The great sin of inhospitality

‘Once in a lifetime, not to be repeated special offer’; all the slogans that the stores use to entice us to buy the latest consumer offering were literally true at this point in Jesus’ ministry (Luke 10. 1-11, 16-20). He had made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem. He would not pass this way again and that was why he challenged those he met to leave everything there and then and follow him. No excuses, no distractions.

As we heard last week (Luke 9. 51-62) some could not rise to the challenge but this week we hear that there were at least seventy or seventy-two who were disciples and ready for Jesus to send out to prepare the way for him to come into the lives of those in the villages and towns that he was to visit before he arrived in Jerusalem.

We see from this that disciples aren’t just followers; they are also those that are sent out and entrusted with playing a part in bringing in the kingdom of God. This passage challenges us regarding the call of God on our lives. There is still a large harvest to be reaped? Just as Jesus sent out his disciples to tell others that he was about to arrive in their midst, so we are called to do the same. Do we hear that call? Do find reasons to put it to one side? Are we responding as fully as we might? At St John's Seven Kings, we are currently planning a Vocations Sunday for September which will provide lots of information about opportunities to develop the ministries that each of us have in church and community so that we are better able to play our part in bringing in the kingdom of God. But don’t wait until then to say yes to the call of God on your life and do let others know how you are thinking and responding.

Interestingly the numbers at our services regularly mirror the number of disciples that Jesus sent out. This passage is headed up ‘Jesus sends out the Seventy-Two’ in our pew bibles but it should really read as ‘Jesus sends out the Seventy or Seventy-Two’ as there is a little asterisk after the first mention of 72 men and in the note at the bottom of the page it says that some manuscripts on mention 70 men.

Why the difference? Tom Wright has explained that it is most probably to do with the story of Moses choosing 70 elders during the Exodus from Egypt who were “given a share in God’s Spirit and thereby equipped to help him lead the people of Israel (Numbers 11. 16, 25).” On that occasion, two others who were not part of the original 70 also received the Spirit.” So, whether it’s 70 or 72, it is a sign from Jesus to the people of his day that a new Exodus is happening and they need to get on board if they are going to be set free from slavery to sin and led to the Promised Land of life forever with God.

In the original Exodus the Israelites rebelled, grumbled and didn’t want to go the way God was leading. Jesus prepares his disciples for a similar reaction from those he sends them to saying that he sends them out as lambs among wolves. Jesus even mentions the town of Sodom when he speaks about the judgement which is to come on those who don’t welcome his disciples. The destruction of Sodom is the most frequently mentioned Genesis event in the whole of the Hebrew scriptures and it is a symbol of every sin that stands in contrast to covenant with God.

There is a story told by Jewish rabbis that helps in understanding this aspect of the passage. The rabbis teach that Abraham left off a discussion with God and went to greet guests when they arrived at his camp. He ran to greet them during the hottest day on record and served them the best food he could put together. Based on this example, the rabbis say that taking care of guests is greater then receiving the divine presence.

This story gives a sense of the importance of hospitality towards strangers within Judaism. The fundamental wickedness of Sodom, however, was their hostility to vulnerable strangers and the violence they enacted on the innocent. The people of Sodom had a moral responsibility to offer protection and hospitality to vulnerable strangers, as all the ancient laws of the east demanded, and they stand in scripture as an example of extreme wickedness because they attacked and abused those they should have protected.

This links too with Jesus’ talk of Satan. Satan literally means ‘the accuser’; the one who points the finger at others in condemnation of them. Jesus is then saying that Satan (the accuser) falls like lightening from the sky at the return of the disciples from their mission because they have not been accused but welcomed during their mission.

So Jesus, here, is highlighting the importance of welcome and hospitality. Before the disciples go Jesus warns that those who fail to welcome them are not only turning God’s messengers away from their homes and lives but God himself too. As he says, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” When they return, he rejoices at the welcome which they have received and the sense, in the verses which follow today’s reading, that the Gospel has been received from “the diverse and motley group he has chosen as his associates.”

The emphasis in this passage is on the hospitality provides by others to Jesus’ disciples. We have already thought of ourselves as being called like them to take the good news of Jesus to others, so we will naturally identify ourselves with the disciples in the passage and think about the response we receive from others when they know that we are Christians. But to really get the force and challenge of what Jesus is saying in this passage we have to put ourselves in the shoes of those the disciples went to and ask ourselves how well do we receive others? The challenge in this passage is about the quality of the welcome provided to others. The great sin here is to be inhospitable and to be inhospitable is actually to reject the divine in our lives.

