I saw an internet entry that bemoaned our Jeremiah reading as it was not cheery enough. Where do we get the idea that Scripture need sto be cheery in the face of a hard, difficult life? God is beside the divine self here. God is mystified that the people would abandon the god of all for lesser deities. They traded the fountain of water for cheap cisterns whose cracks will not hold rainwater.
In a way, God is mystified that we are inhospitable to the presence, but we seem to be willing to set out our best china for lesser guests.Jeremiah will move to a fairly frequent Old Testament attempt to get at the depth of God’s hurt:marital infidelity. In our wedding vows, we promise that we will open our heart, our body to one partner. when those vows are broken, the other partner feels betrayed,hurt, angry, but also mystified. We sometimes speak easily of God feeling distant or absent. we may reserve speaking of the nearness of the divine for special moments. the truth is of course that we exist awash in the presence of God as fully a sthe ociean exists for a fish.
We are familiar with the word, xenophobia, the fear of strangers. We have instilled it into our children and we are sorely tempted to try to put a protective cocoon around ourselves in the midst of a global environment. It seems to be a constant human temptation to sort out insiders from outsiders. Hospitality is a deliberate choice to fight that mentality and tries to treat others as a guest, even in-laws.
A number of movies play with the idea of angels unaware.Warren Beatty used an old movie as a template for Heaven can wait, Wings of desire was remade with Nicholas Cage. The Preahcr’s Wife has the same theme, but I want to mention an Israeli movie, ushp[izim, something I’m sure you’ve seen repeatedly. During a festival that stresses hospitality, an Orthodox couple, struggling emotionally and financially, takes in some escaped crooks, the most unlikely angels of all time.
Hospitality requires some humility, i think.Jesus argues against the cultural assumption of his time to scramble about looking to get one step ahead on the ladder, to acquire to new patrons and new folks obligated to us.We still have a bit of this with the seating charts composed at wedding receptions. Humility allows us to both offer and accept hospitality. Humility allow sus to place the needs of a guest there. So often we mistake humility for humiliation. Jesus realizes this and notice how one who is seeking to move up is humiliated, but honor comes to one who is well rooted in place. and attitude of one’s limitations. Humiliating experiences tend to stick with us, and memory allows us to almost experience the pain afresh.
The truth is that we are often inhospitable to each other and God. Its reason may be part of the opposite of humility: pride.We may do everything according to protocol but still not invite God or someone into the depth of the course of a life together. We may well prefer a spiritual life that keeps Gpd at a safe remove, at a safe distance, that the God who envelops a life.(see John philip newell) At its best, a worship service structures different elements of becoming hospitable to the presence of God throughout the day or even the course of our lives from its beginning through its end. As Paul wrote Jesus humbled himself to walk our path.He both offered and received hospitality, as befits the One whom he called father who is unfailingly hospitable to us
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