Came across this post in my sermon prep from Wesley White of KairosComotion.
He writes:
"Reversal upon reversal. Hospitality turned on its head. How do we welcome a commitment to G*O*D that doesn't go astray for this reason or that?
"Presumably the messengers smoothing the way for Jesus told some little not-quite-trues. Folks were ready to welcome Jesus until they saw that he wasn't stopping by their wood on a snowy or any other night - just passing through when he should be gracing them with bread or healing or a story.
"So the messengers blame the villagers before the villagers could blame the messenger. And Jesus catches their cover up and says, 'Nope, we are not getting rid of the evidence.'
"And others preemptively welcome themselves in, only to be turned away. And others are welcomed before they are ready to climb aboard. And others set conditions upon being welcomed into the family...
"If you were to use the villagers and the three along the road as measuring rods, how would you evaluate your current life? Are you feeling had or naive or tradition-bound or realistic? Are you feeling so committed that you are willing to misunderstand, impetuously volunteer, honor covenants in the face of greater opportunities, or be wonderfully inconsistent with a generous offer and a built-in excuse to not follow through?
"Each is a learning about hospitality. Each contains both sides of hospitality in its freedom and constraints. This is a great place to pause and reflect on how basic hospitality is on the journey toward suffering, death and being raised is. How are you doing? We?" --Wesley White , 6/21/2004 6:59:13 AM
-This post reminds me of one of those books of questions - ice-breaker/conversation-starter types. And one asks something like, "If God told you to go be a fisherman in the middle of nowhere, would you go?" And my honest answer: Nope. I'd make up any reason I could why I could do lots of good things for God instead, but not that, not something so drastic, isolating, sacrificing things I want/enjoy/possess/etc.
This week Jesus puts us on the spot: Do you really really want to follow me? Prove it!
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