Scruffy Hospitality and an Open Seat at the Table Acts ; John

Transcription

1 !! Scruffy Hospitality and an Open Seat at the Table Acts ; John I want to begin by saying Happy Mother s Day to all our ladies this morning. We are thankful for mothers and grandmothers in our life, those who reared us and support us still. We grieve the mothers we have lost in this life. Yet motherhood is not limited to biological parentage, but is a vocation in the Kingdom of God carried out by women in many different ways. Jesus said, the one who does the will of the Father, this one is my mother, my father, sister, or brother. So we give thanks for mothers, not only in blood families today, but for spiritual mothers in the one family of God. / It s interesting that Mother s Day in America coincides this year with another Sunday we celebrate every year midway through the Easter season. Today is called Good Shepherd Sunday and we hear that theme threaded through each of today s readings. So it might seem a bit surprising that on this Good Shepherd Sunday I ll be directing our focus principally on this brief reading in the book of Acts. I ll touch on the shepherding theme later on, but instead of exploring John 10 in detail, I want to take an indirect route. I have a few reasons for that. First of all, it was only a month ago that I preached on John 9, including significant portions of John 10. You may have forgotten that sermon, but you may remember when I took a panorama shot with my iphone of you beautiful people. / You can listen or read that sermon, entitled A Panorama of the Good Shepherd s Church, on our website. The essence of that message I preached a month ago is that we have inherited the ministry of the Good Shepherd. I see that sermon connecting with today s reading from Acts. When we understand that Christ entrusts ministry to us, we become interested to see how his ministry takes shape in us. One of the earliest images of the church s ministry given to us is this passage from Acts 2. The church is newly born, empowered by the descent of the Spirit. What are the central features of her ministry? The apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. When I shared our vision for ministry in this place two weeks ago, I emphasized these four commitments as vital priorities for our future as a parish. Today I would like Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!1

2 to unpack these commitments from Acts and connect them with our calling to be a community of the Good Shepherd. // The apostles teaching; the fellowship; the breaking of bread; the prayers. These four specific, particular actions in community establish rhythm and purpose to the early church. It is a beautiful vision for sharing life together in community. Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. But it seems like some Christian utopia that is only possible in the age of the apostles with the afterglow of Pentecost. With such a profound vision of spiritual community, there s usually been two responses on opposing poles. On the one hand, you have scholars who contend that this is a problematic story. They tell us that Luke has given the church an idealized portrayal of the church at Pentecost, so don t set this up as a standard. So, they dismiss its importance because they say this is an idealistic vision, not a real vision. On the other hand, you have people inspired by the church at Pentecost and want to recreate this church in our time. Some communities aim to do things with as much precision and accuracy in the apostolic church in our day and time. That, however, introduces all kinds of other problems, namely an inability to recognize what new things God is doing in the present, not in the past. / Where does all this leave us? Well, first of all, it s important to situate this passage in the full story Luke is telling. Remember that Luke is the author of Acts. I ve always described Acts as the sequel to the Jesus story in Luke s Gospel. So the attributes of the early church are connected to all that Jesus taught in the Gospels. The generosity toward the community fulfills the teachings of the Lord himself of caring for those in need, such as he taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The emphasis on breaking bread reminds us of the sign of the loaves and fish; the Last Supper; and the moment when the risen Lord was revealed at Emmaus through the breaking of bread. So when we see spiritual power breaking into the church after Pentecost, we remember that this kind of community is only possible because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. This community is not the achievement of good human or civil engineering. This kind of community is only possible because the Holy Spirit descended upon the church. The Holy Spirit enables the church to share this vibrant life together. / Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!2

3 Receiving the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, means that we are empowered in community, but it does not imply the absence of difficulties and conflict in community. If we uphold these attributes of the early church as a framework for our future, we also must tell the whole truth about their history in the early church. Only four chapters after Acts 2, there is conflict surrounding the breaking of bread when Greek widows are neglected in the distribution of food within the church. Spiritual elitism and fractured fellowship is a consistent issue in several New Testament churches, especially at Galatia and Corinth, where divisions emerge between rich and poor, Jews and Greeks. Adhering to the apostles teaching was a consistent struggle for the apostolic church as the Gospel spread throughout the Mediterranean world. False teaching attacks the church and it is the subject of several passages in Peter, Paul, and John s writings. Finally, there is the matter of worship in the prayers. The temptation to return to idolatry exists in the early church, especially in the churches of Pergamum and Sardis in John s Revelation. / How do we reconcile these good, pure, and beautiful beginnings with the rest of the church s story that isn t so inspiring and attractive? Are we setting ourselves up for failure by holding these disciplines as a framework for our own future? I think the answer to these questions lies within Luke s own words in Acts 2.42: And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and in prayers. It is not the beginning of learning the apostles teaching, not the high moments of fellowship, neither the memorable moments over breaking bread, nor the spiritual highs in prayer and worship that define a community. It is continuing steadfastly in these practices that defines the church at Pentecost. The Greek verb that Luke uses may also be translated as persisting steadily. This word is translated elsewhere in the New Testament as persevering. The apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers are not reserved for an elite church basking in the afterglow of Pentecost. They are the features of a persevering community entrusted with a Great Commission for the life of the world. Each of these community attributes deserve a sermon all their own, but I want to emphasize the fellowship and the breaking of bread, especially since I explored the apostles teaching in last week s sermon. What does it mean to persist, to persevere in the fellowship and the breaking of bread? Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!3

