Sermon preached by The Reverend Dr. Harold T. Lewis

SERMON PREACHED BY THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA ON THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 16 JANUARY 2005


"Jesus said to them, 'Come and see.'" (John 1:38)

A few weeks ago, right before Christmas, a furor broke out in the advertising industry and the media about a TV ad that never appeared. It was sponsored by our brothers and sisters in the United Church of Christ. It depicted an ordinary scene --- one of Sunday worshippers approaching the entrance to a rather impressive Gothic Revival church. The first to arrive was a gay couple, but two muscle-bound bouncers bar their way. Then came a young African American woman, and the bouncers tell her in unison, "Step aside, please." Then comes an Hispanic man, who faces a similar fate. And finally, even a young man in a wheelchair is prevented from entering the church. Then the ad fades to black, and the pear-shaped tones of the announcer's voice say: "Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we." NBC and CBS deemed the ad too controversial, and refused to air it, and in so doing, of course, gave the commercial far more publicity than it would have had had it been allowed to see the light of day. (This is reminiscent of the old Index Librorum Prohibitorum of the Roman Catholic Church, which banned books that were either salacious or heretical, thereby ensuring that they would become best-sellers!) I, for one, am grateful to the networks, since they have unwittingly provided me an introduction to this sermon. In fact, they have emboldened me to preach on the "H" word, a topic which preachers, in this politically correct age, avoid like the plague. A word that is central to the debates raging today, not only in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, but among all people who profess and call themselves Christians. That word, my friends, is hospitality --- because when all is said and done, the issues facing the churches today have to do with who is in and who is out, who is welcome and who is unwelcome, who is embraced and who is shunned.

In the world in which Jesus exercised his ministry, the practice of hospitality was raised to an art form. The people in the Hellenistic world placed a high value on it, but it was directed solely towards family members and people within their respective social classes. There were elaborate social rules, especially, about reciprocating the hospitality of a host. When the Christians came along, one of the reasons they caused such a scandal is that they practiced hospitality indiscriminately. Following Jesus' example, they extended hospitality to those not in a position to reciprocate --- widows, orphans, and the outcast, not to mention prostitutes and tax collectors. In short, Christians welcomed "the least, the lost, and the last" of society.

If we look carefully at today's Gospel, we will see radical hospitality at work. Two men are clearly intrigued that John the Baptist has called Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus senses their curiosity, and asks them "What are you looking for?" Now you would expect them to say something like "The meaning of life" or "the way to salvation." Or at the very least, they might have asked why John the Baptist described him as the Lamb of God. Or like members of our inquirers' class, they might ask for a Prayer Book, a catechism, or a glossary that would explain the arcane terms and expressions used in the church. But they come up instead with what appears to be a non sequitur: "Where are you staying?" (Excuse me!) "Where are you staying?" Could it be that these new disciples were not primarily interested in theology or even Biblical instruction? They weren't even interested in church mathematics: the Ten Commandments, the seven sacraments, or the three persons of the Trinity. Instead, they were interested in relationships. "If we could see where you're staying," they seem to be saying, "and sit at your feet, and see how you live out your religion, we might learn more than we would from a theological lesson." Jesus bites. He realizes that the answer to "Where are you staying" is not "The Nazareth Hilton." He gives no information; rather, he extends hospitality and invites relationship through a simple invitation: "Come and see."

