“Bearing Fruit: Radical Hospitality” Romans 15:7

We are beginning a New Year today. A tradition that often accompanies the New Year is setting goals - thinking about things you wish to change in the coming year or things that you wish to grow upon in the days to come - resolutions. 

What would it look like if we made resolutions in the local church as well? Not resolutions that are so lofty that we quickly abandon them  - but instead resolutions to build upon who we already are, what we are passionate about, and what we do well in order to become even more vital. Bishop Robert Schnase wrote a book several years ago about the five practices of fruitful congregations - radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity. Schanse proposed in his book that these are the marks of vital congregations that are healthy and growing - both in number, but also in spiritual depth. In other words, how we make the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ fit in our daily lives.

For the next five weeks we are going to journey together through these markers of vitality, in order to make resolutions about how we can grow as individuals and as a local congregation on our faith journey. This week we start with radical hospitality.

Schanse states, “Congregations offer gracious invitation, welcome and hospitality of Christ so that people experience a sense of belonging”. This is not a new idea, brothers and sisters. It harkens back to both the Old and New Testaments. The apostle Paul tells the church in Rome to welcome one another. And not to just offer any type of welcome, but to extend the welcome of Christ - the welcome that gave itself so that all could have the opportunity to be reunited in restore relationship with God. And we offer such an inclusive welcome for a sole purpose, so that people can come to know the glory of God!

Can you think of a time when you have been welcomed, with the radical loving welcome of Christ? Or maybe it would be easier for you to think of a time when you were not made to feel welcome - either intentionally or unintentionally. What was that experience like for you?

I can vividally remember a time that I was invited to belong. Someone in my high school class was starting a bible study in his family’s home. We didn’t really know each other, but he went out of his way to invite me. In fact, he went out of his way to invite a whole lot of people. So much so that we quickly out grew his parents living room, and then his house. We moved to a trailer attached to the small country church we were affiliated with. Inviting was so much a part of the culture of that bible study, that we out grew that as well - to the point where I remember one summer day when we had folks both inside and outside of the trailer listening to the youth pastor lead a study on the book of Acts. 

It felt good to be invited. Good to be thought of. Inviting is part of hospitality, friends. Often I think folks in church think that hospitality is the same thing as being friendly, but the truth is they are different but both needed. Hospitality has to do with inviting people, welcoming them when they come, including them and supporting new comers. Schanse writes, “Growing congregations don’t stop at friendly hospitality”. 

I thinking growing congregations don’t stop at being friendly congregations because we are never done. Hospitality calls us to go deeper, each time we gather together, in trying to reach out to new people so that they can come to know Jesus Christ. Hospitality invites us into this radical place where, yes, we can think about serving those are here amongst us, but even more so think about reaching out and serving those who are not yet present.

Take a moment to look around the sanctuary. What group of people aren’t here that you wish were - families with young children? Young adults? College students? People that are the age of our children? Now think - what would you be willing to risk and change in order to get that demographic here? Do we value people so highly that we are willing to make changes?

For example  - if we want more families with young children to be present what could we change in order to make this so? Could we hire someone to work in the nursery on Sunday morning to watch children if parents want a quiet time to worship? Could we invest in making bags full of activity items for children so if they want to sit with their parents they feel welcome? Could we have rockers put in the back of the sanctuary for mothers who want to sooth their infants? 

Some churches wanted to make a space in the sanctuary for children to participate in worship in their own way. What came next was the prayer-ground. Right at the front of the sanctuary there is an area set up with toys that children can play with during the worship service in order for children to be present. These spaces have even made the news because of the radical hospitality that they offer.

Maybe its not young families that we wish would attend, but rather young adults. Or another demographic entirely. Have we taken time to ask people what they are looking for in a place of worship and faith community? Radical hospitality calls us for us to be concerned about what people are looking for and to honestly ask if these are things that we can truly do. Not changing our core value. But changing the ways that we show people the Christ values and loves them in order to remove any road blocks that may be preventing people from coming to know Jesus Christ. 

The problem with hospitality, especially radically hospitality is that it asks us to serve others in order of being served. In the gospel of Matthew we find that “The son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” When we start to serve others as a congregation, we find that we are also strengthened as a congregation, because we are putting our focus not on making sure that we are personally happy and satisfied, but instead reaching out in the name of Jesus to glorify God’s name!

Again in the gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus telling the parable of the king who will sort out those who are known to him from those who are unknown to him at the end of time, and the king tells them, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” Schnase states, “Radical Hospitality is out of genuine love for Christ and others”. Radical hospitality asks us to care for those who are not yet amongst us just as much as we care for each other, who are like family. To care for the stranger. And then to invite and welcome them amongst us. 

We are inviting people because we truly believe that there is new life to be offered in Christ! We welcome people as God welcomes them, seeing their worth. And we invite, brothers and sisters, because God invited us. Why are you here today? Was it because someone invited you to be part of this faith community? A grandma or grandpa? Mother or father? Friend or colleague? And are there people in worship today because you invited them to be part of this faith community as well? 

When we invite and welcome people with radical hospitality we don’t just offer a cordial welcome. We act as if Jesus himself was coming to our place of worship this morning. In the book of Hebrews we find this admonishment, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” What would we be willing to risk in our hospitality if we were entertaining angels, brothers and sisters?

But in order to be an inviting culture, we need to ask ourselves some very hard questions - in particular why do we want people to come? Do we want people to come to boost our numbers or our offering? To make ourselves feel better? Or do we want to invite people to come so they can come to know the saving love of Christ in their own lives? Pastor Adam Hamilton states this question another way, saying that all churches need to be able to answer three questions: why do people need Christ? Why do people need the church? Why do people need this church? Hospitality is the genuine love we have for new people and how we show this, and this genuine love, is about their lives and their souls. Now how do we communicate this to those who are not yet part of our faith community?

Schanse states, “People are searching for churches that make them feel welcomed, loved, needed, and accepted”. Notice that he didn’t say that we need to have it all together or have all the answers. That isn’t what people are looking for. Instead they are looking for places where they come to know that God loves them and that they are not alone. 

How are we doing, Church, inviting people? Who is on your heart this morning to invite to worship to be part of the body of Christ? And what are we willing to change in order to reach new people? Do we strive without ceasing to exceed people’s expectations? Are we willing to make room for new people amongst us? For in the words of Schnase, “By God’s grace people may be more ready that we realize to accept the invitation of Christ that comes through gracious hospitality”. Amen.