Yesterday I ate my first meal cooked from reclaimed food--a wonderful vegetable quiche. Today I saw a homemade speaker or "soundbox" made of a cardboard box, spare cords, speakers from a gaming chair in a dumpster, I think the sound quality is better than my stereo!!! Sure it's a cardboard box, but it's beautiful. It's beautiful because otherwise those materials would be crowding out this world. Tonight the plan was to host homeless men to an Easter feast at their house. After looking for hours, no guests made it to the table. All the same, I made it to the table, planning to participate in something that felt new and a little scary. Scary in that I didn't know what to expect, and scary in that it felt like what we are called to do.
Jesus ate with beggars, prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors--the least and the lost. I often think "there are no lepers now", no persons we forbid from entering our cities, but there are. There are those we outlaw, by making it illegal to sleep on the streets, but where then can they live? There are those we judge and shame based on their life decisions. What would it look like to let them in? The following verses guide my friends:
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. --from Acts 2 & 4
So where does that leave us? How do we incorporate radical hospitality into our daily lives, especially within the modern culture. I'm not saying that it won't be counter-culture, it has to be. And maybe I'm not saying it has to be safe...maybe I am. Am I willing to risk? What am I willing to risk? Surely Jesus risked his very life, forfeited his life. But his sacrifice had eternal ramifications, meant salvation for all. The risk seems minimal in comparison to the reward. What is our call? What level of risk should we undertake as humans, as children of God? Is inviting the least and the lost in too much? Too little? If I give money, and then let the discomfort of knowing there are those without the basic necessities of life dissipate because I can't change the world, is that missing the message? If I feel overwhelmed with the weight of the world, as so ignore the weight of the community in which I live, am I refusing to be the change I wish to see? Are we called to carry it with us always, the presence of the poor? When we shop for food, for clothes, for movies, for homes, for cars? That's a lot to ask, and yet, so little. It's my new challenge. With every dollar, think of those in need. Not that I will never get a chai latte again, but to be mindful of what it is. Perhaps in that way, I will not simply be mindful of my spending, but of my eating, my consumption, my time spent, and in the end, being mindful of others may help me to live a life more reflective of my values, my stated goals--not my cravings and impulses. In helping others, I help myself, because we are one.
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