Radical Hospitality

His name was Bill. He had wild hair, wore a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and shoes with no socks. This was his wardrobe during four years of college. Though mildly eccentric, he was a brilliant person. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across from the campus was a traditional church. They wanted to develop a ministry to students, but weren't sure how to go about it. One day Bill decided to go worship there. He walked in with his wild hair, T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and shoes with no socks. The service had started. Bill started down the aisle looking for a seat but the church was full.

By now people were looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. Bill got closer and closer to the front, when he realized there were no seats. He just sat down right on the floor. Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, this had never happened in this church! By now the people were really uptight, and the tension in the air was thick.

A deacon slowly made his way toward Bill. This deacon was in his eighties, a distinguished man with silver-gray hair and a three-piece suit. He walked with a cane. Everyone thought, "You can't blame him for what he's going to do. How could you expect a man of his age and background to understand some college kid, thinking he can worship sitting on the floor?"

It took time for the man to reach the boy. The church became utterly silent, except for the clicking of the man's cane on the tiled floor. All eyes focused on him. When the elderly deacon got next to the boy, he dropped his cane to the floor. With great difficulty he lowered himself and asked Bill, "May I sit with you?" The man sat down next to Bill and worshiped with him, so he wouldn't be alone.

That's what the birth of Jesus means.

• Radical action.
• Radical behavior.
• Radical gospel.
• Radical Savior.
• Radical God.

Called to Community

Several years ago studies were conducted among former American prisoners of war to determine what methods used by the enemy had been most effective in breaking their spirit. The findings revealed that they did not break down from physical deprivation and torture as quickly as they did from solitary confinement or from disrupted friendships caused by frequent changing of personnel. Attempts to get the prisoners divided in their attitudes toward one another proved to be the most successful method of discouraging them. It was further learned that the soldiers were not sustained primarily by faith in their country or by the rightness of the cause for which they fought. They drew their greatest strength from the close attachments they had formed to the small military units to which they belonged.
These observations help us understand why Christians need the group experience of fellowship with other believers to help them sustain the new life in Christ.

[from a sermon by Jim Davis: http://www.focusongod.com/Acts04s.htm]

The Problem of the Homeless

In New York City, there stood a beautiful apartment building. The tenants were understandably proud of their building: they all had fabulous views of the city, the lobby was always impeccable, and their doormen kept the front sidewalk in pristine condition. The tenants lived there very happily for many years. And then one day, the building next door began an extensive renovation project. The scaffolding that was installed proved to be a wonderful shelter from the elements. Soon, the tenants noticed that every night around six o’clock, a group of about twenty people gathered to build sleeping quarters under the scaffolding out of cardboard boxes. In the morning, apartment maintenance men would remove the boxes and the trash and hose down the sidewalk. the homeless people then dispersed until 6 o’clock the next evening.
Soon, co-op meetings were being held to discuss “the problem of the homeless.” “the homeless are dirty!” one tenant cried. “They get drunk and throw up on the sidewalk!” “They’re bums!” said another - “One even asked me for money the other day!” “They could be deranged,” said a young couple. The consensus was quickly reached: the homeless were dangerous.

A woman named Mary Ann stood up to speak. “I’ve watched these homeless,” she said. “I’ve seen outreach counselors from the homeless coalition speaking with them about other options, but I notice it’s the same people who return night after night. They choose to remain here. Perhaps we should realize that they are our neighbors now. They seem to be a pretty quiet group, and I haven’t seen any signs of violence among them.”

An awkward silence followed. Then the discussion began again: “I’ll speak to the building manager,” one woman said. “Perhaps if we stopped cleaning up after them, they’d leave.” “I think we should call the police,” said another man. “We could tell them that the homeless have been threatening us. Maybe they can force them to move.” “Where would they go?” said Mary Ann. “To someone else’s street!” several voices replied.

The meeting ended. But several days later, Mary Ann overheard a conversation in the lobby. “We need to talk to Mary Ann again about the homeless,” a woman said. “I think she’s feeding them.”

[from Spiritual Literacy by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat]

Feed Your Wolf

There is a story about some people who lived in a beautiful village in Italy in the 13th century. They were understandably proud of their little village, as it was quite an idyllic place to live. But one night a shadow came out of the nearby woods. The shadow prowled the streets. In the morning, a local farmer found that many chickens from his farm had been killed or taken away. The next night, the same thing happened - the time another farmer was the victim. This happened again and again. Finally, an old woman said that she had seen a wolf on the streets at night. The terrified people decided to ask a holy man who had a reputation for being able to talk to animals for help. They sent a delegation to get St. Francis.

They had very specific ideas on what St. Francis should tell the wolf. First, he should prech to the wolf and remind him to obey the commandment about stealing and to follow Christ’s commandment about loving God and neighbors. And then, just in case, since a wolf is, after all, a wolf, he should tell the wolf to move to someone else’s village.

Francis went into the forest to meet the strange shadow, addressing it as “Brother Wolf.” Then he returned to the town square. “My good people,” he said, “the answer is very simple. You must feed our wolf.” The people were furious, especially with the suggestion that this uninvited beast in their midst was somehow to be regarded as “their wolf.” But they did feed it, and the killing stopped.