ONE WORD 365 // Week 24, Book 19

This is the other essay by Lilias Trotter...

Parables of the Christ-Life
By I. Lilias Trotter

Don't be fooled by the size or length of this book. There is much to be discovered here, just like in Parables of the Cross.

She writes about lessons of Christianity from a study of nature. And as I write about this book, and being 2/3 through her biography now, I know that I need to read this one and Cross again and again and again.

Trotter just offered so many straightforward and basic insights into Christian living, I think anyone, even non-missions-type people will be inspired by her.

LIFE IN TENNESSEE // Hospitality

Last week I had the honor of teaching the ladies of The Church At Indian Lake during the Wednesday night service. I thought I would post my musings here for those who didn't hear it, including the men who had a separate teaching.

*****

I had been thinking about hospitality and what it means to show hospitality. I was inspired by a friend's entry in the Live Dead Journal. Here's an excerpt from Day 23, "Hospitality: Our Faith in Action":

There is a knock at my door and my heart sinks. I anticipate who stands on other side. It is a neighbor who knows that I am home. She loves to spend time together, although the language barrier is so great we can barely communicate. I feel like a prisoner in my own home! She knows I am home, so choosing not to answer my door is to risk offending her.

I go to the door. Suspicions are confirmed and I invite her inside. I smile outwardly and grumble inwardly. At this point I am new on the field and a young mom with two toddlers. I enjoy spending time with this neighbor, but she always seems to knock at the most inconvenient moment--and this day is no exception. I offer her a seat in my living room as I go to the kitchen to prepare something to drink. Alone in my kitchen, I throw my hands in the air and "scream" in a whisper, "I don't even want you to be here!"

Alone in my kitchen? I might as well have spoken those words in front of an audience of thousands. More sobering is that I had just spoken those words in front of Jesus Christ himself. Just months earlier I had stood before churches that sent me overseas for opportunities like this very one--and yet here I was in my kitchen, resentful of the "imposition." God forbid that I ever see a human soul as an imposition..." (Live Dead Journal 2011, 122).

The entry goes on to talk about how hospitality is faith in action, how hospitality is us extending Jesus' heart to others and looking for God's plan in the midst of seemingly inconvenient moments.

I've been doing some reminiscing recently as I prepare to leave my home of 14 years. And thinking about the good times, the difficult times, what I would do the same, what I would do differently. And I've been thinking more about my house and my neighborhood as I sit and wait for a buyer. Putting those two things together, I think, "How have I shown hospitality to those around me?" Answer: Uh, not very well--at least not to my literal neighbors.

But hospitality is about more than just opening my house to my neighbors, though it is that, too. This is about a different attitude and change of heart towards people. It is about fellowship and sharing a meal, but it is also about the relationships made.

One of my classes in grad school looked at hospitality. We used the book Making Room by Christine Pohl. As I read the above entry, I revisited the topic and the book and put some of these thoughts together.

The tradition of hospitality was once the practice of welcoming strangers into one's home with the offer of food, shelter and protection. It covered physical, social and spiritual aspects of life. But more than just meeting needs of a person, hospitality was about recognizing people's worth and our common humanity. It was (and is!) about seeing others in the image of Christ. "Hospitality is central to the meaning of the gospel...a lens through which we can read and understand the gospel, and a practice by which we can welcome Jesus himself" (Pohl 1999, 6). We welcome others as Christ welcomed us.

In the early days of the Church, hospitality was a means for the spread of the gospel; it went above any ethnic or national distinctions in the Church; and it was for the care of the sick, the strangers and the pilgrims. Hospitality was meant to build relationships with family and friends, but also to include those on the outside, to bring them into relationship as well.

Pohl talks about the definition of hospitality, using the Greek word philoxenia. That Greek word combines the general word for love or affection (philo) and the word for strangers (xenos) (31). It literally means "love for strangers" or "stranger love" if you will. So, by definition showing hospitality is showing love to strangers. But aren't all believers considered aliens here on earth and citizens of heaven? We're all strangers here. Showing hospitality is about caring for physical and social needs of family and friends and strangers, and about developing the spiritual dimensions of those relationships, too.

That said, how do we reclaim the art and the practice of hospitality?

There certainly are opportunities for offering hospitality; I don't think anyone would disagree with that. Pohl even thinks that our situation today is much like the situation of the early church:

"We, like the early church, find ourselves in a fragmented and multicultural society that yearns for relationships, identity and meaning. Our mobile and self-oriented society is characterized by disturbing levels of loneliness, alienation and estrangement. In a culture that appears at times to be overtly hostile to life itself, those who reject violence and embrace life bear powerful witness" (33).

