During our four years of seminary there was only one place we were allowed to celebrate on the 4th of July; Kathy’s house. Kathy, her husband, and her two kids would welcome us over for a feast of brats, hamburgers, chips, potato salad, nice wine…you name it, it was there. An hour before, we would make a phone call and ask if we needed to bring anything over. The answer was always the same: “Bring nothing but yourselves.” We did not need to bring drinks, a dish to share, dip…we did not even need to bring fireworks. It was all there, and they were wonderful hosts who knew how to share in the enjoyment of a good evening with friends. There was one catch though, around 9:00pm Kathy would grab the guitar that no one in the house knew how to play, sit it in my lap, and we would start singing church camp songs. There is nothing like a beautiful evening, a full stomach, stars, fireworks, and song filling our souls. It was not in a stain glassed sanctuary, but it was church.
My first year of serving here, I was invited several times to a young couple’s house. The couple had children, were very busy in life, and were very poor. Yet they invited me over for a feast. I asked if I could bring anything, but they insisted that I was their guest. So, we would sit in the kitchen, eat a meal of Mac and Cheese and ham sandwiches, tell jokes, and simply enjoy each other’s company. There was one catch though, I was to teach a new, fun table grace to the children, and I was to bring over communion. So, we would pray before the meal in a fun way and after supper, sitting on the floor of the living room because there was limited furniture in the house, I would open the children’s Bible, share a Bible story with the kids, open the communion set and then share in the Lord’s meal. None of this happened around a beautiful stone altar, but it was church.
I love church buildings. In my home congregation, on the fourth of July, the cover of our bulletin always showed some sort of small church on top of some rolling hill with an American flag waving prominently outside. The small church was always simple, beautiful, peaceful, and full of inspiration. I love large churches also…the type that make you gasp at their tall vaulted ceilings and their beautiful stained glass windows that tell the story of God and God’s people in picture form. I love church buildings, but the buildings are not church. People are church.
In the gospel for today, Jesus turns completely up-side-down our concepts of church. First, when Jesus asks his disciples to do God’s work, he does not instruct his disciples to gather people into his own home so that he can teach and heal them. Instead, quite the opposite is instructed: “Go on your way…Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide…” For Jesus, church gathers not in beautiful buildings, but in people’s homes. Further, the disciples are not in control of the situation. They are subject to the host, to the host’s traditions, to whom the host gathers, and to the host’s food. And, for this wonderful hospitality, the disciples are only expected one thing, to offer the kingdom of God; to bring God’s stories and to bring healing where they can. In this up-side-down world of church, the disciples go out, the people do not gather in.
Now, I must admit that I have never been politically savvy, and I do realize that there is an inherent danger in preaching this during a building campaign. I warn you now, never vote me into public office, I will completely embarrass you. But, since we are in the middle of a building campaign, maybe we should take a look at what this up-side-down world of church looks like when you do have a building.
This puts us in the role of host rather than disciple. And, what do hosts do? They make sure that the place is clean. They make sure that people feel welcomed and cared for and that they have the best place to sit. Hosts sit with their guests. They converse with their guests. They feed their guests whenever they can. And, most importantly, they are listening close for the needs of their guest. A good host is able to anticipate their guests’ needs and find a way to provide for their needs so that they may experience God’s peace in the home. Oh, and one other thing, they expect that they will somehow, in some way, be enriched by the guest. The host does not dictate the gift that the guest will give, but anticipates receiving whatever gift to guest has to offer.
Christ’s church is an up-side-down world. It is a world in which the disciples go out rather than expecting people to come in, and it is a world in which the church is shaped by the needs of the guest rather than the desires of the host.
A classmate of mine was invited by a four-year-old to play in the sandbox. So, she went, taking nothing with her. She ate sand pies. She drank sand coffee. She even lived in a sand castle. After some time, the classmate offered her own gift: she took some water, made the sand damp and shaped the form of Jesus out of the sand. She then told the story of Jesus welcoming the children to the four-year-old. Her preaching did not come from the pulpit, nor was it directed towards adults, but it was church.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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