The Unexpected Joy of Radical Hospitality

I must admit that when Dean Pendleton sent me an email back in November asking me to preach today – Theological Education Sunday – I was a little nervous….especially because this, my first sermon, would be delivered to you, my spiritual family. Recently, one of my professors gave our class some good practical advice when she said, “Preachers need to get over themselves. It’s not about them; it’s about God working through them.” I thought that was a pretty solid suggestion, so I prayerfully called upon the Holy Spirit to help me deliver a message that felt right for all of us here today.

Without a doubt, I can honestly tell you that one of the most powerful learning tools I’ve encountered since beginning my seminary experience last fall was not found in the classroom. It wasn’t found in a scholarly lecture, or a theological textbook, or even a chapel sermon – of which there have been many! No, the source of some real-life spiritual enlightenment for me has been something that I didn’t expect and something you may find rather surprising as well. This resource was something new and fairly daunting to me, although others around me never gave this resource a second thought. What is it? Well, the most valuable teaching tool that I’ve been exposed to this past semester has got to be the one and only New York City Subway system.

I know, this might sound pretty surprising, but I’ve learned a whole lot since I’ve started using the subways of New York City - much more than I expected to learn. There’s one important tip that I’ve learned that I’d like to share with you, but first here’s a few facts and then I’ll tell you a brief story. According to the NYC Mass Transit Authority, a daily average of 4.5 million people utilize the subway systems in New York City every single day! That’s a lot of people! With that kind of demand, subway trains are running all the time, so there’s no need to worry about catching another train, even if you should miss one.

On a Friday afternoon a couple of months ago, I was rather anxious to head for home and leave school behind for the weekend. As I walked to the subway station and began walking down the stairs, I could hear the sound of an approaching train. I thought, “Great! Perfect timing!” So, I ran down the stairs, swiped my Metro card, proceeded through the turnstile and sticking my arm through the trains’ closing doors, I assumed that like an elevator, the doors would simply open back up and I’d be able to board. Well, that was a wrong assumption! There I stood – my body on the outside platform – my arm - holding the bag which contained my laptop – stuck inside the uptown bound C train subway car! I’m sure you can picture it. At this point, I was somewhere between bewilderment and panic and options started running through my mind: I could drop my laptop inside and pull my arm out, but then my whole life is on that computer and I’d probably never see it again! I think I prayed something like “Dear God, please HELP!” Time seemed to stand still and I thought I’d be dragged by the train at any second, when out of the blue, some man ran up next to me and began trying to pry open the doors of the train with his bare hands! Those doors would not budge and this guy was giving it all his effort. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief when the doors opened and we were all able to board the train. This man who helped me never said a word. He just quietly sat down and went about his business…almost as if nothing had happened. Of course, I was mortified – and grateful – and I thanked him for everything he’d done. He was remarkably humble and simply said, “Oh, no problem.” What struck me the most about this man was his humility. He went out of his way to help me without thinking. An act of hospitality with a sense of true humility that took me by surprise. God was present in that moment on a New York City subway.

The gospel passage that we read this morning also shows how Jesus humbly extended hospitality to everyone that sought his healing touch. At the very beginning of Mark’s gospel, Jesus begins his ministry by actively healing the sick and casting out demons. It’s interesting that the demons know who Jesus is….but he does not permit them to speak. Previously, in verse 24, the unclean spirit who takes up residence in the man to be healed, tells Jesus, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God!”, But Jesus orders the spirit to be silent and leave. Biblical scholars refer to the Jesus who does not permit his identity to be known as the “Silent Jesus” or the “Secret Messiah”. Perhaps Jesus simply chose to remain humble and wasn’t looking for the adulation of a crowd. As Dean Pendleton mentioned in his sermon last week, Jesus humbly welcomed all who sought his healing touch, welcoming the whole crowd that lined up to wait for him. Jesus was actively showing everyone – including his new disciples – what radical hospitality was all about; which is placing the needs of others before the needs of ourselves. The term “radical hospitality” is becoming a popular spiritual buzzword that many of us have heard before and it’s getting a lot of attention these days. Even our own Bishop Smith last week challenged us to think about what hospitality is really all about. I think that today, as we welcome new friends to our Cathedral, we might begin thinking about our own call to radical hospitality, and perhaps discover new opportunities where we can humbly extend ourselves in service within our community.

