Monday, July 22, 2013

La Hospitalidad Verdadera



San Lucas 10: 38-42

Jesús siguió su camino y llegó a una aldea, donde una mujer llamada Marta lo hospedó. Marta tenía una hermana llamada María, la cual se sentó a los pies de Jesús para escuchar lo que él decía. Pero Marta, que estaba atareada con sus muchos quehaceres, se acercó a Jesús y le dijo: —Señor, ¿no te preocupa nada que mi hermana me deje sola con todo el trabajo? Dile que me ayude. Pero Jesús le contestó: —Marta, Marta, estás preocupada y te inquietas por demasiadas cosas, pero sólo una cosa es necesaria. María ha escogido la mejor parte, y nadie se la va a quitar.


           Hace cuatro semanas yo llevé peregrinos a Grecia y a Turquía en los pasos de apóstol San Pablo.   Después la visita a las ruinas de Éfeso, nuestra guía nos llevó al que supuestamente era un centro cultural.  Un hombre nos explicó el arte de la alfombra turca mientras mujeres la nos demostraban como hacerlas.  Entonces, él nos llevó a una sala del edificio y ofreció té de manzana, vino, Raki (un alcohol de Turquía), y comida.  Mientras nosotros comíamos y bebíamos, sus compañeros nos mostraron muchas alfombras.  Finalmente, el hombre nos las trató vender.

Tarde yo hablé con el hombre.  En realidad no era un centro cultural pero un negocio familiar.  Todo era simplemente una mercadotecnia para vendernos alfombras.  La hospitalidad de este hombre no era sincera.  Jesús revela en el evangelio la importancia de la hospitalidad verdadera.  Hospitalidad simplemente es cuidar de otros en el alma y el cuerpo. 
 
En el evangelio hoy, Jesús visita a Marta y a María.  María se sienta a los pies de Jesús mientras Marta está “atareada con sus muchos quehaceres.”  Frecuentemente las personas creen que esta lectura dice que la vida contemplativa es superior a la vida activa, pero Jesús no lo dice.  De hecho, en la historia del buen samaritano, que está inmediatamente antes de la lectura de Marta y María, Jesús elogia al samaritano porque él ayuda el damnificado de los robos, cuando el sacerdote y el levita lo evitan y no hacen nada.  Entonces, ¿cómo podemos entender Marta y María?  La llave, según el erudito Alan Culpepper, está en la parábola del sembrador.[1]  Jesús explica la metáfora de la semilla diciendo, “la semilla que cayó entre los espinos, éstos son los que han oído (la palabra de Dios), y al continuar su camino son ahogados por las preocupaciones, las riquezas y los placeres de la vida, y su fruto no madura” (Lucas 8:14 LBA).  Marta está ahogándose por sus preocupaciones.  Su problema no es dar la bienvenida pero sus preocupaciones.  María ha elegido la mejor parte.  Ella no está distraída por los cuidados mundanos.  Ella se enfoca a la palabra de Jesús.

María es un ejemplo de la hospitalidad verdadera.  Ella atiende al alma, al espíritu.  Normalmente en los Estados Unidos las personas creen que las necesidades del cuerpo son las más importantes.  Es verdad que ellas son esenciales.  Nosotros lo vimos en la escritura.  El buen samaritano es el ejemplo.  Él cuida al cuerpo del damnificado.  Sin embargo las necesidades físicas no son todo.  Santiago dice, “Así como el cuerpo sin el espíritu está muerto, así también la fe sin las obras está muerta” (2:26 LBA).  El cuerpo y el espíritu.  La fe y las obras.  Ambos son necesarios.

Hace siete años yo participé en una misión a las montañas de Kentucky.  Mi equipo reparó una casa móvil, donde una mujer con problemas de sobrepeso y discapacitada vivía.  Nosotros construimos una base para aislar la vivienda del frío y hacer la casa más caliente durante el invierno.  Todos en el equipo trabajaron duro excepto un perezoso chico.  Su padre que era un miembro del equipo constantemente trató de hacerlo trabajar sin éxito.  Al final de la semana nosotros discutimos el trabajo con la mujer.  Ella apreció nuestros esfuerzos reparar su casa pero ella apreció más el joven perezoso.  Él platicó más con ella desde que él no estaba trabajando.  La dueña quería que él quedara con ella.

