The Host
March 30, 2008
Matthew 14: 13-21
Did you know you could be a miracle? Did you know you could be a miracle? How about you? Yes. It’s true. You could be a miracle. You could have already performed a miracle this very day. It happens. And, when you combine people who are seekers of the faith, trying to be a witness of Jesus, trying to live a life full of compassion, we get moved. We get moved by compassion and the witness of Jesus and we perform miracles. It’s true.
Every single one of us has needs. We have needs. Our needs wake us up in the middle of the night. They give us ulcers, cold sores, grey hair. Our needs disturb us, tug at us, consume us and yet they are so private. We have trouble telling people what it is we need. We sometimes say, “We need money.” But, nobody needs money. We might need healing, which requires an operation, which costs money, but we need healing. It takes a lot of courage to say, I need healing. We might say, “We need money.” But what we really need is to feed our kids, and in order to feed our kids we need groceries and the gas bill paid so that the stove works. It takes a lot of courage to say, I need groceries and the gas bill paid. It is vulnerable to put a name to our needs. It makes us feel naked and on stage. But, once we put our needs out there, you never know what might happen in a compassionate community. Our needs might just get met! When our needs get met, our basic needs, it’s like a miracle has taken place. We feel so heard, we feel like the impossible has been done, we feel so loved, so taken care of so whole. Getting our needs met juices us up. Getting our needs met is like getting a miracle. And, it’s true, not everyone gets a miracle, however, if we don’t name what it is our basic needs are, we will insure we never get a miracle. How much more fun it would be to put our stuff out there and see what might happen, then to just suffer in silence. Every one of us has needs. And, every one of us has the potential to meet somebody’s need.
Every single one of us could be a miracle. Yes! That’s right, every single one of us could be a miracle! We could actually be so safe, so open, so approachable, so present that we could meet people’s needs. We could invite what people need and then hear what they are asking for allowing ourselves to be moved by compassion and meet their needs. We could actually be a miracle! Every one of us has the potential to be a miracle every day.
This is the work of being a host. We have been working on hospitality. Biblical hospitality is the work of making strangers into family. In order to welcome a stranger into our family, there is a series of steps that must be followed. These steps insure that the community will not be attacked nor destroyed. These steps insure that we protect what is sacred to us. These steps insure that we follow through with our covenant to be in relationship with one another. Today we are looking at the steps a host needs to follow.
When you are the host, when you are the person standing at the door welcoming people in, you have several responsibilities. First, you are to be the host. You are to protect the community, the family. You do this by greeting the stranger with compassion. You greet the stranger wherever they are on life’s journey. You look them in the eye. You ask their names. You get present, you open yourself to them. You offer them compassion by seeing them, acknowledging them, making a connection with them by exchanging names. You greet them with a handshake, connecting with them physically, sharing emotion with a smile, a look of concern, however it is, letting them know, we really see them as the host.
Guests are vulnerable. They don’t know the exact protocol. They are unsure of what to expect and worry about embarrassing themselves and the host by doing something that’s unacceptable. It is the work of the host to put them at ease. To help people settle in, to feel safe and protected. We do this as hosts, by showing concern for the needs and wishes of the guests. We explain where they can put their purses, their coats. We explain where the restrooms are and offer beverages. If they have children we make connections for them that will meet the needs of their children: changing stations, toys, whatever it is they might need. When the host meets the needs of the guest, the guest will have goodwill about the host and the place where the host was. Failure to offer these things, our best to the guest will result in the guest not reciprocating hospitality.