Sometimes today when we think of the term hospitality, the professional hostess Martha Stewart may come to mind. Martha sure knows how to set a lovely table and create elegant dinners for her guests, but the true Christian hospitality we’re talking about goes way beyond how we welcome the invited guest into our lives. Even Starbucks Coffee has jumped on the hospitality bandwagon. Starbucks wants their employees to be sure that every customer enjoys “the Starbucks experience” of friendly hospitality…driven by the motive of gaining repeat customers. Personally, I love Starbucks Coffee, but from my perspective, the Starbucks “experience” can sometimes feel a little over the top. Sure, the baristas go out of their way to be friendly, but it may feel like a “rehearsed” friendliness that to me doesn’t always feel quite sincere.

Genuine radical hospitality begins on the inside of who we are and radiates to those we know and to those we don’t know. Practicing radical hospitality begins with making space for other people – within our hearts and within our lives. In their book, Radical Hospitality, Benedict’s Way of Love, co-authors Father Dan Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt describe radical hospitality as a willingness to make room for God in the unexpected. It means listening to others without judgment and extending compassion that opens up possibilities of seeing Christ in other people. When we extend ourselves to others, we create an opportunity for them to see Christ in us…perhaps even without uttering a word. In today’s gospel, Simon’s mother-in-law extends hospitality immediately after she becomes well from Jesus’ touch. She gives of herself in gratitude.

True Christian hospitality requires a giving of ourselves – an opening up of who we are – and a willingness to stretch our sometimes narrow lives. Extending ourselves for the sake of others invites us to grow – to experience those who are different from us and perhaps learn to see new perspectives through the lens of another person. Hospitality ultimately asks us to step beyond our self-centeredness and see a larger world that extends beyond our comfort zones. My own experiences on the subways of New York have helped to stretch my own comfort zone, by witnessing the sheer numbers of people – from all walks of life – that surround me in a city of millions. The sea of commuters is endless and the number of homeless people in the subway alone is just astounding. Traveling within these subways has opened my eyes to see that I’m not the center of the universe. In fact, I’m just a small blip on the screen of humanity. Still in God’s eyes, I’m a loved child of God…just like the other 4.5 million people who ride the New York subways everyday.

Here in Hartford, our own Cathedral is poised to begin practicing a radical hospitality of our own. New friends and new neighbors will give us all the opportunity to stretch us beyond our comfort zones. We’ll be invited to grow together as a community of faith by discovering what gifts we have…and by sharing them with others who walk into this church. We’ll need to be ready – not only by extending a friendly welcome, but we’ll need to listen, and be patient, and stretch beyond our own comfort zones. There are undoubtedly ministries that can spring up by embracing a new perspective of what radical hospitality means to Christ Church Cathedral. It’s the unexpected presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit that will energize the faithful believers in this Cathedral family….challenging us to reach out in new areas of mission…freely giving of ourselves and sharing the joy that is alive within this wonderful place. I believe that God actively works in our lives through the people we interact with everyday – the unexpected stranger who says something that rings deep in our hearts - and we wonder if God is present in that moment. I believe God is always present in the unexpected moments of our lives. As a faith community, we’ll need to be prepared for the unexpected to happen – to stretch and grow in ways we never anticipated. But extending hospitality to others allows us to deepen our spiritual relationship with God who is always ready to celebrate the unexpected joy of giving ourselves for one another.

Last Sunday afternoon as I headed back to New York and General Seminary, I was walking through the subway tunnels to catch the #1 train to downtown. As I walked, the sweet sound of steel drums playing filled the air and Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” surrounded us in an unexpected gift of beauty. At that moment, I could feel the presence of God in the air, in a most unlikely place. And for a few moments, the throng of people slowed down - listening to a beautiful gift of radical hospitality that came in the most unlikely of places. My hope and prayer for our Cathedral is that we’ll continue exploring the unexpected presence of God among us….and that together we can illuminate this place of light and beauty as a beacon of radical hospitality both for this diocese and for our extended community.