La hospitalidad toma muchas formas.  Como puede dar la bienvenida en tu casa, pero también puede hacer algo amable para otro ser.  Un vecino de mi esposa y mío murió hace ocho meses.  Desde que mi esposa y yo hemos visitado la viuda para dar pequeños regalos y platicar con ella.  Ella nos escribió una carta que decía, “¡De visitas, mantillas de oración, y oraciones!  ¡Por flores, comida, y chocolates – ustedes han hecho todo!”  Pero también la hospitalidad puede ser una palabra amable.  Nora Hernández dijo en un artículo en La Conexión sobre el poder de las palabras, “La lengua es el órgano que le brinda la oportunidad de cambiar vidas mediante enseñanzas, consejos, palabras de aliento y consuelo.”[2]

Quizás lo más importante sea simplemente escuchar a otra persona.  Yo visite a mi padre hace dos meses.  Él tiene 90 años y algunos problemas físicos.  Al final de la visita él dijo, “Tú me escuchas.”   San Benito Lujan dice en el prólogo de su regla de la vida monástica, “Escucha, hijo, los preceptos del Maestro, e inclina el oído de tu corazón.”    Inclina el oído de tu corazón significa escuchar con cuidado y afección.

Por último, la hospitalidad es una expresión del amor de dios.  El Señor nos da la bienvenida a su mesa cada domingo.  Él nos da la bienvenida como el padre corre a dar bienvenida al hijo pródigo (Lucas 15:20).  Su hijo Jesucristo nos da un mandamiento nuevo para caminar en los pasos de dios.  Él dice en San Juan, ``Un mandamiento nuevo les doy: `que se amen los unos a los otros;' que como Yo los he amado, así también se amen los unos a los otros” (Juan 13:34 NBH).  La hospitalidad verdadera no es poner la mesa perfecta para un huésped.  La hospitalidad verdadera simplemente es amar.  Es abrir nuestro corazón a otra persona.   La hospitalidad verdadera deja las preocupaciones mundanas para enfocar hacia otra.   La hospitalidad verdadera atienda las necesidades físicas y espirituales.  Nosotros lo hacemos en vías grandes y pequeñas.  Cuando nosotros abrimos nuestro corazón a otra persona,  no solamente llenamos el mandamiento “que se amen los unos a los otros”, pero nosotros somos el amor de Dios.


(Este sermón fue dado en  La Iglesia del Buen Pastor, Durham, N.C., 21 de julio de 2013.)

 


[1] R. Alan Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke: Introduction, Commentary and Reflections,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 231-2.
[2] Nora Hernandez, “Tus Palabras tienen energía,” La ConeXion, 10 de julio de 2013, 28.

Respect is the Foundation of Marriage




             I got to know Jean and Mike a couple of years ago while leading St. Michael’s pilgrimage to Italy, which I have renamed the match making pilgrimage, since this is the second wedding that I’ve performed from that group.  Jean invited Mike.  She asked him if he would like to spend 10 days with her in Italy.  Mike, who lived in Wake Forest, replied, “I’ll I’ve got to do now is drive down Capital Boulevard.”

Perhaps Mike knew traveling abroad has its stresses and strains for even the happiest of couples.  In Rome, Jean and Mike went out one night for a romantic dinner for two at the Spanish Steps.  Enamored with the location, and undoubtedly each other, time slipped away.  After leaving the restaurant, they discovered that the metro had closed.  Mike reached in his pocket, found the hotel address and suggested they take a taxi.  Unlike in past relationships, when such a moment would be fraught with petty recriminations, Mike and Jean calmly worked through the challenge. 

               This incident reflects an essential quality of Mike and Jean’s relationship – respect.  Jean told me, when I met with them to discuss their wedding, that she has never known someone with so much integrity as Mike.  Before they started dating, while they were getting to know each other through email conversations, Mike emailed that he would call her on a specific day and time.  Jean thought to herself, “I’ve heard that one before.” At the exact time, he called.  Jean knew then that Mike was a man of his word.  Mike, for his part, knew that Jean was the genuine article when on their first date she put her hurting sprained foot up on the table.   Mike thought Jean had a lovely foot.

