Hospitality in Stanford-le-Hope

We love the Stanford-le-Hope Boiler Room community. They 'get' family. They live family. Stay just one night and you'll find yourself adopted into their family, their affection, their hearts... never to escape, in spite of the miles you may travel. Not that you'd want to escape, of course.

In his disarmingly beautiful, provocative, transformative book, 'Tom and the Goldfish Bowl', Ben Pasley likens the kingdom of Heaven to being adopted into the family of Heaven. The good news that Jesus keeps saying is very close, is that we belong. His prayer is that we are one, just as God is one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Family.

The good news of Jesus Christ isn't simply that our sins are forgiven... it's far more than that. It's that we belong, that we are welcomed into family, that we are adopted as sons and daughters, that we are loved.

In the Bible we find that John the Baptist understands it, explaining that his baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, but that one is coming after him who will baptise in the Holy Spirit. And this guy - John doesn't even feel worthy enough to untie his sandals, such is the contrast.

Paul understands it too. When he meets the disciples in Ephesus, his first question is "did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They haven't of course - the baptism they've received is John's, which Paul explains is a baptism of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, "but John told the people to believe in the one coming after him". Hearing this, the Ephesian disciples are baptised in the Holy Spirit. And all Heaven breaks loose... the kingdom comes.

As a child, I church-hopped with my mum and sister quite a bit, searching for somewhere to call home. We settled with a charismatic house church-type community - I remember the happy-clappy choruses, and the strong emphasis on relationships, and I am grateful for both. I am also grateful for the frequent teaching about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit, and for an early baptism in the Holy Spirit. I spoke in tongues and got to experience other gifts along the way. Like I said, I'm very grateful for this foundational, experiential learning.

However, I realise now that I only really engaged with the Holy Spirit as a source of power, a confidence-booster for evangelism/witnessing, a spiritual gift-giver. Maybe it's only in recent years that I've begun to discover the Holy Spirit's true place in the Divine Dance, and the profound reasons why Jesus insisted, "It's good that I go, so the Holy Spirit can come..."

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of adoption, the one who comes to displace and dissolve our loneliness and alienation. The Holy Spirit is the seal of Father's ownership, the Father's parenthood... by and through whom we can cry "Abba! Daddy!" Without whom, we cannot. The Holy Spirit comes so that we can belong! And THAT is the good news... that the way has been made open for us to return to sonship (and 'daughtership'? you know what I mean), to become hidden in Christ, sharing in his inheritance... so that we can belong.

The good news is that we are welcomed, that we are adopted. Loved. We belong. I don't know how to put this into words that truly express the this-changes-everything feelings/thoughts i have. Because it does. it changes everything. It fundamentally alters who I am, my sense of worth and value, my identity, everything.

It's as if I am born again. Not just baptised/born again free from sin, but born again into family. I wear a new name... the name of Jesus. I am hidden in Christ, says Paul. It is no longer I that live, but Christ. I belong. It's that close. It really does change everything.

Which brings me back to my good friends, the Stanford-le-Hope Boiler Room community, because they really get this stuff. Even though they probably don't know how deeply they 'get' it - it's in their dna. They just live and breathe 'family'... and it's no wonder, therefore, that people are attracted to everything they do. The community meals, the work with teenagers on the streets, the disciplined rhythms of prayer and worship, the mission trips and suchlike. They're not perfect, by any means (and they're so humble - they'll probably prefer me saying that than any of the other things!), but there is plenty of treasure to be found amongst them. The kingdom of Heaven is easy to see and hear and touch in their lives. Go see for yourselves. :)

And so, it was wonderful for Emma and I and our girls to hang out with them this weekend, to hang out with our many friends there, to sleep in the 217 Boiler Room house, and then to serve them a little bit on Sunday by teaching and leading some discussions about 'hospitality'. They seemed to go well... although I'm still a bit puzzled how I managed to turn two supposedly repeated sessions on the same subject into two almost completely different 'talks/sessions'!?

I loved it. I love exploring the subject of 'hospitality' with groups of believers, because I passionately believe that we have something essential to rediscover, that 'hospitality' belongs at the heart of everything we do, and the way we live. And that it's so much more than inviting people around for dinner. :)

We talked about hospitality as holiness, and the way Jesus flips Old Testament notions of holiness on their heads, introducing a new way of holiness. We talked about hospitality as justice, about mission-shaped hospitality, and hospitality-shaped mission. We talked about reconciliation and practicing hospitality in multi-cultural society. We discussed what makes hospitality difficult, and ways to overcome these difficulties. We exploded myths, and explored mysteries...

And we began, and ended, it all with Jesus, who unravels our attempts to construct a tidy, self-centred (welcome-to-what-I've-got) version of hospitality, by coming to us, as he did for three years, as the homeless stranger. Jesus knocks at the doors of our lives and asks to come in - he comes in many distressing disguises, but he comes nonetheless - and he promises to come in and eat with us, wherever he is welcomed. And then, somehow, Jesus the homeless stranger becomes the host. As we welcome him (and others in his name), we find ourselves welcomed. And we find that we belong. We are family. And that's what it's all about.

I've got hundreds of quotes, paragraphs, etc. on all this stuff, but here's a recent one that I'm wrestling with right now... from 'Just Hospitality' by Letty M Russell;

"The word for hospitality in the Greek New Testament is philoxenia, love of the stranger. It's opposite is xenophobia, fear of the stranger. The ministry of the church is to be partners with strangers, to welcomed those whom Christ welcomed, and thus learn to be a community in which people are made one in Christ, in spite of their differences, classes, backgrounds, genders, races and ethnic groups. Our koinonia, or partnership, in Christ is a gift of our baptism and not a result of being one class, race or sexual orientation. It is a gift that transcends real differences through participation in the mission and the ministry of the church on behalf of healing the brokeness of the world, beginning with ourselves."

Beautiful.

I'm trying to get my head together and get writing some more about all this. In the meantime, I'd love to come and explore this subject with you, your friends, whoever. Or come to us? We can eat and drink and talk. :)

Here's a couple more Stanford-le-Hope pics to wrap up. Thanks friends! :)

Comments

[Theresa Malinowska]

Wow. Simply wow. Seriously incredible insight into the welcome of Jesus :) So true.

[Tanya Heasley]

I love the staying there. I never want to leave.

[Tina Aurand]

i love it here! i cried a bit! ...

[toggie]

thanks theresa, tanya, tina (ooo, only people who's names begin with 't' have commented... it's a sign!). i love it there too. theresa, you should go visit! ;)
phil.x

[Pandora Charms Store]

let's join our hands together to stop this kind of wrong doings. It may risk lives in the future if we just let them continue.