Romans 15:1-7; Matthew 18:1-3

In 2007, Bishop Robert Schnase wrote the book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. These practices are, Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-taking mission and Service and Extravagant Generosity. The next 5 Sundays I will be preaching on them. My emphasis for this morning sermon is on Radical Hospitality. Therefore, I believe the best way to begin is by reminding ourselves what the word Radical means. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Radical means, among others definitions:  Extreme, very different from the usual or traditional. It Also means favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions.”

The way Jesus and the Early Church practiced welcoming others is within the definition of radical. We read Romans 15, let us listen again verse 7, it says: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” This statement from Paul, sisters and brothers was a radical statement in those times because they used to welcome people according to their social status. Let us see some examples that we find in the New Testament.

Luke 14 tells us about an occasion when Jesus was invited to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee. The most distinguished guests according to Luke were seated in the places of honor, and the least respected were seated in the lowest places. James also, in his letter, describes in chapter 2 how a man wearing fine cloth and gold ring was offered a good seat, while the poor man was seated on the floor. Those were and still are the standards of the world. However, Jesus turned those standards upside down.  

Jesus accepted everyone who came to him from a wealthy Pharisee to a leper the same way. However, in Matthew chapter 18 he addresses a particular group to whom the Christian community should focus our welcome. According to Matthew, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus answered the question by taking a helpless child and saying, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven… And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” “Unless you change,” that expression tells us that Jesus knew the disciples were expecting a different answer. To the question “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Maybe they were hoping to hear something like, “the powerful, the wealthy, persons of high status and accomplishments.” “The blessed ones” at their sight. Never “those who become like a child.

To have an idea of how radical Jesus was when he asked them to be like a child and to welcome a child in his name, we must understand the value of a child in Jesus’ times. In his book “The Complete Guide to the Bible,” Stephen Miller gives us an idea, he says, “Children lived at the bottom of society’s barrel in most of the ancient Middle East. People today debate abortion. But in Bible times, parents had the right to do what comedian Bill Cosby jokingly threatened his son, “I brought you into the world. I can take you out.” Stephen Miller also mentions an Egyptian letter from 1 BC found by archaeologists. This letter was written by a man named Hilarion to his wife who was pregnant. He wrote, “if you have the good luck to deliver another child if it is a boy, keep it. But if it is a girl, set it outside and let it die.”

That gives us a good idea of the value children had in those times.  So, according to Jesus, the persons to whom the Christian community extends a welcome must include the very least and the humblest, the marginalized, and all those society despised. Because in doing so, we don’t only welcome Christ, but according to Paul, we also praise God. So, welcome one another as Christ welcomes us, -as Paul asked the church in Rome- and embracing the least; those who have no rights are the standards of hospitality for Christ Church.

Leaders in the early church believed that these standards of hospitality reflected what Jesus did and what Jesus continued to do among his people and in the world. Paul, following Jesus’ example in 1 Corinthians 11, rebuked the church of Corinth because, at their gatherings, some people went hungry while others indulged themselves. Again, this was radical. Why was radical? Listen to verse 22, “Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing?” Paul tells the rich -who possibly were the masters of the slaves within the church- to wait, and not to go ahead, so they could all -poor, slaves, and masters- eat together as family. What Paul meant to say was: at Jesus’ table, we are all equal. Equality in those times was a radical idea.

What makes our hospitality “radical”? The extent the church is willing to go to welcome and engage people of every condition into the community of Jesus Christ without favoritism. Hospitality becomes “radical” when we realize that it is not about our comfort; instead, it is about Jesus’ commandment to make disciples.  Hospitality becomes “radical” when we realize that it is not about our comfort; rather, it is about the sensitivity and commitment we have towards those outside our congregation.

Sadly for many Christians, hospitality and welcoming others is typically say, “hello, welcome” or shake hands, maybe a hug or saying, “how are you?” Yet hospitality is more than that. Hospitality in the Bible always included a meal, a place to stay, and security for travelers. That is what Jesus teaches us with the story of the Good Samaritan who practiced deep and radical hospitality to a stranger.

In His book, Bishop Robert Schnase says, “To become a vibrant, fruitful, growing congregation requires a change of attitude, practices, and values. Good intentions are not enough. Too many churches want more young people, as long as they act as old people, more newcomers, as long as they act as old-timers, more children, as long as they are quiet as adults, more ethnic families, as long as they act like the majority in the congregation.” Bishop Schnase continues saying: “Church leaders cannot keep doing things the way they have always done them.”

I will end my sermon with another radical story from the gospel of Mark. In chapter 5, Mark says, “They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.”

There is no need to say that all “normal” persons would avoid passing by the area where this man lived. But, not Jesus, He came and had a transforming, healing, and liberating conversation with Him. You see, Jesus dared to do something radical, He did what others were afraid to do. When this man was healed, he tried to go with Jesus; Jesus told him, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Now, listen two chapters later, Mark 7:31-32, “Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. -this is the same area were the demon possessed man was- There, some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.” Listen to Matthew chapter 15:29-30, -this is the same story-. “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.”

Both gospels talk about people who already knew about Jesus. Did they hear the message from the man Jesus liberated? Were these great crows Matthew mentions the result of the commandment Jesus gave the man of, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And therefore, the fruit of Jesus’ radical approach to the demon-possessed? Provably.

My sisters and brothers, we have a great challenge before us: if we want changes, we must change. Changes are good, changes are necessary. John 21:4-6, “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, do you have any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”

If you believe that we have been casting out our net all these years without catching any fish, it is time to cast out our net on the other side. The radical side of hospitality.