Jesus had been out working. He had been out, teaching and preaching to the multitudes. He had been healing. He had been pressed in upon, and shared his gifts, he was tired, and desperately needed a break. He needed to refuel. He told the disciples to send people away and then got into a boat and left. He was desperate to get away, to find some solitude, to reconnect with God away from the suffering and desperation that the empire leaves in its wake. Jesus was in need of some God time away from the electrical currents that happened when he was sharing the healing powers of the Holy Spirit with people. So he got into the boat with the disciples to cross the lake. He could have some rest on the boat. He could get some time away to pray when they reached the other side by going up to the mountain to rest and pray and just be with God. No teaching only learning, reconnecting, you can hear him aching for this time, “Oh God let it be so.” He gets into the boat and goes to the other side, only to find the crowd waiting. He didn’t ask them to come. In fact, he told them to go. Go away. But, he gets off the boat and here they are crying out to him, and he is filled and moved with compassion by the sick. He goes out and begins to heal them. Time passes and the disciples are hungry. Send them away, we must all eat, send them into the villages. But, Jesus, Jesus is the host. Jesus is the host and he says, no do not send them away. These people want to be a part of our family. They see God here. They have come to know God, they are opening themselves to the God story, the God journey, the life of living with God in present ways, by being here, do not send them away. Instead, you disciples, ask them to sit down. So the disciples who are also hosts, get the people to sit. And they sit. I’m sure they were hungry as well. I’m sure they had travelled a long way, and with many sick, it would be welcome to sit down and not feel as if he would be leaving before you got your turn with him. They sat. They were relieved to sit. Then, Jesus as host, he blessed the bread and sent it out. The disciples they actually did the delivering of the bread. There was enough. The people were hungry and there was enough. It didn’t matter they only had five loaves of bread, it was enough. If we’re talking about 7-10,000 people because they only had counted the men, to have only 12 baskets left over would be like saying, we only had one pack of hotdogs left after feeding the whole church. It would be cutting it close. They had enough. No one had too much, no one shared too little, no one was greedy, no one horded, it was enough. Jesus shared what he had, a blessing, he gave a blessing upon what the disciples had in the common purse to share and it was enough. It was a miracle. The need was food. Food was provided. They had enough. They got a miracle all 10,000 of them. They ate as a community. They ate as one. It was a miracle.
We have a chance every Sunday to play host. Sometimes we are the witness of Jesus, inviting people into healing, offering tangible ways for healing, blessing the offerings whether it be bread or other gifts, and inviting the disciples to show up, hang in there and follow through. Sometimes we are the witness of the disciples. We become the action of the witness of Jesus by working in the nursery, so a tired parent can have a break. We become the action of the witness of Jesus by seeing the need of a tired parent and showing them our nursery and introducing them to the nursery attendant of that day. Sometimes we are the witness of the disciples because we are asked to stand at the door and invite people in and to rest their weary souls. Showing them where to sit, and letting them know how we do things so they will feel comfortable and safe. Sometimes we are the action of the witness of Jesus by inviting people to go and eat together for lunch after service. We open ourselves to the needs of another while sharing a meal together, listening to who they are and how we might be able to be a miracle to them. We have a chance every Sunday to play host. Every time we have the opportunity to host, we have the opportunity to be a miracle. We have the opportunity to hear a need and meet it.
It is scary to be a miracle maker. It is also a vulnerable risk. We fear we won’t have the knowledge. We fear we won’t have the skills. We fear we won’t have the time. But, mostly our needs are so simple. Many times we just want to be heard and told we’re not crazy. Many times we just want to feel connected to another human being that cares we are breathing. Many times we just want someone to touch us by giving a hug, a smile, a tender smile. If we are open to seeing one another. If we are open to naming what it is we need. We have enough to be a miracle. We can be a miracle.
I’m an avid listener to the Mountain radio station, 92.9 the mountain. Each week they have a segment during the morning show where they hear the story of the woman who created Ben’s bells. Ben’s bells are her way of naming kindness in the world. A tangible sign of the kindness of strangers. Each week they choose one person to receive a bell based on their own kindness. This particular week the person receiving the bell was a coach from St. Gregory’s school. She had never met him, she had some idea about him based on the nominations she had received from the students he coached, the parents of the kids he coached, his colleagues. And yet, she was a bit undone when she met him. She approached him, she was acting as the host, she was there to present him with a bell. She reached out to touch him, she wanted to connect, she was going to shake his hand. But, instead of dropping her hand, he held it and he looked her directly in the eyes. He held her hand through the entire ceremony. As she spoke to him about why he was receiving the bell, she said she felt like they were the only two people in the room, he was completely listening, open, and present in that moment. This is the work, of being the host. She had come to bring an offering but he ended up blessing her, by really listening to her and accepting what she had to say. She felt that with every fiber of her being. That is the work of being the host. She went into an unknown place to give a gift, and as she left, by being so well received and heard she felt blessed from the exchange.
We are all called to share what we have. And, no matter how small…one loaf, one fish…maybe we can only listen; maybe we can only give a handshake; maybe we can only look at you with our eyes for one moment. It will be enough if we ask God to bless it. God will provide, here, today, right now. I’m not talking about a million dollars. I’m talking about the stuff we really need, the basics. God is interested in the basics. We can count on God, we can look to the witness of Jesus, we can be sure the Spirit will connect us if we are just willing to be a miracle. Let’s share the miracle of presence by showing up today. Hallelujah, he is risen! Let us witness to that miracle of new life by extending it to one another. Let’s be the miracle we have the potential to be. Let us pray.