Later that fall, Jean invited Mike to her house.  Now Mike is a huge Auburn fan.  He never misses a football game.  However, to be with Jean, he was willing to miss the game.  When he walked through the door of her house, he saw that she had the game on TV.

Since the Middle Ages in the West, we have believed that the essential quality for a marriage is love.  In reality, there are many forms of love and many components to love.  Psychologist Robert Sternberg developed the so-called triangular theory of love which says that intimacy, passion and commitment are all necessary for love.  When I was researching this topic online, a person on Yahoo answers picked “loyalty, honesty, sincerity and care.”  A person I sat next to at the rehearsal dinner last night could not stop talking about giving.  All of these, of course, are important but even more so, I believe, is respect.

In the opening paragraph of the Ketubah, the legal Jewish marriage contract, the husband promises, “"I will work for you, respect you and sustain you."  The word love is never mentioned in the Jewish marriage contract.  Rabbi Michoel Gourarie writes, “Love on its own can be egocentric. Sometimes what appears to be intense love is really an expression of self-interest and pursuit of pleasure. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see relationships that begin with intense romance deteriorate rapidly as soon as one person realizes that the other is not the perfect human being that they initially thought. For love to be real and long term it must be built on a foundation of deep respect. Only when we genuinely respect the individuality of the other person can we truly love them.”[1]

Today’s Gospel comes from the Farewell Discourse in John’s Gospel.  Jesus consoles his disciples about his eminent departure in this discourse and tells them how to carry on without him.  In today’s passage, he tells them to “abide” in his love.  The Greek word translated as “abide” is used more often in John’s Gospel than in any other book of the Bible.  Only a few verses earlier Jesus uses the word with the image of the vine and the branches.  He tells his disciples, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:4-5 NRSV).  Abide implies a deep, enduring, organic relationship.  This is the type of relationship Jesus has with his Father.  This is the type of relationship Jesus invites you into for your married life, Jean and Mike.  This is the relationship with God and one another into which Jesus invites all of us.

As I told Mike and Jean when I met with them, my grandmother remarried when she was 82.  She married someone she had dated in High School.  Both of their spouses of over 50 years had died.  My grandmother said that the years of her second marriage were the happiest of her life.  It was only then, she said, that she really knew love.

Jean and Mike, we, your family and friends, are gathered here today to give thanks for you, to wish you well, and to bless your new life together.  Build upon your strong foundation of respect and love.   Cherish each other’s individuality.  Nurture your relationship in the midst of life’s sorrows and joys.    We pray that the years to come will be the happiest and most loving years of your lives.

 (This sermon was preached July 20, 2013 at the wedding of Jean Alderman and Mike Tuttle.)


[1] Michoel Gourarie, “What Comes First – Love or Respect?” chabad.org, September 28, 2010, http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/1271335/jewish/What-Comes-First-Love-or-Respect.htm.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

How to Find True Happiness

This sermon was preached at St. John's, Henderson, N.C., July 7, 2013 on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.



After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'

"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."





               On Thursday we celebrated our nation’s Independence Day.  Our Declaration of Independence declared that our Creator endowed us with the inalienable right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  A worldwide psychological study found that people believe happiness is more important than “meaning in life, becoming rich, or getting into heaven.”[1]  Today’s passage from Luke shows us how to find true happiness.

At first the Gospel seems to have little to do with finding happiness.  Jesus appoints and sends out 70 of his disciples to prepare the way for him.  They are essentially advance men laying the groundwork for his visit later.  He tells them, "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me" (Luke 10:16).  The mission of the 70 is clearly important and deeply personal for Jesus.

