in the dark and so they stopped. They knocked on the door, and when it was answered they told the man at the door they were seeking hospitality. It was granted – with food and shelter and much conversation. At the very heart of the Kingdom of God lies hospitality. At the very heart of hospitality lies the idea of welcome. To be a Kingdom of God type of church, we must be a welcoming church.
Our stories this morning however, push us beyond simple welcome. Welcome is one thing. Kingdom hospitality is another. Kingdom hospitality is not just granting welcome, but it is granting a hero’s welcome to all – even if they have done nothing to deserve any welcome at all.
The catch is made apparent in Luke’s story when we consider who the children are. We often have difficulty understanding just who these children are. Today, infants are many things. They are sweet. They are so cute. They are innocent. They represent purity and all the best of life. We have no problems welcoming in the sweet and innocent. We have no problems being hospitable toward the pure and nice looking. However, this image of children that we hold onto so dearly, and rightfully so, keeps us from seeing the radical nature of Jesus’ hospitality.
Consider baby Moses. Baby Moses wasn’t just any baby. He was a Hebrew. He was an Israelite. Baby Moses was condemned and was sentenced to die. He was an outsider and a slave. When the Kings daughter found little Moses, she could have been furious that someone had tried to save him. She could have hunted down his parents who disobeyed the law and had them killed. She could have thrown him back into the river to drown. Perhaps, if she were in a good mood she could have taken him home as her slave! She did none of this. She loved him, who was a worthless Israelite, as her own. She adopted him, who was a slave, as her son. She showed hospitality to one who no one in her position should have been hospitable to. “Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
Consider Luke’s story. In Jesus’ day, people were valued based on their status. Status was largely reflective of their productivity. Children were at the bottom of the social ladder. Older children could contribute a little, but infant contribute nothing. They consume more than anyone else – food, time, energy – and they contribute absolutely nothing. Infants are the lowest rung on the ladder. Perhaps this is why the disciples reacted as they did. There were so many lives to touch and Jesus was supposed to make time for the infants. Real people with real needs needed him. These kids were taking more of Jesus’ time that was already in short supply. Perhaps they thought they were doing him a favor, but Jesus says the kingdom is for exactly these children – these lowly, worthless children.
The disciples shouldn’t be surprised should they? Jesus has been perfectly clear since the very beginning. You remember the words he read when he returned to Nazareth: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon be, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” To this list, Jesus adds the infants. He has pretty well included all of the untouchables, all those who were outside of the bounds of “civilized” society. “The Kingdom of God belongs to such as these…whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as [such] will never enter it.”
Antonina and I are very grateful for the welcome that you have given us. We appreciate it very much. However, being a Kingdom of God type of church is to give that same welcome to every person that walks through our doors. That is quite a tall order to fill. It is one that all churches have a difficult time filling. While I am very grateful for the hospitality shown to us, I am concerned because more than once I have seen examples of denying hospitality to those seeking it. I’ve heard some under the breath comments and attitudes that seem to say, “It’s a good thing people like that don’t come here” or, “We really don’t want that kind of person here.” I heard of people who don’t really like to come because we act so cliquish and snobbish. I wonder where that fits in with our message of holiness. I wonder where that fits in the Kingdom of God.
Most of all though, I don’t wonder…I dream. I dream about a community that people flock to because they know they will be welcomed. I dream about a church that takes the Kingdom of God seriously enough to welcome it with all the “little children,” and all “oppressed,” and all the “captives.” I dream about a church where hospitality means giving a hero’s welcome to all the neglected children, all the abused wives, all the addicted husbands. I dream of a place where hospitality means that the neglected can find love, the abused can find refuge, and the addicted can find freedom. I dream about the Kingdom of God being an hospitable kingdom.
I dream knowing that dreams are a long way away. But I dream knowing that dreams come true step by step by step. You all know that our big task for the year is to begin to define our mission. Who are we called to reach out to? Who is missing from our community? Who are we well gifted to minister to? No matter how that discussion is resolved – no matter how that mission is defined – we must begin by making this an hospitable kingdom. I want to challenge you to start dreaming this dream. I want to invite you back this evening as we ask what it would take for every person that God sends to feel as welcomed as you have made Antonina and me feel. Last year was one of welcoming a new pastor. Lets make this year a year of showing hospitality to a community, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. And truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, or a crippled beggar, or a wandering stranger, or an abused wife or an addicted husband will never enter it.” To the glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
