January 11: Hospitality à la Jesu

Sometimes my tea box shows greater hospitality than the church.

By Magdalena I. García

B., a precious three-year-old girl, was getting restless in worship yesterday, so fearing the embarrassed mother might take her out of the sanctuary one more time—or worse yet, punish the little girl who is usually extra good and was only acting her age—I asked to be excused for a moment, stepped off the pulpit, walked over to B.’s pew, and offered her the picture book Signs of God’s Love: Baptism and Communion, written by Jeanne S. Fogle and illustrated by Bea Weidner. Despite being in tears, B. was very intrigued and almost immediately quieted down.

I went back to the pulpit and said, “We pray for children to come and, when they do we have a responsibility to welcome them.” And then I went on with my sermon, as if the interruption had been part of the order of worship script. At the end of the service, several people thanked me for the way in which I handled the matter. They also assured me that they are delighted to have B. in worship, even if it means they occasionally miss a word or two from the sermon! (Don’t you just love it when lay people have their priorities straight?) But more importantly, B. came out of the sanctuary fully poised, with a big smile on her face, and handed the book back to me saying, “You’re welcome,” to which her mother immediately added, “She meant to say ‘thank you.’ ”

As I reflected on this incident, I came to the conclusion that B.—at the ripe old age of 1,095 plus days—said the right words: “You’re welcome.” For you see, all the rest of us really needed to say “Thank you” to B. for reminding us what hospitality à la Jesu looks like. Hospitality means welcoming kindly guests and strangers, where kindly clearly implies anticipating and meeting their needs.

And yet, it's so tempting—and comfortable—for all of us church people to think that hospitality means grinning from ear to ear, reciting the schedule of activities, and inviting visitors to adopt our well-established routines! We need B. to keep reminding us that exhibiting hospitality—on Sunday morning or at any other time—means designing and shaping our lives taking into consideration the needs and preferences of others—especially the ones we say we want to attract. That is, if we want to offer hospitality à la Jesu.