Scholars are unsure why Jesus sent out 70 disciples.  This is the only reference that we have in any of the Gospels to the 70.  The 70 might represent all the nations, all the peoples of the world.  Noah had 70 descendants, from whom, according to Genesis 10, “the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood” (Genesis 10:32).  If you are having a hard time sleeping, read the names in Genesis 10.  Jewish prophets often did what are called sign-acts, symbolic actions, to make their points.  Jesus chose 12 apostles to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, to be a new Israel.  He says in Matthew, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt 19:28).  In sending out 70 disciples, Jesus reveals that his message is for all the nations, for all the people of the world.  Even more dramatically, he initiates the creation of a new world.

The values of this new world dramatically differ from those that dominate our world.     Jesus instructs his disciples to say when they enter a home, “Peace to this house!”  He tells them to cure the sick.  Peace and healing mark the Kingdom of God.  While peace and healing are all good, you might be wondering what all of this has to do with finding happiness!  So far, we haven’t heard anything about it.  I’m about to get there.  Happiness enters the picture when the 70 return “with joy.”  They celebrate that even the demons submit to them.  It is understandable that the 70 are happy about the success of their mission, but Jesus tells them that external circumstances are not the true source of their joy.  He tells them to rejoice because their names are written in heaven.

When Jesus says the names of the 70 are written in heaven, he is referring to the book of life.  According to the book of Revelation, the people whose names are written in the book of life are those who will live eternally with God at the end of time.  The book of life not only refers to the end of time or the next life; it characterizes Christ’s followers in this life.  Paul says at the end of his letter to the Philippians that his co-workers’ names are written in the book of life (Phil 4:3).  The true source of the disciples’ joy is that they are in relationship with and doing the will of the living God.

Scripture repeatedly tells us about the joy of being in relationship with God.  1 Chronicles says, “Honor and majesty are before God; strength and joy are in his place” (1Chron 16:27).  The psalmist tells God, “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).  Simply being in a personal relationship with God makes our lives more joyful.

The 70 rejoiced not only because they were followers of the living God, but also because they did God’s will.  They brought the kingdom of God near to those they met.   The 70 lived Christ’s command to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself.  According to St. Augustine, the process of learning to love God is a process of learning how to love our neighbors, ourselves and the world, and this process of learning to love brings us joy.  Theologian Ellen Charry describes this as a "healing journey into one's soul, for each step deeper into God heals and strengthens love."[2]  The mission of the 70 was not only healing for others but also for themselves.

               While many Episcopalians have never heard of it, the most popular Christian praise chorus ever written is the 1993 “Shout to the Lord” by the Australian Darlene Zschech.  In the 2000s, this song was sung by an estimated 25 – 30 million Christians every Sunday.  Since you used LEVAS, when I was here last time, which I loved, I thought you might be willing to hear it.  I have the lyrics for you if you want to sing along.  You don’t have to raise your hands in the air! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I71XhjqoHvs]

This song might not be your cup of tea, but it illustrates the point.  Zschech wrote “Shout to the Lord” when she was at her wits end.  She was struggling to raise two young girls.  Her husband’s business was failing.  Their family was financially strapped.  Zschech says, "I wrote it when I was feeling discouraged. I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out, or praise God.  The line ‘Nothing compares to the promise I have in you’ was something I clung to when our circumstances seemed so bleak. I think that rings true with anyone going through tough times."  It is hard to tell she wrote this song at such a low point in her life particularly when she belts out, “I sing for joy at the work of Your hand/Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand.”[3]

               Life deals all of us good and challenging times.  In the midst of life’s ups and downs, we can always find joy in the Lord.  This does not mean that we will feel happy every moment of the day.  Far from it, challenging times bring moments of doubt, despair and anxiety.  Our joy in the Lord is not a fleeting emotion dependent upon external circumstances.  Our joy is rooted in our relationship with God who cares for us through thick and thin.   Our joy is found in doing the will of God - in learning to love God, in learning to love our neighbors as ourselves, in finding the healing power of God for ourselves and for the world.


[1] Todd B. Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener, “What Happy People Do Differently?“ Psychology Today July/August 2013: 52.
[2] Katelyn Beaty, “Happiness Now!” Christianity Today December 14, 2010, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/december/20.65.html.
[3] Camerin Courtney, “The Power of Praising God,” Today’s Christian Woman, March 2001, http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2001/march/3.36.html?start=1