So, how do we rate on that basis? I know we think of ourselves as a friendly, welcoming church but let’s not rest on our laurels and instead ask ourselves how we can be more welcoming, more hospitable to those who come for the first time and those that we don’t know well. When we are here in church, let us make those people our priority, always seeking to speak first to those we don’t know, don’t know well or haven’t spoken to for some time.

God calls us not just to be those who follow him but also to those sent out to prepare the way for him to come into the lives of others and challenges us too to be those who are also welcoming, always hospitable towards others.

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James MacMillan - A Different World.

Brief book reviews

I've just finished Flickering Pixels by Shane Hipps which (amazingly, given the subject matter) is a very readable application of 'medium as message' insights from Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman to Christian faith. The book is a call for the Church to lose the naivity of its relationship with media by developing awareness of the varying ways in which the mediums we use to express our messages affect the way in which those messages are received and understood.

Hipps argues the "gospel message is not a single abstract concept" instead it is "a story that changes and expands with each new set of characters and settings." We must remember, he suggests, that "the Bible is not merely - or even primarily - a collection of objective propositions" instead it is "a grand story told through hundreds of different perspectives and diverse social settings." As a result, its message is "multilayered, textured, expansive, and complex."

The "print age led to an efficient gospel" where salvation "became as easy as 1-2-3: (1) believe in Jesus; (2) apologize for your sins; (3) go to heaven." In this way, "we were shown the power of personal relationship with Jesus" and "the heavily intellectual emphasis of the print age helped unlock the treasure chest of Paul's rich, rational, and nuanced theology."

Now, "the image gospel is ... moving beyond cognitive propositions and linear formulas to embrace the power of story and intuition" ... We move from understanding salvation as a light switch to seeing it as a gradual illumination ... The gospel is seen as a way of life that transforms the world here and now, not just in the next life."

Robert Gelinas argues that jazz "is a unique medium by which to translate the gospel" so his excellent Finding the Groove, through which I also made great headway, is an example of Hipps' overall thesis. Jazz, Gelinas argues, "is the willingness to live beyond freedom and unfreedom and see where it leads":

"Jazz is the inclination to seek the interplay between life and death, right and left, up and down. When we embrace tension, we see multiple realities that are simultaneously true and lead us to the tertium quid thinking of Jesus ... Jazz thrives on tension, and a jazz-shaped faith will discover the wonder of improvisation if we are willing to embrace opposing views at the same time. This leads to a new way of Christian thinking - a way where we are not arguing and debating all the time but pursuing and discovering the creative way, which will hopefully, be the kingdom way."

Gelinas concludes:

"Seek syncopation. Hear that which is so often missed, and accent the offbeat until IT begins to swing. Find the groove, and set the Spirit of God free to improvise in you and through you. Hone your skills, and begin to call and see if there are others who will answer in response ...

Have time to develop your ear so that you can hear those around you and live in concert with them. Get to the woodshed and practice! Practice the ways of Jesus so that others can confidently count on you when you take the stage. Dig deep into God's word, not for the purpose of regurgitation, but so you can join in with melody of the Spirit's eternal song and add your own voice to that of the ancients. And when pain visits, don't forget to finger its jagged edges - sing the blues - until those around you have o choice but to smile in recognition of the living crucified Christ in your life!"

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Miles Davis - So What.

Gants Hill Arts Project (8)

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Beverley Knight - Change is Gonna Come.

Judy Acheson MBE

Many congratulations to Judy Acheson, our CMS mission partner from St John's Seven Kings working in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who's been awarded the MBE in the Queen's birthday honours list.

Stephen Burgess, CMS transcultural manager for Africa, said of the award that, "It's a fitting tribute to her 30 years' mission partner service in DRC," and we would fully agree as Judy, through her willingness to serve God, has enabled young people across the country to fulfil their God-given potential, recovery and healing for those traumatised by acts committed in the Civil War, and reconciliation combined with forgiveness between those who fought each other in the conflicts.

The award - for services to young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo - comes as Judy prepares to retire next year. For many years she was the youth coordinator for the Anglican Church in Congo, a role which she has now handed over to Congolese colleagues. She now acts as a consultant at a new youth ministry training centre in Mahagi. Over the years she has helped developed a vibrant youth movement in the church, which among many other intiatives has been active in peace and reconciliation work.

Judy has also co-authored a series of manual for young people now being used in schools across the country as well as in churches.

Judy has written that having been in the Congo 30 years, she has had the privilege of seeing part of their history worked out. She has watched God empower new leaders who will continue to help young people to find the Saviour and to take them further in their service to the church and to their country for the glory of God. As Westerners, she says:

"what we do is always important to who we are and where we find our identity. But to the Congolese, it is through relationships, sharing oneself with others, even the vulnerable, weak parts that one discovers who one truly is. To them relationships are more important than the work done."

