To practice hospitality in our world, it may be necessary to evaluate all the laws and all the promotions and all the invitation lists of corporate and political society from the point of view of the people who never make the lists. Then hospitality may demand that we work to change things.
The act of "saying grace" at our tables is a deeply political and subversive practice. It counters and subverts the thought that we're in control, that the Reserve Bank or the market economy determines what we have, that the escalating glocal oil prices dictate what is possible, that the planet revolves solely around us. The "giving of thanks", the practice of prayer, fuels our counter-imaginations of life and moves you and me into our proper place: open to otherness, surprisable, teachable and trusting.
I invite you to drop your clenched fists, lower the placards, close your mouth, lift your fingers off the keyboard, stop trying to "save the planet" for a moment, simply sit still, and slowly pray this prayer with me.
"Deliver me, O Jesus: From the desire of being esteemed From the desire of being loved From the desire of being honored From the desire of being praised From the desire of being preferred to others From the desire of being consulted From the desire of being approved From the desire of being popular.
Deliver me, O Jesus: From the fear of being humiliated From the fear of being despised From the fear of being rebuked From the fear of being slandered From the fear of being forgotten From the fear of being wronged From the fear of being treated unfairly From the fear of being suspected
And, Jesus, grant me the grace To desire that others might be more loved than I That others might be more esteemed than I That in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I decrease That others may be chosen and I set aside That others may be preferred to me in everything That others may become holier than I, provided that I, too, become as holy as I can."
A few years ago Nicola's 13 year old daughter was killed in a car accident by two teenage boys, acquaintances of her daughter's, who had stolen the car.
Nicola decided to put her faith into action while trying to deal with the pain of her loss --- by reaching out to the family of the boy who was the driver, and was facing serious criminal charges.
Nicola visited the mother of the driver numerous times. Over the simple act of coffee and conversation they became friends. They attended the family group conferences together, where Nicola and her husband pleaded with the justice system for the boys not to be sent to jail. Nicola knew about jail, and the effect it would probably have on the boy, because her brother has been in and out of prison all his adult life.
Later Nicola was contacted by the local prison and asked to visit the father of the boy. This man was a member of a notorious gang, but had asked specifically for Nicola to come see him. She put herself in God's hands and visited. The father told her how for a month he had been crying in his cell because of the love she had shown --- "thank you for giving us back our son". He knew the life his son would almost inevitably fall into if he had been sent to jail (he wasn't). It is now a couple of years since the father was released from prison, and he has been not gone back in. A remarkable turn around as he also has spent his adult life in and out of prison.
Nicola tells me she didn't initially feel love for the boy, or his mother, or the father - but felt compelled by her faith to reach out to them. She first acted on that compulsion, and then the feelings of love came.
I met Nicola at a training session for volunteer prison visitors. Nicola was doing her annual renewal, but for me it was my first.
I have no visions of grandeur as I set out on prison visitation ministry. I don't think I'll be saving the world - but how incredible would it be to impact someone's life like Nicola did? Simply by treating them with dignity. They need to accept the reality of their actions, and the consequences they face, but if we as a society do not reach out to them we will all be the poorer for it.
Matthew 24:35-36 (NLT): "For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me."
I have changed some elements of Nicola's story, including her name, to protect her privacy - but the essence of the story is as she told it to me.
This article has also been cross-posted on my personal blog at GavinKnight.com
I like very much Malcolm’s challenge to find a new expression of being God’s people by the offer of hospitality. Hospitality is a fundamental expression of the Gospel. It is important to find new words and ways in which Christ’s love can be shown. Hospitality is such a word. It speaks of invitation, unconditional acceptance and pre-supposes a commitment to inclusiveness. Remember the words from Isaiah, “ Come everyone who is thirsty, come, you that have no money, come buy wine and milk . . and you’ll enjoy the best food of all.”
Albert Einstein said that all philosophical and scientific inquiry could be boiled down to one simple question: “Is the universe a friendly place?” Our answer to that question determines whether we live with hostility of hospitality the juxtaposition of which is beautifully addressed by Henri Nouwen.
He argues that the God we know in Christ coverts our hostility into hospitality. Because of our estrangement from God we end up living in fear and insecurity and fearing God’s punishment. If we believe we are deserving of punishment we cannot love ourselves, and if we can’t love ourselves we can’t love our neighbour. The evidence of this is our fearful, defensive, aggressive behaviours and how we anxiously cling to our property and look at the surrounding world with suspicion, always expecting an enemy to appear and treating strangers as though they are enemies.
Our heart might desire to help others, to feed the hungry, to visit the prisoner and offer shelter to the traveler, but meanwhile we have surrounded ourselves with a wall of fear and hostile feelings, instinctively avoiding people and places that might remind us of our good intentions.