4 In some ways we have to dislodge fellowship from a connotation of casual conversations. The Greek word here is koinonia and would be better translated as the life together. There is a deep sharing of community here. One of the main settings for the fellowship and living life together takes place around food, both the food shared in worship the Eucharist and the ordinary meals that early Christians shared together. The early church grew because they were regularly gathering around a table in common meals. From this great surge of conversions on Pentecost 3,000 people the early church sustained their life together by eating together. // When we see that eating together was central to the church s mission and her rhythm, then we can also see the place of intersection with the Good Shepherd s ministry. The Good Shepherd prepares a table for his sheep. The Good Shepherd fed his people when they were hungry with the loaves and the fish. Now the church, also witnessing signs and wonders in her apostles, prepares a table just as their Good Shepherd had done for them. / Our calling is to gather around tables, to prepare a table for one another, but even more so for the guest. Because that is what God is like. I referenced this icon of the Trinity in my presentation on Apostles vision, but I wanted you all to have this again. The three persons of the Godhead gather in relationship, always with an opening at the table. There is food prepared, recognizing the basic needs and hungers of any human being. The guest is not only welcome for one meal, it represents invitation and welcome into the relationship around the table, the relationship of eternal love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. / Here s the reason for urgency to welcome people to this open seat around the table. In recent years, studies show that the average American has only two close friends. The number of people who say they have no confidante is doubling. Today, 40% of adult meals are eaten alone. 1 Sometimes eating alone can be enjoyable. [The introverts cheer]. But when it becomes the norm, it s isolating and deeply discouraging. So we invite people to an open seat at our table. That s what our Good Shepherd has done and is doing for us, so we will do this for others. It s why we re emphasizing hospitality as a central feature of our church s vision. Hospitality, the 1 Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!4

5 breaking of bread, helps us persist and persevere in sharing life together. and welcoming guests who are hungry for friendship just as much as they hunger for food. Thanks to our hospitality ministry, we have an excellent ministry serving people with food in times of need. We are creating a welcoming environment to share meals in this house and we are committed to enhancing that ministry here on site in years to come. But the breaking of bread as a community need not be limited to this place. The open seats are not only the chairs in our Fellowship Hall or the places in our pews. What about your home? What about your family? Your group of friends eating together around Knoxville? What about the open seat at those tables? // Every week you and I are sent forth from this place in the power of the Spirit. I believe we are also sent forth to break bread together, to invite people into the open seats around the tables we ll occupy through the week. / Prepare a table just like the Good Shepherd does for us. / And here we meet obstacles, especially as Southerners. We have unwritten standards that we cannot host new friends or old friends in our homes until everything is order. / It s like we think guests are coming over to our house simply to evaluate the condition of our home and grounds. It s not a house inspection, it s friendship. I d kind of like to see more people embrace what I d call scruffy hospitality. Knoxville was once called a scruffy little city as an insult and we took it as an affront. Now we ve embraced it. We took an insult and made it into a gift and it s infused our city with joy and welcome. Why not embrace scruffy hospitality in your home? Scruffy hospitality means you re not waiting for everything in your house to be in order before you host and serve friends in your home. Scruffy hospitality means you hunger more for good conversation and serving a simple meal of what you have, not what you don t have. Scruffy hospitality means you re more interested in quality conversation than the impression your home or lawn makes. This issue has become more important to Emily and me over the years as we work out the calling of hospitality in our own family. With two children under the age of 4, I ve started inviting people to our house saying, would you like to come over for a few hours of distracted conversation and organized chaos? If so we d love to have you Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!5

6 join us. If we only hosted people when everything was just right in our home, we would only have a few guests a year. Now, don t misunderstand me. We enjoy when we can clean our house and lawn from top to bottom; to lay out nice flatware and serve a special dinner with lots of preparation and care. There is great value in doing hospitality with utmost excellence. This weekend we aimed to do that very thing. But the Kings are not always excellent. If we only share meals when we re excellent, that s not koinonia. That s not life together. / Think about the number of friends, new or old, that you d like to welcome in your home. Are those get-togethers constantly delayed and postponed because the house isn t in order? Our calling is to persevere, to persist in the breaking of bread and sharing life together. Persistence means that we overcome and remove obstacles to embrace something good and beautiful. Scheduling is hard enough. Don t allow a to-do list disqualify you from an evening with people you re called to love in friendship. If it s eating with kind, welcoming people in a less than perfect house versus eating alone, what do you think someone would choose? We tell our guests come as you are, perhaps we should tell ourselves host as you are. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within you. I desire the people of Apostles with that indwelling power to be seated around tables with open seats, invitations extended to any and all looking for friendship. That s our mission. // Look at the icon of the Trinity in your bulletin again. If you do not already have this image in your home, place it somewhere and ask the Lord: who will you have me invite to the table you have given me? Our Good Shepherd prepares a table for us. He has given you a table, too. Gather in homes. Gather in restaurants. Gather around tables in this house. He calls you to create an open space. Who will be seated there? // Persevere with this question. That s what apostles do. Ask this question for the month of May. Ask it for June. Return to this question often. And then invite people you know and people you re coming to know to that table where you will offer divine hospitality, the love and welcome of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Easter 4, Year C; Apostles Anglican Church; May 11, 2014!6