"GuestHost Hospitality"

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood
First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS
June 5, 2016
Sermon Text - 1 Kings 17:8-16

As we continue to follow the saga of that great prophet Elijah, Troubler of Israel, today’s story is about the practice of hospitality. Hospitality. It's a word that is so closely related to many other English words: hospital, hospice, hostel, hotel, host, but also hostile. I did some digging and found that the English “hospitality” comes out of the Latin “hospes” - which means guest, host, stranger. And “hospes” is related to the Latin “hostis” - which means stranger or enemy. You can begin to see how that English hostile gets thrown in there as a similar world. Hostility and strangers or enemies often go hand in hand.

But I was captured by the idea that one word in Latin would mean BOTH guest and host. Those are very different words in English. A host is a person who is offering something...there is a connotation of them being the one who is giving, perhaps the person who has more to offer. A guest is someone who is receiving...and perhaps there is a connotation that they are in the “out” position.

I was also struck that stranger and enemy so often come into play in these Latin roots. In our culture, hospitality is often more about fancy dinner parties or ideas from Pinterest or spending time with loved ones and friends. Biblical hospitality is something different, though. It's about opening ourselves up in vulnerability when a stranger comes near. It's about offering precious resources - food, shelter, water - to someone you've never met before and who might do you harm.

Today's story in 1 Kings is about Elijah and hospitality. Last week, Elijah, newly christened as a Prophet of Israel, was sent to King Ahab with Bad News. Having delivered the news that God was sending a severe drought on the land, Elijah fled to the Wadi Cherith to hide and receive nourishment.

This week, the respite is over. The water is dry and he receives another command, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there…” In other words, go into enemy territory. A land of strangers. Zarephath is about 80 miles away from Samaria as the crow flies. So about a four-day walk. And it’s in another country. It belongs to Sidon; where Queen Jezebel is from. Not to give too many spoilers, but Queen Jezebel is going to try to kill Elijah in the very near future. She is, according to the author of 1 Kings, the main reason King Ahab is such a terrible King. And so God tells Elijah, “You know that place Queen Jezebel is from? Your enemy? Go there.”

And because Elijah is Elijah, he does what I probably wouldn't be able to do, he trusts fully in God and he goes. When he arrives on the scene, it doesn't look good. He was told to look for a widow who would take care of him. This, in and of itself, is odd. Widows in the Biblical texts are “the least, the last, the lost.” Due to the patriarchal nature of the Ancient Near East, a widow was very vulnerable. She had no economic support, as her husband was dead, and she relied on the hospitality of others to make her way. Widows in the Bible are guests, not hosts. Recipients, not benefactors.

And this particular widow was living through the worst drought in memory. Then, as now, those on the margins of society always suffer most when resources are scarce - and this nameless woman was no exception. When Elijah meets her, she is gathering sticks to make a small fire. Her goal is to make one last small loaf of bread with the limited flour and oil she has left….one last meal to share with her son, and then the two of them will die of starvation.

This is the woman Elijah is supposed to ask for help? This is his host? That seems a little ridiculous, right?

But the twist is this: this is a story about partnership in the face of extreme suffering. This is not a story where one person is rich and deigns to help someone who is less-well-off. This is a story where two desperate people - Elijah and this nameless widow - come together and through their commitment to hospitality and their trust in God, find a way to care for one another. Remember how I said earlier that I thought it was intriguing that the Latin hospes was BOTH guest and host? Well, here's our illustration right here. Elijah and the widow are both guest and host. They are both in need. They both offer what they have to one another. They both trust in God. They are both saved.

And they are strangers. Some might say enemies, in fact. But who better to open yourself to than a stranger if you really want to practice hospitality?

An intimate encounter with a stranger often results in changed lives. And sometimes it results in salvation. Many of you probably saw the video making its rounds on the internet this week from Amnesty International in Poland. In the video, we see pairings of people who are refugees from Syria and European residents. They are asked to stare into each other's eyes for four full minutes. The video shows these strangers doing this very intimate thing - making eye contact for a long period of time. Why four minutes? Well, the video says it's because experiments have shown that's how long it takes to fall in love with someone.

The most moving part to me was seeing two young children who stare at each other somewhat awkwardly. At the end, they shake hands and say “hello.” Then one of them tags the other and runs off. And suddenly they are running through the room chasing each other - the international, timeless language of children: a good game of chase.

When we allow ourselves to enter into a moment of vulnerability with a stranger, we open ourselves to the gift of hospitality. Hospitality which is done as a partnership - guest and host and stranger all mixed up together.

You know, our congregation has its own radical act of hospitality each and every week. For almost 20 years now, our congregation has hosted a meal for anyone who wants it every single Sunday night. The Second Helping provides food and fellowship for around 20-40 people each week.

Some of the people who come to Second Helping come because they are hungry. Others come because they seek fellowship. They gather with the same friends week after week  and enjoy conversation around the table. Some people come for both, I suppose. Second Helping is not an “us and them” thing. We have people in our own congregation who come and eat at Second Helping. We encourage the volunteers who prepare and serve the meal to sit down at the tables and eat, too.

If you've never been to Second Helping, I want to encourage you to go home this afternoon and mark a date on your calendar when you will come and enjoy a meal. Come and sit with the regulars and the first-timers. Come and share hospitality with one another. Be a guest AND a host AND a stranger. And if you are a regular volunteer at Second Helping, I do so encourage you to find a seat at one of the tables and experience hospitality. Don't just eat standing up in the kitchen!

The Christianity I was raised on was often about “helping the less-fortunate” and I am thankful for the emphasis on generosity. But I want to encourage us to find a way towards understanding hospitality as a practice that goes both ways. It's not “us and them,” “guest and host.” Because we are all both at one time or another...and sometimes simultaneously. If I have a theology or worldview that always places me in the privileged position, I are likely to find myself adrift or isolated when I find myself in need...and we are all in need at some time or another. And if I have a theology or worldview that always places me in a recipient position, I am likely to underestimate my power to create change, offer hope, and connect with the generosity God is offering all people.

The story of Elijah and the widow is an important reminder that we are all in it together. We are all guest and host. We all have needs and we all have something to offer. We can all be in touch with the gifts God is freely offering in our time and place. We can all be messengers of that good news and we can all be recipients of that badly-needed hopeful message of abundance.

Call to offering:
Let us rest silent for a moment in our individual stories of need and sharing and scarcity and abundance….and, together, let us move into our weekly time of offering gifts. A time where we act together. A time where we remind ourselves of God’s sure provision in the face of adversity. And where we remember we are all givers, all recipients, of God’s unfailing love and care. Amen.