Now all this is in marked contrast to the obligation that is ours as Christians. We know God to be loving. We know Christ who came to seek and save the lost. We know that God invites us into fellowship. Our fear has been dealt to. We live therefore as agents of God’s inviting love. It is our vocation to offer hospitality, to convert the enemy into a guest and to create a free and fearless place where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced. God’s hospitality is illustrated in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. “Go out into the highways & the byways and bring back the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.” May it be so
The deafening noise of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is “who can I eat with”? Simply stated: can I eat with you if you’re not circumcised? can I invite you into my house and share a table with you if you’re different from me, if you’re not like me? what is the distinguishing marker of a “follower of Jesus”? what/who defines/determines what/who is “in” and what/who is “not”? Emotionally and politically charged issues that differentiated, divided and kept “different” peoples marginalized, powerless and separate. See how? ... Something new is emerging in the Christian households of Galatia. There is a contrasting and disturbingly fresh practice of “dissimilar” peoples eating at the same table. The former divisions of ethnicity, race, religion, and socio-economic status weren’t working anymore; there is a newer humanity materializing and it started with the sharing of a meal. See that? ... Today, where the defining/dominating motifs of our own communities/nations seem to be defensiveness, fear, hostility, suspicion, and tribalism, the hopeful and liberating experience of the Galatians is even more important. See why? ... Eyes on these thoughts from N. T. Wright: "The world is full of evidence for Paul’s warning: “If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not destroyed by each other” (5:15). It will not do simply to say that into this world must be spoken the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel Paul articulates and defends in Galatians. This is of course true, but what will it say to the Serb and the Croat, to the Tutsi and the Hutu, to the Palestinian and the Israeli? Will it simply say, If only you would all believe in Jesus, none of this would be necessary? (If it did, it might find further problems: the Serb and the Croat, the Catholic and Protestant in Northern Ireland, all in theory believe in Jesus; and to modify the statement to say “if only you would believe in Jesus the same way I do” would stand revealed as a new sort of tribalism.) The most powerful statement it can make must be made symbolically, through the coming together in a single worshiping family, eating at the same table, of all those who belong to Jesus the Messiah, despite their apparently irreconcilable racial, tribal, or other tensions. That is the powerful message of Galatians...” (N.T. Wright, 2000, The Letter to the Galatians, emphasis mine).
Seeing some connections? Sensing some of the healing power of hospitality? Sensing some of the transformation that happens when we intentionally make space for others? The global corporation of Coca Cola has certainly caught hold of its potential and in its latest spin, they shamelessly tap into the promise of sharing our tables. Look at this clip:
There is something of the imagination and inspiration of Galatians in this, isn’t there? Who is coming to your house for dinner this week? Who can you make space for? Who can you share a table with? It could be the start of something new; it could even be the start of a newer humanity in your own neighborhood.
Robbie Deans (coach of the mighty Crusaders) said at the Sally Red Shield breakfast launch on Wednesday the person who had most influenced him in his treatment of the young men players in the Crusaders was Bob Millar (a Christchurch Salvation Army officer who died a couple of weeks ago). On Thursday the Wellington City Council planted a tree and put a park bench in Glover Park in Wellington to mark the influence of Peter Thorp (another Sally officer who died last year) on the city and people of Wellington. In addition the City Council turned on the Cross on Mount Victoria on the anniversary of Peter's death
Why were these two so influential. In my view simply because they made a life/faith connect. They both loved being with people of all types. They didn't do that in a preachy or religious way just a human connected way. As people met, talked and socialised with them both the power of their faith influenced lives.
It is not our words but the quality of our living that changes the world
Do I detect some pessimism in Malcolm Irwin's evolutionary conclusion?
Hope is a gospel value that humankind can never extinguish. In South Africa, prior to out lawing apartheid black citizens would light a candle and place it in the window as a sign of hope, a sign and conviction that one day this evil would be overcome. The then Government moved to declare this action of lighting a candle illegal which even became a joke among the children who would badger the police with "Our Government is scared of light a candle". History would eventually show that the demise of apartheid was at least in part due to 'lit candles' (which the Government wisely feared) and were very much more powerful than guns.
In the struggle for justice and peace our true weapons are certainly not the equipment of warfare, nor just human devising but the lit candles of hope based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember those telling words of Isaiah, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" declares the Lord (55.8) and Zachariah 4.6 "Not by might nor by power, but my Spirt" says the Lord Almighty. It has been said, 'It is better to light one candle than to sit in the darkness'. Let's light candles of hope because - The Light - is stronger than the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn.1.5)
Scarey excerpts from Ronald Wright (2004), A Short History of Progress:
"From the first chipped stone to the first smelted iron took nearly three million years; from the first iron to the hydrogen bomb took only 3,000 years...
Violence is bred by injustice, poverty, inequality and other violence. This lesson was learnt very painfully in the first half of the twenthieth century, at a cost of 80 million lives. Of course, a full belly and a fair hearing won't stop a fanatic; but they can greatly reduce the number who become fanatics...
The future of everything we have accomplished since our intelligence evolved will depend on the wisdom of our actions over the next few years... these years may be the last when civilization still has the wealth and political cohesion to steer itself towards caution, conservation and social justice... the 10,000-year experiment of the settled life will stand or fall by what we do, and don't do now."
