Reflection #2

Gen 18:1-10a, Luke 10:38-42

When sharing that I was coming to the Holy Land for the summer, people frequently responded “Oh, you’ll never read the Bible the same way.” As regards the idea of hospitality as a sacred and core value, I am beginning to get a picture of how this remark rings true.

This week’s readings offer a contrast between how we tend to offer or receive hospitality, and what we are to consider as true servanthood.

Consider Abraham as he sees the three men—he ran and bowed down. We as readers know this to be the Lord, but there is no indication that Abraham was aware of any divine presence. These were simply approaching guests in his midst and he rushed to greet them without hesitation. Keep in mind Abraham is a nearly 100-year old man, sitting in the “heat of the day,” who in the previous chapter was just circumcised! Also striking is that men of Abraham’s station would not have run or bowed, it would have been considered undignified and the act of a slave. Although master of his house, he acts as the servant. Abraham goes out of his way to offer water for his guest’s feet, a place of rest and a meal. He solicits Sarah’s help in preparing a meal while he tends the heard to have a calf prepared. And after all his gracious offerings, he stands aside while his guests eat.

It is this welcome to his three visitors that leads to blessings for him and his descendants in faith.

Consider Martha and Mary. Luke uses the exchange between Martha and Jesus to clarify the true sense of hospitality and the importance of hearing the Word of God. The contrast between Mary and Martha is in their actions, not their intent. While Martha is distracted, from her guest and His Word, Mary is depicted in a manner of discipleship, accepting as evidenced through her posture—sitting at the Lord’s feet—her complete attentiveness to Jesus. It is not service in principle that Jesus is critiquing, but the manner and presence exuded that is key. Luke is less interested in the image of women as servants, which for the first century Jew would be natural, rather he highlights Mary as a woman who chooses to assume the role of disciple. It is Mary who freely submits herself to listening instead of doing.

While Mary is focused on merely one task, Martha is consumed and distracted with many. It is for this reason that Mary has chosen the better part. She is attentive in her hospitality, extending a welcome worthy of having heard the true call of discipleship.

It’s hard not to see this ideal level of hospitality offered by Abraham and Mary as a luxury. As westerners, we are groomed from a young age to “pitch in” with all the daily duties and help “get ‘er done.” Besides, without Sarah and Martha, how would Abraham and Mary have been able to be so attentive to their guests? And so, like Martha, we are often too busy in our schedules and preparing for the “task” of being hospitable, to actually see our guest or truly acknowledge when we are being received as one. We become distracted with life’s responsibility: work, children, friends, running a household, getting to extra curricular activities…fitting in just one more historical or Biblical site before you leave the Holy Land…. This distraction can reach all areas of our lives, including even how me meet and greet others. We say “Hi, how are you” as a matter of habit, but rarely expect a genuine answer. We rarely take time for the encounter.

Hospitality in the Middle East however, remains something to be experienced. I challenge you as pilgrims or visitors in this land, to look for and seek out hospitality of this depth—I assure you it continues today in a vein similar to that which Abraham and Mary displayed. It can be found on a shopping trip for a new shirt which turns into an hour-long conversation with tea and coffee magically appearing before you in the shop. It is in the lunch invitation that yields more food than humanly possible to consume in one sitting and which extends nearly to dinner time as discussions continue at length. I encourage you to share a few moments with the person who greets you, serves you and offers you their hospitality. Take the opportunity to slow down. Look into their faces. Listen to and actively hear their story. Engage. Take advantage of those occassions presented that allow you to be a Mary in an otherwise Martha world.

How am I starting to hear the Word differently having been in the Holy Land? For one, I have witnessed true hospitality. Because of this, I am forced to ask myself what impact hospitality has on my life and my own discipleship. I am forced to ask how I aid in the hospitality of my community. To consider whether I feel over burdened with meetings, events, fundraisers, programs, school, work—general life—any one component of which can leave me over tired, spiritually unfed and a little disenchanted? I can start to catch myself when I complain that I feel I carry the responsibility of preparation by myself. I can see how I allow the nitty-gritty details of being the “perfect host” consume me at the expense of the encounter.

But I am also reminded that I am not only welcome, but desired, to sit at Christ’s feet, attentively listening to and wrestling with the Word as it is broken open. I am reminded to be still and to recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread. I am reminded to search for Christ’s face in all those I meet. And I pray that in living this hospitality, others will begin to see Christ’s face in me.