This modern life...rambling reflections

The prospect of preaching the Gospel in the modern world is incredibly daunting. We read selected passages of Jonathan Edwards' sermons yesterday in one of my classes. As we listened I could not help but think about how incredibly difficult it is to communicate Biblical truth and historical doctrines to a world that is so saturated with technology, information, entertainment, and activity that even getting people to sit still for 20 minutes is a gargantuan task.

This week I preached a sermon on Hebrews 13:2 and the importance of showing hospitality to strangers. As I walked around downtown I was overwhelmed by the reality that in our mobile society everyone is a stranger, everyone. In many ways even our acquaintances, those who's names we know are strange to us. In then end I was left to define the stranger as those who's status forces them to live on the margins of society, the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the insane etc...In our modern society for the sake of efficiency we in the church have allowed the care and concern for these groups to be taken over by the government and various secular non-profit (as well as for profit- especially the care for the elderly) organizations. Which is convenient because then they don't have to be a part of our community or in our services on Sunday.

In Luke 14:12-14 we read:

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

During his lifetime with regard to hospitality Jesus played the role of both guest and host. As I reflected upon this passage I thought of the meals which Jesus' hosted. Around his table were often the "strangers" mentioned in Luke 14:12-14. Meals are central to hospitality. The meals that Christ shared were both a picture of the feasting that will take place in the Kingdom as well as a picture of the Eucharist. When the church gathers on the eighth day (Sunday) to partake of the meal of Christ's body and blood it is in a way a reenactment of the meals that Christ shared while on the earth. He remains our host, and we are the strangers, the lame the blind, the prostitutes, the corrupt business men, the perverts, the homeless, the insane, the disabled, and the elderly, with no way of repaying our host for his hospitality.

As I reflected further upon this picture, I began to think of how little room there is in our congregations for those who are strangers. I cannot remember the last time I sat next to someone who was severely disabled, or even mildly for that matter, on a Sunday morning. There is no place for them at our table. Poor people smell, are extremely uncouth and embarrassing, and make horrible dinner guests. The elderly are boring and slow. The blind can't appreciate our power points. Foreigners talk funny and dress weird.

I think that the main reason that we do not allow strangers at our table on Sunday morning is that we have lost touch with our own identity as strangers. We must never forget that we are those who were at Christ's table. We are the ones that he was ridiculed for associating with. When we lose touch with our identity as the stranger, and the humility that accompanies being an invited guest incapable of repaying the host, we fail to then extend the welcome we have received to those who's status as stranger is more obvious than our own. We take our welcome for granted and presume upon the graciousness of our host expecting him to feed us because we have so much to offer him. Even worse we stop taking the meal all together (except on occasion so that we can check it off our list) because we are capable of feeding ourselves and dare not depend upon our host to provide for our needs.