This thought by Pohl still makes sense, even 12 years after publishing. People are hungry for relationships and to be known. Maybe they feel connected through social media (Facebook, Twitter), but are people really connected in those virtual worlds?

I can feel like I know complete strangers based on our interaction on Twitter--but I don't really know them. And then there are the widows and orphans, the homeless and destitute among us. How do we reach out and connect to them? It will require doing more and opening ourselves up more.

It was probably easier in the "olden days"--when the community took on all the physical, social and spiritual needs of the family, acquaintances, strangers and foreigners within it. Consider Israel of the Old Testament or the early Church of the New Testament--meeting the needs of those who lived among the community. Nowadays we have others to do that for us. We have hospitals for the sick, orphanages for the orphans, shelters for the homeless, retirement communities for the elderly and so on (57). It doesn't take much for us to show hospitality as we deliver canned goods to the food bank, coats to the shelters, make dinners for the sick, etc. We have specialists to do the day-to-day with those people. Giving to those institutions is good, but something more is required for true hospitality.

We also have to overcome our own American mindset. We like our privacy; we like to retreat into our homes after a long day at work or at school or just being out in the community. "A man's home is his castle." But oftentimes I think we make those castles into fortresses; we shut the outside world out. "No one's getting in here right now. I need to my space." [Raising my hand] I'm guilty of this. I could easily be a hermit; just shut myself up in my house for days at a time. This is not the best behavior for showing hospitality.

Where do we start? I think of my friend above. What needed to happen in her? I think of my hermit self. What must happen in me? It's about a change of heart, a new perspective on people.

Pohl notes that hospitality begins in worship. Hospitality is about God's grace and generosity, and not about my duty or responsibility. This is a response of love and gratitude for God's love for me (172). "Our hospitality both reflects and participates in God's hospitality. It depends on a disposition of love because, fundamentally, hospitality is simply love in action. It has much more to do with the resources of a generous heart than with sufficiency of food or space."

This is about giving our full attention to people--to all the strangers in our lives. Whether they come over to your house at your invitation or just show up at your door unannounced. How do you welcome them? How much interest do you show them? What kind of time do you give them? All of this communicates how much they are valued (179).

Do we show hospitality at home--to our family? In our neighborhood? At work? At church? At school? At the grocery store? Where is hospitality happening? And what is our response when we encounter those moments in which we should show hospitality?

Hospitality can happen anywhere. We need to make sure our hearts are ready to give it. We need to make a place for hospitality, not just in our homes but in our lives and in our hearts.

In Matthew 25 Jesus gives an illustration of the judgment. In addition to offering food, drink, clothing and visits, he says, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (v. 35). This could very well be about welcoming Jesus into a physical place, but could it not also mean welcoming Jesus into a relationship? That's what we are talking about here. Hospitality is about sharing meals and offering a roof to sleep under. But it's also about relationships, about welcoming people into our lives, not just into our homes. And if Jesus said, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," then are we welcoming people into our lives?

Hospitality is about relationships. It's not about entertainment. Though if you want to invite me over for a game of Apples To Apples, I will gladly come. It's not just about hosting a dinner. Though if you want to have me over for dinner, it needs to be vegan (a meatless chili will do just fine). Hospitality is about putting primary attention on the person. Hospitality is about welcoming people INTO your life. Hospitality is about relationships. Hospitality is about loving others with the love that God has shown us. God has shown us great love and generosity; we should do the same.

A REVIEW // Matthew Barnett, The Cause Within You

Matthew Barnett is the co-founder of The Dream Center (with his father Pastor Tommy Barnett) and senior pastor of the Angelus Temple in L.A., and in the opening of The Cause Within You, he talks about the night he spent on Skid Row in downtown L.A. (quite a dangerous idea) to celebrate their 15th anniversary as the Dream Center.

In the 15 years of the Dream Center, Barnett had worked with and spent time with people facing hardship and suffering but he had never slept on their streets. In lieu of a celebratory banquet with staff and volunteers, touting their own success, Barnett felt God leading him to do something different, radical and uncomfortable, much like what he felt when he started in the Echo Park area of L.A. as a young 20-year-old brand new pastor. So he did it. He spent the night on Skid Row. And he came away realizing that the more dangerous place to be for a Christian, more dangerous than Skid Row, would be the return to a "routine life not fully aligned with God's cause" (p. 25).