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Gael - Eh Yahwe.

New Church Art Trail

Tryptich by Henry Shelton at St Paul's Goodmayes, forming Stations XI, XII and XIII of the 'Stations of the Crown of Thorns'

Memorial etched glass windows by Henry Shelton at St Paul's Goodmayes depicting scenes from the Life of Christ

Et alias oves hab eo (And other sheep I have) by Anthony Foster

'Light of the World' West Window by Derek Hunt at St John's Seven Kings

Churches have for many years been significant patrons of the visual arts and contain important and interesting works of art. The local Anglican churches in Aldborough Hatch, Goodmayes and Seven Kings are no exception with works of art by some of the best local and national artists of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. As a result, the local cluster of Anglican churches has created an Art Trail with a route for visiting each church in turn and highlighting artworks of interest in the four churches.

St Peter’s Aldborough Hatch: A stone carved sculpture by Anthony Foster depicting Christ as the good shepherd can be found here. Foster, who was a pupil of the sculptor Eric Gill sharing Gill’s Roman Catholic faith and commitment to the Distributionist movement, worked in wood and stone and has many Church commissions in the UK. A sculpture of Rebecca at the Well can also be found at the West end of the churchyard while a decorated organ from the 1862 London exhibition and a Crucifixion by Woodford artist, A. Wyatt, are located in the church.

St John the Evangelist Seven Kings: The West window was designed by Derek Hunt and installed in 2005. The theme is “Light of the World” and its design brings together references from St John’s Gospel with elements particular to St John’s. Hunt’s commissioned designs can be found in churches, theatres, schools, public libraries, shopping centres and private buildings in Britain and abroad. The Nativity window was produced by C.E. Kempe & Co. Ltd., a famous Victorian glassworks begun by Charles Eamer Kempe. The window features the company’s trademark tower and wheatsheaf symbol.

St Paul’s Goodmayes: St Paul’s features a wealth of Church Art from stained glass designed by William Morris and Sir Edward Burne-Jones to its most recent commission, a set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns painted by Henry Shelton. Other works of note at St Paul’s include stained glass by Leonard Evetts, the most prolific British stained artist of the 20th century, and a Madonna and Child by the contemporary Roman Catholic artist, Jane Quail.

All Saints Goodmayes: The Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes and the memorial etched glass windows in All Saints, depicting events in the life of Jesus, are both the work of the noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style, Henry Shelton. Shelton is the founder member of commission4mission which aims to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities and as a mission opportunity for the churches involved.

Creation of the Art Trail was a recommendation in the report produced following a Community Street Audit of Aldborough Road South by the Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident's Association and the Fitter for Walking project of Living Streets. Printing of the Art Trail leaflets has been funded by Living Streets as part of the Fitter for Walking project and copies of the leaflets can now be found in local churches. Fitter for Walking helps residents create streets they can be proud of. It’s funded by the Big Lottery Fund, along with contributions from local authorities to work in five areas of England. Redbridge has a regional Fitter For Walking Coordinator – if you would like to be involved in the project please get in touch! To do so, please contact Tom Platt - Email: Tom.platt@livingstreets.org.uk or Tel: 020 7377 4917.

The churches on this Art Trail are all within walking distance of each other and are close to parks and other local amenities. Why not think of planning a day to see the art works and to exercise by walking or cycling the Art Trail?

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John Coltrane - Psalm.

Windows on the world (110)

London, 2010

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30 Seconds To Mars - Kings and Queens.

Gospel Reflection: Travelling Light

My latest Gospel reflection (Luke 10. 1-11, 16-20) on the Mission in London's Economy website begins by quoting Cliff Richard and ends by quoting John V. Taylor. In between I focus on the significance of travelling light in our individual lives and our corporate Church life in order that we are focused on our core task of sharing the good news about Jesus in actions and words and treading lightly on the earth as we do so.

The reflection ends with a prayer extracted from a Gerard Kelly poem: "I want to be untouched by my possessions / Instead of being possessed / By what I touch, / To test the taste / of having nothing to call mine, / to hold consumption’s cravings back, / to be content with luck or lack, / to live as well on water as on wine. / I want to spend myself / On those I think might need me, / Not spend / All I think I need on myself. / I want my heart / To be willing to make house calls. / Let those whose rope is at an end / Find in me a faithful friend. / Let me be known as one who rebuilds broken walls." Amen.

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Cliff Richard & The Shadows - Travelin' Light.