"Come and see." What can we learn from this? We can learn that hospitality is the first stage of evangelism, and as that a passive evangelist is an oxymoron. We who purport to be Christians must take the initiative, even if it means taking the risk of being rejected. Look at it this way. We use the expression "church home." People don't usually come to your home uninvited. They need not only be asked, but made to feel welcome when they come. Tom Keagy, a member of Calvary until he left for Philadelphia about two years ago, tells the story of arriving at Calvary for the first time, having come at the recommendation of his rector in Texas. He parked in the lot, and craned his neck to see the majestic spire, checked out the impressive limestone façade, and decided that the people inside would be as hard and as cold as that stone. But fortuitously, on his way back to his car, a parishioner happened along and asked if he were a visitor. Without waiting for an answer, he escorted Tom into the church, invited him to sit in "his" pew (thereby enabling Tom to escape the embarrassment of sitting in a pew occupied by the same family for fifty years) helped him through the intricacies of the service, and even introduced him to people at coffee hour.
"Come and see" sometimes means setting an example, even for those in our own household. If I were to compile a David Letterman-esque list of Ten Excuses People Give for Not Coming to Church, the top prize would go to the parishioner who says "I had visitors from Peoria, and had to stay home and prepare breakfast for them." Seems to me that if your family goes to church on Sunday mornings, you should invite your houseguests to accompany you. If they insist on remaining happy heathen, show them where to find the bacon and eggs, and tell them you'll see them at one o'clock. To stay home with them sends the message that church is dispensable; that you would sell your birthright for a mess of pottage (or grits, or whatever you have for breakfast.)

"Come and see" sometimes means witnessing to your faith after you leave church. As Rob Stevens is fond of saying, "After worship, service begins." George Egan, another former Calvaryite, now in Florida, told us in the Men's Bible Study one Wednesday morning that when at a business meeting at his firm, when he raised the question about the ethics of a certain mergers-and-acquisitions deal, his colleagues would say, "George, don't go church on us!" The Christian must constantly challenge the prevalent idea that churchgoing is a lovely but irrelevant Sunday pastime that has nothing to do with Monday morning.

There is probably no more important task in the Christian life than learning to extend hospitality --- radical hospitality. And I think it is not unfair to say that Episcopalians have to work at it just a little harder than most. The jokes about the Episcopal Church betray us. We've been called "God's frozen chosen," who believe that everybody who should be an Episcopalian already is. And you've heard the one about the woman visiting from a tradition where spontaneity in worship was encouraged, who insisted on shouting "Amen" and "Hallelujah" during the sermon. When the usher was dispatched to investigate the disturbance, she said "Nothing is the matter, Sir. I got religion." "That may well be," responded the usher, "but you didn't get it here!" And sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. How well Claudette and I remember going to coffee hour at a church we visited when I was a seminarian. We were helping ourselves to goodies at the coffee hour, and heard a voice behind us, "If the visitors would get out of the way, then perhaps the members could have some cookies."

The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that we should practice hospitality because "thereby we may entertain angels unawares." Angels or maybe an apostle or two. The P.S. to today's story is that one of the inquirers was Andrew. And the first thing he did after spending the afternoon with Jesus was to go and tell his brother Peter that he had found the Messiah. Peter, needless to say, became a little more active in church affairs.
A French philosopher was once said, "Jesus established the kingdom, but the church happened instead." The idea of Jesus' Kingdom was a simple one --- a society where everyone has a place at the table. But the church which bears his name seems to have spent a lot of its time establishing rules which, like the big-biceps church bouncers in the UCC ad, limit access. Tomorrow, we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., who indicted the church when he said that eleven o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. Martin became dangerous, however, when he had the temerity to suggest that not only the church, but our nation should look like the Kingdom of God. He envisioned the nation as "a place" where his children "will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character."
My sisters and brothers in Christ, my prayer this morning is that we may grow toward a kingdom-like church, so that we can say to the inquirer: "Come and see." Come and see a place where you are welcomed regardless of where you might be in your spiritual journey. Come and see a place where we believe that we are all works in progress. Come and see a place where we believe revelation is an ongoing process, enabling us to admit that we might not have all the answers yet. Come and see a place where as that old Sixties folk song used to say, "You will know they are Christians by their love." Come and see a place where we care for one another. Come and see a place where we bring, week by week, our selves and souls and bodies to the altar to be renewed and refreshed by Jesus, the host who practiced hospitality indiscriminately.
Let us pray:
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.