“When hospitality is viewed as entertainment, the house is never ready.” – Christine Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as Christian Tradition

Scripture: Genesis 18:1-10a (Common English Bible)
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat. He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply. He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree. Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”
They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”
So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.
They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”
And he said, “Right here in the tent.”
Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”

​Reflection: The last several weeks in worship, we've been focusing on the Core Values of OPCC and the characteristics of Vision as we seek to see through God's eyes.  The last several weeks in our world have also been very hard as we consider the violence and terrorism that has been so stunning on our human family.  The feelings of hopelessness abound as it seems impossible to turn on the news without yet another tragic story of violence.  

In these situations, and in this time, we know we can turn to scripture; scripture is full of situations that remind us to hope, even the ones that don't expressly talk about hope.  This Sunday we will focus on this passage from Genesis that reminds us of the Hope in Hospitality because hospitality is much more than simply getting your house ready for a party.
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We hope you will join us - the table is simply not complete when we are missing some of our family in faith!

The theme that will guide our reflection during this Lenten season is simple; “Faith Is Living… On The Way.” It’s only simple, however, if you assume that faith and the way are two different things. Faith is belief in God, and the way is the path we will follow to reach our goal. During Lent, this goal is Easter; overall this goal is heaven. Voila! Done and done.

But what if faith and the way are identical? What if faith is defined by its journey? “Now you’re just being silly,” you say? “That would put our theme somewhere between obscure and paradoxical… no help at all!” Nevertheless, there is precedent for the identification of faith and the way. Consider that the early Christian community did not refer to itself as Christian, but rather as The Way. They referred to themselves as followers of Jesus on the way. And you don’t get off the hook just by saying that faith as the way is obscure or even paradoxical. There is much in our faith that is obscure, and some that is over-the-top paradoxical. For example, consider God as “One in three and three in one,” or Jesus as “Truly God and truly human,” or “To save your life you only have to lose it,” or… well, the list could go on and on.

Humor me for a moment and consider what faith would look like if it was defined by its journey; if faith and the way were identical. Firstly, it would mean that faith is a verb; something we do, not something about which we hold an opinion. And it would mean that we would choose those with whom we fellowship less on what they believe to be true, and more on what their lives show to be true. And it throws the focus back onto our lives today. That is to say, the goal of faith is not to get to heaven; it’s not to bide our time through this warm-up act, waiting for the truly real to come along. No; faith as journey means that this life matters. God has the eternal covered, we need not fret about that. Rather, we are called to follow the way of Jesus. And that friends, is quite a journey. A journey to God in God’s presence, as one scholar has put it.

On Sunday we will begin an inquiry into what faith as a journey means for our personal and spiritual lives, and the way we look at our day-by-day living. I hope you will join us at 8:30 (classic worship) or 10:30 (creative worship). 

The table fellowship of Christians implies obligation. It is our daily bread that we eat, not my own. We share our bread. Thus we are firmly bound to one another not only in the Spirit but in our whole physical being. The one bread that is given to our fellowship links us together in a firm covenant. Now none dares to go hungry as long as another has bread, and anyone who breaks this fellowship of the physical life also breaks the fellowship of the Spirit.
                                                              — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

READING:
When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
                                                              - John 21.15-17 (CEB)

REFLECTION:
A friend recently shared with me that while most of us claim to harbor God's love in our hearts, that love is worthless unless we give it expression. Unless, that is to say, it flows through our lives into the lives of others. You know, into the lives of those pesky neighbors Jesus was always on about! My friend’s sentiment rang true to the life and message of Jesus, which I found mystifying, since my friend is Muslim. This twist in the conversation brought the words of Thomas Aquinas to mind, "One may never have heard the sacred word “Christ,” but be closer to God than a priest or nun." But that is not my point, so I will move on.

If we love God we will reach out to our neighbor to offer nurture and nourishment; or, to use the language of the New Testament, we will feed God's sheep. Fair enough; but what does that mean? What do we have to offer? Peter must have been haunted by that question as time and again Jesus challenged him to show his love for the risen Lord by feeding his sheep. What do we have to offer our neighbors? It is the same for us in our day as it was for Peter back in the day: address their needs; share from our bounty; offer personal, material, and spiritual support.

