Making Room - November 27th, 2011

Date: November 27th, 2011

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title: Making Room

Advent #1

Introduction

My wife at times gets a little frustrated with me …(.I know that’s hard for you to believe). The reason is that I have a little trouble throwing things out. I have come from a background where we didn’t have a lot of money and so saving something that might have some possible use was my mode. Applies to leftover pieces of wood from a project, or worn or outdated clothes. Result is some drawers stuffed with stuff that just might get used someday.

Come from a perspective of scarcity and so save it.

Her desire is that I would be more engaged in the practice of making room for the new.

This tendency also shows up in my time…tendency to fill it….leave no room but fill it up.

Well, as we move into this advent season I want us together enter into a spiritual discipline and practice of making room.

Making room for God and for people.

Christmas is both a good and hard time for this.

Good because there are many opportunities during this Christmas season to get us started.
Hard – because we run face into a big societal machine at this time of year that wants to clutter up our lives with more stuff & squeeze out the very things we long for….more time with God & with others.

Encourage you to do some re-thinking and re-tooling.

i.e.

For me – what is needed is not for me to just do this “making room” because my wife is pushing for me to do it. Temporary…stressful…hard…not lasting.

What needs to happen is I need to face my drivers of scarcity…for busyness & to embrace a desire for simplicity, and open spaces in my life.

And so as we go into this series I want you to not think about this as just “adding” to your Christmas schedule, but as an opportunity to rethink & reinvent yourself. To become a person who is learning & practicing to make more room for God & people in your life.

Not a new challenge.

We actually find the challenge in the very first Christmas. We discover an innkeeper and a world that struggled to make room.

Luke 2:7 – Message

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

John 1: 9 – 11 NIV

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

As we read the gospels we see this lived out - Jesus is this homeless infant, a child refugee in Egypt, an adult with no place to lay his head, a despised convict…

The paradox is this welcoming Jesus is depicted too as a stranger here… God in the disguise of the homeless …Thus , the provocative question: ”When did we see you hungry….needy…in need of a visit?”

The full paradox & impact of this dissonance comes into light when we consider the welcoming nature and character of God.

A. God Made Room for Us in Creation

One of the mysterious questions of life is “Why is there something and not nothing?”

I mean why in the beginning did God choose to create the heavens and the earth?...especially when he foresaw what would happen?

We know God didn’t need us…

He wasn’t this lonely God that needed people to complete him.

In philosophy we would say God is the one “necessity”; all the rest of us are “dependent” beings. As creatures we depend on food to eat, air to breath, water to drink. We depend on these things for life.

God doesn’t need anything. He is the supplier of these things. He doesn’t depend on anything to exist…

Applies also in relational terms.

God doesn’t need us to be happy.
God doesn’t need us so he isn’t lonely.
God doesn’t need us so he feels fulfilled.

So then “Why is there something and not nothing?”

I don’t presume to know the full answer to that but the answer is I think contained in the character of God. I think God desires us to share in his life and joy.

A fundamental piece of Cn belief is that of a Trinitarian God. A God who who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – eternally existing in 3 persons but one in essence. The 3 in 1 relate to each other in this relationship of love and joy. In John 17:13 Jesus prays that “they (his followers) may have the full measure of my joy within them)

i.e.

Eastern Orthodox traditions have a term that literally means the “dance of God”. It portrays a picture of love and joy among the persons of the Trinity.

And for some reason God chose to create and bring his creation into this dance. He longed for us to share in this love and relationship.

The early church leaders described the Trinity using the term perichoresis (peri-circle resis-dance): The Trinity was an eternal dance of the Father, Son and Spirit sharing mutual love, honour, happiness, joy and respect… God’s act of creation means that God is inviting more and more beings into the eternal dance of Joy. Sin means that people are stepping out of the dance… stomping on feet instead of moving with grace, rhythm and reverence. Then in Jesus, God enters creation to restore the rhythm and beauty again. (Brian McLaren)

God was willing to go to extreme lengths to welcome and bring us into that loving relationship.

He created us.
He gave us freedom to reject him.
He entered into this world in the flesh to show us the way, truth, and life. Christ was willing to die even for us to make a way for us into this dance of joy.

Let me bring this out of the “heady” level to the emotional plain.

i.e.

Awhile back book came out called “The shack” Story about a man whose youngest daughter has been abducted and perhaps brutally murdered in an abandoned shack. 4 years later , Mack, the Dad, is invited back via a suspicious note to the shack.

There he discovers God in a surprising and incredibly loving & welcoming way. Author depicts “Papa”as a black woman, Holy Spirit, as an Asian woman, and Jesus as a middle age Arab man

Listen how the author depicts the welcome and relationship of Father, Son & Spirit.

p. 82-87

Point:

God is a welcoming God…made room for us in creation.

B. God made room for us in Redemption

If we fast forward to the New Testament Jesus in his words and example displays this

welcoming posture of God. Jesus point is that the character of God’s hospitality frames appropriate human behavior. In welcoming these people one reflects the welcome of God.

Luke 5:27 – 32

27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Mark 10:13 – 14 – children

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Luke 14: 12 – 14

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Matt. 25:34 – 40

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Implications:

Each of these communicates a welcoming heart to people.