His experiences inspired this book, The Cause Within You. It's a collection of stories from Barnett's personal experience as well as the personal stories of people from the Dream Center and Angelus Temple. [Disclosure: I've attended Angelus Temple while in L.A. and was given an advance copy of the book by a staff member for review. I am also acquainted with two of the women whose stories are included in the book.]  The various personal stories are both interesting and inspiring, and they make for a quick and easy read, and illustrate Barnett's challenge well.

His challenge to himself and to his readers is to find the cause (or vision, dream, purpose, reason for being) that God has placed in each person's heart. But even more than just finding one's cause or purpose, he aims to have readers focus on their personal relationships with God in order to discover how waiting on God and having the right attitude will fuel the fire of their cause. Otherwise, what he believes often happens is that a person will redefine their cause to their own comfort level, rather than the full radical and passionate purpose God places within them.

He breaks the idea down into smaller bites: 1) discovering the cause, 2) waiting on God's timing, 3) having the right attitude, 4) starting to serve, even by small steps, 5) finding partners and 6) knowing when to quit. He includes inspirational bullet points at the ends of chapters of what he has learned, something a reader can pick up quickly for a reminder.

Barnett closes the book with the thought that one's God-given cause is the cause of Christ and to live out one's life to this cause goes well beyond personal achievement or success on earth and is part of something far more magnificent than anyone could imagine, with eternal significance. That's the bottom line and that's where Barnett leaves it.

*****
Confession: I usually read headier books on missiology or theology (maybe I'm a dorky bookworm, or maybe that's my God-given purpose). The Cause Within Me is more along the lines of popular reading for the Church. Absolutely nothing wrong with that; there just aren't many of those books on my bookshelves these days. Still, I found this book encouraging me and challenging me as I walk toward a new venture in my life this year. It reminded that I need to regroup with God and allow him to clarify and define my vision for this next stage of life.

SPIRITUALITY & MISSION // Sabbath in My Context

From my final paper:

Sabbath practice in my current context, Fuller Seminary, will establish a routine for Sabbath practice in my future context. So far in seminary, especially through “Spirituality and Mission,” I have added the power of a retreat and the insight of the Contemplative stream to my Sabbath practice in my current context.

The spiritual retreat taken this quarter opened my eyes to the “magic” found in simply taking time to break from the rat race. The time away and the garden setting allowed me to write out all the emotions, questions and prayers that were bottled up inside me. The retreat allowed me to breathe easier and for the first time in a long time, to just enjoy God. It was like Sabbath: a time to rest and a time to remember God and remember who I was in God.

Studying the different streams of the Christian tradition through Foster’s book Streams of Living Water was a learning experience. I recognized all the streams but had not considered the ones outside my own with very much depth. The Contemplative stream was one for which I gained new appreciation. I am not prone to consider monasticism too much; I am not called to live such a lifestyle. But the current situation of my life really connected with the quiet and calm that the Contemplative stream portrayed. Life so far in 2008 has been a whirlwind of sorts, often leaving my insides to ask, “What have you done to us?” Reading through “Practicing the Contemplative Tradition,” I feel the words “Sabbath rest, Sabbath rest, Sabbath rest” pounding on me over and over. Foster’s take on the Contemplative tradition reads as Sabbath rest to me. I feel like I could open these two pages every Sunday (or whenever my Sabbath might be) in whatever context I find myself, and there will be my Sabbath practice.

Beyond my time at Fuller, I am not quite sure what routine life will hold. I feel like I should be prepared for the “un-set” schedule. Still, the rhythm of Sabbath must be incorporated. After this study, I believe that it is not only a necessity but also a requirement. I see my Sabbath as including worship time, prayer, reading, perhaps naptime. Especially, I see blogging as part of my Sabbath practice as a means of reflection and remembrance.

For professional church workers the decision to find and take a Sabbath is often hindered by “their efforts to please God and their efforts to save the world.” As a speaker to the Church, I must remember that I am not her Savior and I am not her Provider. I must also remember the rhythm of rest goes back to God and creation. This rhythm “matches how we were created; only in its keeping can we truly flourish.”

Ministers often set apart a day other than Sunday as a “day off” or their “Sabbath.” As post-seminary life takes shape, a day that might not be Sunday will be set aside as my Sabbath.