I must admit, that challenge makes me nervous, especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner. You see, I want to have that choice drumstick all to myself at the family feast, just as my cousin Richard used to manage (every year! Thanksgiving and Christmas.) I want to sit down at the thanksgiving table, thank God for the many blessings in my life, then keep them all for myself (especially that choice piece of turkey!) But - no - I'm supposed to share, just as Peter was to share. And If that’s not enough, Dietrich Bonhoeffer offered his two cents on the issue. “It is our daily bread that we eat,” he said, “not my own. We share our bread.“ I’ll have to admit, this is not a bad reminder as we approach the season of gratitude.

So, how do we express our love for God; how do we offer thanks for our many blessings? By feeding God's sheep, as Peter learned. Ann Weems seems to have learned this lesson, and speaks of it in a poem entitled Feeding Sheep. Perhaps if we interlace her words with Peter' story we will get a clear sense of what we should do next week:

When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said, “Feed my lambs.” There were no conditions… Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” He said, “Take care of my sheep… feed my sheep.” There were no conditions… Least of all, feed my sheep if they deserve it. Feed my sheep if you feel like it. Feed my sheep if you have any leftovers. He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” No conditions… just, “Feed my sheep.” Could it be that God’s Kingdom will come when each lamb is fed? We who have agreed to keep covenant are called… to feed sheep.

No conditions, just feed my sheep. No conditions, but I still have one question; may I please have the drumstick?

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm and we will be, we will be so happy.
                      - Rumi

READING:
Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been raised. On the Sabbath he went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave him the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”
                                        - Luke 4.16-21 (CEB)

REFLECTION:
Frederick Buechner likes to talk about beyond words; words that open out to things residing beyond their proper meaning and, more importantly, words that suggest images of things that could never be expressed in words at all, partial and limited as they are. They are mysterious words, because they point to mystery; they are strong words, because they have the courage to take on the nigh impossible, they are profound words, because they offer a glimpse of sheer profundity, and they are open words, because they are the gateway by which such profundity becomes present in our world. As stand-alone words they are partial and quite limited. As symbols of holy things, however, they are powerful beyond words (sorry; just couldn’t avoid the pun!).

Take the word favor, as in the year of the Lord’s favor. We understand it most of the time as a stand-alone word, a word we could define in our sleep. Shoot, ever’body knows what it means to receive favor: being looked on kindly, being given the choice piece of meat on the platter, being pampered and spoiled with all kind of good things. And more times than not, this is how we choose to understand God’s favor, as a stand-alone word that means just what we want it to. Many prodigious prosperity preachers (in this instance prodigious is synonymous with abnormal rather than amazing, at least in my humble opinion) take advantage of this habit by expounding on the material “blessings” God has in store for the favored. Hey, you too can be favored; send in a donation of any size and I will send you my latest book that explains how to become favored in God’s eyes!

In the passage from Luke 4 cited above, Jesus is not playing the prosperity preacher. He is using favor as a beyond word, a word that introduces us to a unique favor available only in God. Is it material? Is it money, success, or accomplishment? Don’t bet on it. These things don’t count for much in God’s estimation. You can, however, bet on it being beneficial, a source of healing, wholeness, and joy. Good news is always welcome and beneficial; but it is rarely accompanied by a cash deposit. The very thought of release is exciting to a prisoner; but will it remain so if the prisoner serves the remainder of the sentence? And sight is valuable beyond description to a blind person; but the sight Jesus mentions won’t necessarily provide a sharp image of the KC Royals playing in the ALCS.

Favor, in this instance, is totally new, beyond our day-to-day understanding (especially when that understanding is shallow and selfish!)… and life transforming. Favor, as Jesus uses it, is a thin veil through which we can see God drawing near. Favor, as Jesus presents it, is the gift of God’s presence which, when all is said and done, is all we need, or could ever hope for. Favor, as Jesus incarnates it, is found in God’s service, being the good news, opening cell doors, and touching lives with light. On Sunday we will examine this notion – the year of God’s favor – and explore any elements of the beyond it may offer as gifts.