As many of you know, I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Italy. Now it is vacation time for Jim and Dale. Jim and Lois are with Lois’ family at the beach in North Carolina. Dale is off to Colorado to perform the wedding for his stepson, then he and Meg will come back to the East Coast and vacation in the Smoky Mountains. So while they are off, hopefully having restful and relaxing vacations, I am left with vacation memories. And that is definitely not a bad thing!

One of the nice surprises of my vacation was not what I saw or did, but what I took with me. Her name is Audrey and she was my traveling companion. Audrey’s husband and two sons farm a rather large section of land in Southeast Iowa, near both the Mississippi River and the state of Missouri. She and her family live outside a small Iowa town and they belong to the UCC Church in that town. In fact, I think Audrey has been on every Board in that church and in the Iowa Conference and she still has her fingers in the Christian Education program. The people in Audrey’s town have been involved in the AFS Program for 20 years or more and so have welcomed students from all over the world and sent their students off into the world. Audrey has been very involved in that program and has visited her children in far-flung places around the globe. Because of that program and Audrey’s natural, God given gifts, Audrey can talk to anyone!

I had forgotten most of that. And so I was quite surprised to discover that my traveling companion was Miss Congeniality. I had, unwittingly, brought my own hospitality with me. For two weeks and I expect for most of her life, Audrey never met a stranger. Audrey welcomed everyone into her life and was very welcoming of everyone else’s life. At the Baltimore Washington Airport, at the check in desk, no less, Audrey struck up a friendly conversation with the desk clerk. I joined in and we chatted and laughed for some time. (Would you believe there was no line?) Then, as we were ready to board the plane, our names were called, and we were asked to come to the desk. With as few words as possible, they took our tickets and gave us new ones. I looked at them and noted that we had been moved forward quite a bit. As we were getting on the plane, there stood the desk clerk we had chatted with. With a big smile she said, did you get upgraded? And so, Audrey and I flew business class overnight! Then on the next leg of the journey, Audrey struck up a conversation with our seatmate, and as we were descending to the airport in Rome, the woman wrote out her name, home and work phone numbers, and email address. She charged us that should we encounter any difficulties in Rome we were to call her immediately. There was no doubt that she would respond with help or assistance. And so, we were offered real hospitality, we two strangers in a strange land.

In ancient times, especially in the land in which Abraham and Sarah were sojourning, to not offer hospitality was considered to be unforgivable. One might understand that easily in a land where life giving water was extremely scarce. But it was more than that. One never knew who the stranger might be or what message the stranger might bring. It was thought that these visitors might be sacred or holy persons with a message from God. Accordingly, one needed to open one ’s tent, one’s heart and share generously of all that one had.

And so three visitors arrive at the tent of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham rolls out the proverbial red carpet and is quite solicitous of his guests, welcoming them with a grand hospitality. When the guests are well satisfied with food and drink, the focus of the story shifts. It is now Sarah with whom the strangers wish to speak. Sarah comes out where they can see her and they announce that she, a barren women who is also past the time of child bearing will have a child. And Sarah laughs! Her world of barrenness is shattered by a new possibility that lies outside the reasonable expectation of her perceptual field.* Can this possibly be true? Are these people God’s Messengers? Can God really do this? The strangers leave and we are left, for the moment, with all these questions unanswered. Isaac, the answer to these questions comes later. The message that is clear at this time is that God can be present in the occasion of genuine hospitality.

Our scripture from Matthew reverses the focus again and makes the visitors the subject. The visitors are us, or are the disciples, and we are told that whoever welcomes these, welcomes Jesus and the one who sent him. Here, we are assured of God’s presence through hospitality. And the symbol of that hospitality is a cup of life giving water. Hospitality then is a living, or life-giving thing.

It certainly was life giving for the people around Jesus, who were rejected by society but welcomed by him. Now with our new building, we have the opportunity to offer the kind of hospitality Jesus modeled for us. With our handicap accessibility, we can offer hospitality for differently abled people. We have declared ourselves to be Open and Affirming and so we are welcoming of persons of all sexual orientations. Yet the demographics of our community have changed significantly in recent years. Silver Spring is far more racially and ethnically diverse than in previous times. This may require us to be ever more open and accepting. It may require us to listen for the message of God as brought to us by strangers who come to our tent.

Part of welcoming is providing a safe space. The safer the space the more comfortable and open the visitor will be. But safety is more than a matter of comfort and openness for our children. It is crucial. We have all become aware of the incidents of child sexual abuse in churches. Our church and many others have been working toward putting policies and procedures in place to assure the safety of our children. One important part of this will be to do background checks on those who work with children. The C. E. board has been discussing this with teachers who see the need and are supportive. Many work with children in other settings or have other wise are familiar with the issue. You will be hearing more about this in news notes, bulletin inserts, and in other sermons and there will be opportunities for discussion and questions.

Hospitality is a gift from God and a call of God. It is not to be hoarded but to be offered generously. It is the offering of safe space, of food, and of cool, refreshing water. It is the opening of self and community to those who come our way. It is the willingness to let God be God. It is the willingness to hear the message brought to our ears by the ones who come our way for they may be the messenger of God. And while the words spoken may challenge our world and our reality, it would certainly not be a new thing here for God to make some unbelievable things happen. Will we grow? How will we grow? Can God make that happen? Did you hear what that stranger promised? Did you hear me laugh? Amen

* Walter Brueggemann in Genesis, the Interpretation Series, John Knox Press