14th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 10:25-37
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And, he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And, who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But, a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then, he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Breath In the Night
When I was in seminary, I was the manager of Holy Grounds, one of the common areas on campus that kind of functioned like a hang out spot, where you could get coffee or tea, and there was a smart TV and WiFi. One night, when I was there alone, I heard these footsteps go over my head. They weren’t alarming, because there was a catering company that rented the kitchen up there, and I had heard them up there at all hours of the night before. But, as I sat there, the footsteps made a beeline right towards the door that led to the stairwell that comes down into Holy Grounds, where I was.
Whoever this person was, they opened the door, and then just stopped. At first, I didn’t really think too much about it, I was expecting this person to start walking down the stairs, and then I would see who it was. It could have been a classmate, maybe one of the caterers, but as the seconds went by, this person just stood up there, breathing. I could hear them breathing, and I started to get kind of scared. I couldn’t see anything because the door wasn’t in my line of sight. The stairs just went up into darkness, and I could the breathing.
After about thirty seconds, which is a really long time when you’re scared and you’re by yourself, I started to get worried. Who was this person? Why weren’t they coming down the stairs? Was it a thief? Was it a ghost? A homicidal maniac? I started making noise so they would know that there was in fact someone in the room.
After a full minute had gone by, I just couldn’t take it anymore and I packed up my stuff as fast as I could, and got the heck out of there. As I walked away, I looked up to the top floor, and I saw that there weren’t any lights on. It was around this time that I remembered someone telling me months ago that they thought a homeless man was sleeping in Holy Grounds at night. And, I wondered if that was who this person was. I thought about calling the cops, or at least waking up one of my classmates just to tell to someone about this, but then I thought, it’s winter, and it’s cold, and if this person just wanted a warm place to sleep, who was I to deny them? I was at a seminary, for crying out loud, and wasn’t that the Christian thing to do?
A few days later, a friend told me that he walked into Holy Grounds around midnight, and heard someone snoring in the dark. It was coming from the second floor, and it freaked him out, because I had already told him my story about the footsteps, so he left.
After that, I talked to the classmate who first told me about someone sleeping in Holy Grounds, and he said he had actually found a man sleeping there, not once, but twice. So, this was a thing that was actually happening.
There’s no easy answer for a situation like this. Who is our neighbor, and who do we offer hospitality to? What is hospitality, and why is it important?
We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. A lawyer is testing Jesus about how to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what is written in the law, and the lawyer responds, “You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Then the lawyer asks, “Who is my neighbor?” And, Jesus tells the story of the man beaten by bandits and left to die on the side of the road. A priest walks by without helping, and then a Levite, both respected members of society. And then, a Samaritan comes by, someone who was seen as less than, someone who didn’t have much status. He took care of this poor man, cleaning his wounds and bringing him to an inn, giving the innkeeper extra money to take care of him, and promising more when he returned.
At the time that Jesus was telling this story, the concept of hospitality was of the utmost importance in that part of the world, and that tradition carries on through today. In a climate that is hot and dry, and where the population is sparse, if you don’t take care of each other, then people would be dying on the road all the time, let alone someone beaten and left for dead. Hospitality there is not a simple act of kindness; it’s a survival mechanism.
Which leads us back to our original questions. Who is our neighbor, and who do we offer hospitality to? What is hospitality, and why is it important?
If we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we don’t live in a very hospitable world. Hospitality is about offering food, shelter, and comfort to those who need it, not just to the people we like. I see inhospitable acts every day. In the way that we treat people who are different from us. In the recent laws regarding unsheltered people and members of the queer community.
Like this man who was sleeping at Holy Grounds. We all just assumed that he was homeless, which I guess was fair, because if he had a home, why would he be sleeping there? I didn’t know what to do. I mean, he wasn’t stealing anything, and it actually seemed like he was trying not run into anyone. He wasn’t leaving a mess, and it wasn’t costing the school anything to let him sleep there.
But, we didn’t know anything about this man and students are sometimes in Holy Grounds by themselves. He hadn’t done anything threatening yet, but no one could vouch for his mental state. And, if anything happened to him while sleeping there, then the school could be liable.
These were all very good reasons, but they didn’t make me feel any better about having to report him. I understood that it was my job, but didn’t the rules of hospitality and the Golden Rule take precedence over all of that?
I ended up talking to the chaplain, and we came up with plan. I put up signs saying that Holy Grounds would be closed from 8pm until 8am until further notice. Someone would talk to the caterers to make sure that they were locking up at night, and we would inspect the building to try to find out how he was getting in. There was never a direct confrontation, and I don’t know if all of this activity scared him off, or if the warmer weather meant he wasn’t seeking shelter indoors anymore, but we didn’t have any incidents after that. And, we never found out anything more about him.
I’m fairly certain that if any of us saw someone injured and lying on the street, we would call for help. But, someone living on the street, someone begging on a corner, holding up a sign that says “Anything helps,” it’s so easy to just walk past and do nothing. To say nothing. Or, maybe we do, and we give them a dollar. But, I know that I always ask myself, “Is it enough?” Is this how God wants us to take care of our fellow human beings.
This the second week of our Rough Sleeper series that focuses on homelessness. We have set aside this time to listen, to learn, to talk, and plan, and work. As a congregation, we do what we can. We collect food for Food Share, we volunteer with Family Promise, we are going to prepare a meal for God’s Love in October. And, we are spearheading the Rough Sleepers discussions. All of this can seem so overwhelming, but I know that I am not the only one who feels the Holy Spirit in our midst working to make something amazing happen.
Imagine a world of radical hospitality, where everyone is loved and cared for. We need to ask for God’s help, so that we can step outside of our comfort zones, so that there won’t be any more hunger. No more homelessness. No more hatred. No more senseless killing. Imagine a world where everyone was welcome.
God has given us the power to make that world a reality. We can turn societal norms on their head and love our neighbor as ourselves. We can do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It’s our job to make this a hospitable world. So, be brave. Imagine the world that you want to see. Embrace God, and make that world a reality. Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
