Isaiah 62:1-5; I Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11

The Reverend Paul D. Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, January 17, 2010

For the Epiphany service I had asked Carole Leonard if she would put together a reception. And, as Carole always does, she put together a warm and welcoming occasion. She had coffee and pie and had decorated the tables with handmade centerpieces. Unbeknownst to me, as people started to arrive, Carole began to worry that there might not be enough pie; more people seemed to be showing up than we expected.

To make matters worse as I welcomed everyone I announced that there would be free pie afterwards. Carole had purchased the pie and thought maybe we might put out an offering basket to defer the cost. So there she was worrying that we might run out of pie and then I tell everyone to run in there and get some because its free!

Thanks be to God, we did not run out of pie. In fact, rumor has it that some people had more than one piece. And there was left over pie for that Sunday.

The concern wasn’t that anyone was going to go hungry. It was that it would be inhospitable to not have enough for everyone. This is what concerns any of us as we host others.

In the Gospel today Mary tells Jesus, “They’ve run out of wine.” She wasn’t worried that people would waste away if they didn’t get more to drink. She wanted to save the host families from dishonor. Their culture was all about family honor. Not being able to provide for their guests would suggest that they did not have the resources nor enough friends to provide for the feast. When Jesus steps forward to provide more wine he is acting honorably; he is saving this family and the whole village from disruption. (Malina, pp. 66 & 68-69)

To be hospitable is to be honorable. It is to honor the other, ourselves and in the end to honor God.

Our Parish Discernment Team perceived that hospitality is a value for this community. They identified that this value comes naturally to us. This value isn’t about hanging out at coffee hour and being friendly. It is about bringing the unconditional love of God in Christ to everyone who comes through these doors and everyone we meet out in the world. The Team wrote that, “True hospitality is love.”

They identified hospitality as a way of being not as a growth strategy. They wrote, “We want to welcome everyone, whatever their ethnicity, race, gender, marital status, political views, or sexual orientation.” They realized that this is a lofty goal and will be tough to live into.

Yes, this is tough to do. It is easy when everyone looks and thinks and lives the same way. It is hard to accept the full diversity of humanity.

The Rule of St. Benedict is over 1500 years old. It was written for vowed religious living in monasteries and convents but many people today are adopting its precepts as a way of life. Chapter 53 is entitled On the Reception of Guests. Benedict instructs us to receive all guests as Christ. The superior and brethren should greet the guest with all charitable service. And the first thing they should do is to pray together and then exchange the kiss of peace.

He goes on, “In the salutation of all guests, whether arriving or departing, let all humility be shown. Let the head be bowed or the whole body prostrated on the ground in adoration of Christ, who indeed is received in their persons.”

Benedict did not instruct us to do this only with guests that intrigued us or seemed like us but for all guests. This is a tall order. It takes all of the spiritual energy we have both as individual disciples and as the community of disciples.

Just as we learned at the Epiphany reception and at every pot luck, when we all offer something and work hard to make it warm and welcoming we always have enough.

God has given us everything we need to be the Church we just have to share our gifts. And we have to recognize the gifts that others have just as Mary recognized the gifts that Jesus had. She didn’t know that he would make water into wine. She just knew that he had the gifts to save the family’s honor.

And so to live into this vision of hospitality we have recognize it as a God-given gift. This parish of St. George’s is known for its welcoming attitude. We aren’t creating another “program” to do; we are living into the gift that we already have received as a community. We are manifesting this gift and bringing deeper meaning to it.

We already have everything we need. We as a community must be about learning and then energizing each persons gifts. As St. Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… All of these (gifts) are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

Last year at this time we as a community were anxious about our budget. A Church budget isn’t about money; it is one indicator of the health of the body. Last year we were 23,000 dollars behind. This year, even after raising some spending, we are only 1,300 dollars off. I suggest that we had all the pie we needed even last year. It has been a matter of discernment and prayer that has unleashed our gifts. And these gifts are not simply monetary. People’s gifts of leadership and their time and energy and ideas are manifest all over this parish. The gift of hospitality has been shown in our growth in new members.

We have everything we need to be the Church. God has already given it to us as a gift. Let’s keep looking for those gifts and unleashing them.

Reference: Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John by Malina & Rohrbaugh

                      Fortress Press Minneapolis 1998