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Welcoming Strange People
When you hear the phrase "spiritual practice," or "spiritual discipline," what comes to mind?
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Note:When you hear the phrase "spiritual practice" or "spiritual discipline," what comes to mind? Often we think, and rightly so, of habits such as prayer, Bible study, solitude, worship, even fasting. Henri Nouwen once said that a spiritual discipline is something we do to create some space in which God can act. This month in For Your Soul, Keri Wyatt Kent begins a short series of articles on spiritual practices. These are not offered up in a legalistic, "you have to do this" kind of way, but rather, offered as simple activities you may want to try, that may be helpful in deepening your intimacy with God. They are simple activities you can incorporate into your life, to create some space for God in your life. You can easily begin practicing some of these disciplines by simply looking at the things you already do in a new way. Do you ever find yourself longing for more of God? Wanting to experience the presence of Jesus in a fresh way? Did you ever find yourself wishing Jesus would show up in your Sunday School class or small group of junior highers? To help you as you teach, or at the very least, to put the fear of God (literally) into that squirrelly seventh-grader? Often, we don't recognize God in our midst. Certain spiritual practices can help us create some space, be more attentive, and notice God where we hadn't before. Jesus said he's right here, in the needy among us. He told his followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned because, "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40, The Message). The children you minister to may not seem hungry or sick (except when the toddlers hit runny nose season), but in a spiritual and figurative sense, they are. They're infected, like all human beings, with sin, and need the healing touch of Jesus' love. They are hungry for truth in a world that feeds them all kinds of lies. And often, they are "overlooked or ignored"—and need someone to offer them hospitality. The Bible talks a lot about hospitality, but our culture understands the word in a completely different way. We think of hospitality as Martha Stewart-style entertaining, where we beautify our home, set an elaborate table with well-prepared food and drink, and welcome our friends. Biblical hospitality is a spiritual practice that requires us to extend ourselves not to friends who can return the favor, but to those Jesus spoke of in the verse above: the poor, the hungry, the sick. "In the traditions shaped by the Bible, offering hospitality is a moral imperative. The expectation that God's people are people who will welcome strangers and treat them justly runs throughout the Bible," writes Ana Maria Pineda in Practicing Our Faith. "This expectation is not based on any special immunity to the dangers unknown people might present—far from it. Rather, it emerges from knowing the hospitality God has shown to us." |        
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