It is a heavy and poignant thought, eh: what's next? what now? who is going to dream, imagine and fight for something fairer, something newer?
The supply of over 100 sponsored goats for Zimbabwe as a result of auctioning a prototype Just Action Conference Badge got me thinking about goats.
The parable Jesus quoted from Egyptian antiquity and recorded in Matthew 25.31 divides people and nations between being sheep and goats. The simple criteria was whether compassionate and practical response had been shown to the stranger in need.
Who can say that we have always fed the hungry person, clothed the naked person, or visited the person in prison. No, we are all goats some of the time. In like manner using the imagery from another parable we all have wheat as well as tares (weeds) in us.
Unfortunately all too often I must confess to being a silly goat so I think Jesus was not so much telling this parable to illustrate what will happen at some future judgment but about the contradictions that exist in human attitudes and behaviour.
I believe Jesus was trying to underline the importance of the Christian life lived out in practice. Heaven and hell in this context are symbols of our inner realities and states of being, not physical places of reward and punishment. Judgment is what we do to ourselves by the choices we make.
I believe there is hope for this old goat yet provided I exercise my choice to follow in the way of Jesus with compassionate and generous response to those in need.
A little something to keep the conversation of Campbell Roberts alive (posted April 2o, 2008). Some more values with which we might re-imagine and renew the neighbourhoods we share: collaboration... without the erasing of differences equity... the flattening and redistribution of power community development... in and through interdependence embrace... without the fear of excluding evil or indifference to injustice generosity... and not scarcity hospitality... intentionally making room for others in what we call our 'own' - our seeing and in our spaces freedom... without slipping into hyper individualism fair and transparent trading fun... simply and madly celebrating everything that is good consumerism... without excess faith/hopefulness... without devaluing the creation or elevating a fatalistic escape to heaven sustainability... without the moralizing, please.
Doable? Touchable? What do you think?
Monday, April 21, 2008
Something a little cheeky (excuse the pun):
The claims of evolution, progress, male-chauvinism, war, and over-consumption in one single line.... enough there to start a good conversation, eh?
The counsel of Albert Einstein is critical to how we engage with issues of injustice and justice. He contended:
“None of our problems can be solved with the same level of consciousness or thinking that created them.”
I believe we have to cease trying to extend the Kingdom of God by conforming to and merely parroting the culturally-favored thinking of: certitude corporatism consumerism control despair dualisms efficiency exclusion growth individualism relevancy redemptive violence scarcity self-fulfillment tribalism.
Imagine the difference if we started to experiment with and immerse ourselves in the more creative and counter-cultural thinking of: collaboration community development covenant embrace generosity glocalism holistic faith hopefulness humility monotheism neighborliness new creationism partnership realness self-sacrifice.
See the shift? See the thinking that is truer to the story of The Salvation Army? See some of the thinking that could truly heal the world?
“We need to start by remembering that we are not just consumers: we are also citizens of countries and of the world.”
B Jeffcott
Moving from 'what can i buy that is better for the planet and its people' to fighting the root of the cause of the issue is a beautiful shift in mind set!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A brillant idea came to fruition this weekend with Prime Minister Rudd convening a national summit of the country's leading thinkers to propose a vision for the future direction of Australia.
Articulating the vision and values of a country is vital if social justice is to be achieved
Achieving biblical/social justice is the aim of The Salvation Army in New Zealand. Expressed in the mission to reform society and the goal to eradicate poverty. The question is what values does New Zealand have when it is reformed and has eradicated poverty. What are we working to reform New Zealand to? What are the values of the New Zealand we are trying to bring about.
In broad terms of course we desire a country that loves God, where people love and respect each other, a country where social justice exists in its borders and is worked for globally. But do we know specifically what actual values must be developed and encouraged if New Zealand is to be this sort of country.
I think the evidence is clear that work is needed if we as Salvationists are to have clarity on the vision and values we want New Zealand and New Zealanders to possess and treasure. So this blog is a call to make a start. Lets debate together the essential vision and values we desire for New Zealand.
I invite you comment and contribution on what this vision and the supporting values should be.
For starters can I suggest two values 1.Ensuring that each person is given the respect and human dignity that comes from God It would mean among other things that every person has access to food, shelter, healthcare and education in sufficient measure to maintain their life and dignity. Also it means the protection of the human dignity and life given each human person by God must be the prime driver of any social, political or economic system. "Yet you have made human beings a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour" Psalm 8:5 2. Every personmust live in a relationship of interdependence with others. A sense of community must be greater than our individual rights. Close loving relationships to others is a requirement. Systems of business, politics, economics and other systems must create community not detract from it or destroy it. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" John 13:35
Let the debate begin. What are the values essential for a socially just New Zealand? respect that every person .
The contents of 'just comment' [individual postings and comments] soley represent the views of the individual authors.
Just Comment is a space to engage with issues of social justice. There is criticism and and there is energizing. There is a deconstruction of what is impossible and a hopeful re-imagination of what could be possible.
