Jesus’s abolition of “us” and “them” categories is so radical that it seems almost impossible for us to comprehend and put into practice.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Hospitality (Page 4)
God calls us to welcome and care for “the strangers” the refugees and asylum seekers in our midst.
The vision of the Trinity reveals some of the most important characteristics of God: radical mutual love, radically open hospitality, and transformative engagement with the suffering of the world.
As difficult as it is to imagine, God is shockingly present with us in Jesus.
Jesus offers himself to the world from a vulnerable place on the margins, and he calls us to trust the Holy Spirit and do likewise.
We have a distinct and privileged identity as God’s chosen people, but it does not turn us away from other people, but leads us to offer ourselves to and for them that all may share in the grace that has made us who we are.
Jesus calls us to be open to others, not shutting anyone out of our consciousness or care, and treating all as beloved neighbours.
God blesses us with much more than we need, but instead of throwing away the excess, we are to take what we don’t need and do something with it.
The risen Christ and his word are often revealed in the words and actions of a stranger. Sometimes we are called to welcome and heed the stranger; and sometimes we are called to be the faithful stranger to others.
Christ uses his power to lift up others, but we are prone to misuse power to exalt ourselves.
Christ’s desire to extend hospitality to us, to welcome us at his table, is so great that he will give even his own life to bring us into the experience of his love. This is the pattern for our call to hospitality too.
God’s merciful and all-inclusive love is steadfast, not arbitrary, and so fills us with hope in the coming Christ.
In the face of a plurality of spiritualities, Jesus calls us to respectfully but urgently and persistently bear witness to the good news.
One of the most controversial aspects of Jesus’ message was that it moved all the fences. Jesus redrew the boundaries of the Kingdom of God to include very definitely those who previously had been excluded. He blew away the social and geographical limitations imposed by the pious Pharisees & other religious leaders. According to Jesus, God’s kingdom knew nothing of the political, social or religious boundaries placed on it by these groups.
The love of Christ draws us into a radically deeper set of love relationships, but don’t expect them to be understood by those outside the faith.
When Jesus invites us to join the feast, and to invite others as well, some people need reassuring to get them in the room, while others need challenging to make space, but the invitation is there for all of us and it’s genuine.
God’s grace is lavished on all who will receive it, but some of those who have every right to it refuse to receive it unless they are singled out.
It’s our place to be within, and part of, creation and to love it as God loves it, and to learn to be ready to stand with others in their place of need.
The Kingdom of God grows like a weed – seemingly insignificant and unwanted – but it ends up with a place of refuge for everyone.
One of the implications of grace may be that instead of taking swords to the less good and pure, we learn to express the openness of God to the mixed bag of people who are on the journey with us.