Jesus attributes dignity to every person regardless of neediness.
His love breaches all the socially prescribed lines – rich & poor, male & female, slave & free, saints & sinners….Jesus loved them all.

We encounter the paradox – the one who welcomes is also the stranger who is welcomed in…Hospitality to those in need is even equated with care for Jesus.
God made room on the cross – he died for all regardless….

C. God made room for us in heaven

Made room in the past – creation

Made room for us in the present – redemption & fellowship

Makes room for us in heaven –

John 14: 1 – 3

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.”

“There are many rooms…” – speaking of heaven

Why does he make a point of the “many rooms”

I like Max Lucado’s words to that”

“You can answer that question as you think of the many times in life you’ve heard the opposite.

Haven’t there been occasions where you’ve been told: “We have no room for you here ”?

Have you heard it in the workplace? Sorry I don’t have room for you in my business.”
Have you heard it in sports? “We don’t have room for you on the team?”
From someone you love? “I don’t have room for you in my heart.”
From a bigot? We don’t have time room for your type in here.”
Some of the saddest words on earth are: “We don’t have room for you.”

In contrast Jesus says “I have ample room for you…We make room for him in our hearts, and he makes room for us in his house.”

There is ample room for each of us.

Summary

And so everything we know of God is that for all of eternity he has been making room for us – inviting us into the dance.

“Hospitality is central to the meaning of the gospel…wherever, whenever, however the kingdom manifests itself, it is welcome.”

Application

Let me connect some dots to our practice…specifically today to the communion table

We come here now before the communion table . A meal that Jesus established and stands central to our Christian faith and understanding.

You see, at the heart of this meal is God’s version of hospitality.

It is a table where all the social, racial, economic distinctions are eliminated.

i.e.

I Cor. 11: 17 - 34

7 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

…

So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

Church is practicing communion in an unworthy manner.

What was happening is that the rich and the favored were coming and eating all and excluding some.
What was meant to be a meal that made room for everyone regardless of social standing, economic status, race had been reduced to “country club entertaining”.
This was to be a meal to reveal our commonness in Christ, our common redemption by one cup.
But this wasn’t the Lord’s Supper. Rather than reducing the barriers between people… this erected them. Only the special are invited,… our friends, those we want to impress…

But here at the table we all gather

….Here the meal is counter-culture. It counters the social stratification. It reenacts the center of the gospel. We are reminded of the cost of our welcome.

It asks: ”How can we be anything of welcoming someone else?

Paul said it straight up in Romans 15:7 says: “Welcome/Accept one another then just as Christ welcomed/accepted you…”

The Communion table is a contradiction in our world. It brings people together where the world is broken apart.

It shatters our cheap views of hospitality as “tea parties, bland conversation, and a general atmosphere of coziness.” (Henri Nouwen)
It more than any other symbolizes the relationships in the kingdom of God.
It is a meal that informs all our gatherings (Hospitality combines the general word for love of kin and friends – philea with the word for stranger –xenos.
It is this wideness of the Eucharistic meal that distinguishes true Christian hospitality.

And so , Paul calls them back to taking this meal in a worthy manner. A manner that reflects the grace, love, and forgiveness of our God.

It is a foretaste of the Great banquet in heaven where we will celebrate the with people of every tribe, nation, language, social class the Lamb who was slain for all people.

Communion isn’t to be isolated - where we practice this and then in our church services, our gatherings, our hospitality reflect the opposite. No this meal is to inform and be a symbol that we take back into life.

A. Life

Bottomline:

Our initiative, to make initiating contact, including people, and inviting people that we initiated this year… isn’t something for extra for a few dedicated Cns or reserved for those who are specially gifted for it….No , it is the heart and standard operating procedure for the Christian church.

Exclusion,
social club church,
segregated church over age or race,
disregard, neglect, favoritism, division, un-welcoming spirit

are dysfunctional Christianity….they run counter to the very character of God, and the essence of the kingdom.

It is opposite of the table.

Here’s the rub:

How can we practice this welcome at the communion table…

but then have no welcome handshake for the visitor?
No room at our lunch table for a stranger?
No room in our home for a brother or sister?
No kindness for the different person at school?
No forgiveness for our brother or sister?
No room for inclusion in the circle.
No generosity for those in need

“The opposite of cruelty is not simply freedom from the cruel relationship,…it is hospitality.”(Phillip Haillie)

Hospitality – opening of our hearts in lovingkindness,… home, church … lies at the very core of the gospel.

Hospitality is what we encounter here at Christ’s table….

None of the classifications of our world…
None of the snubs of status
None of the special invitations for the elite, the rich, the in-crowd only, the religious…

No here we experience the welcome of the gracious host of the table

….to all who know their need of grace - come

…To all who recognize their need of Christ - come…

B. Christmas

When we consider what we have all said this morning:

How are you going to make room for Christ this Christmas?

Because here in the Christmas story we meet the all-welcoming God …

who welcomes in humble carpenters,
teenage moms,
smelly shepherds,
strange immigrants from the East,
geriatric religious people,
animals and babies….

Is there room in….

Our schedule?
Our wallets?
Our hearts?

for those who are in the heart and focus of the welcoming God ?

But, before we will begin to make room this Christmas for others, we must begin with appropriating the expansive heart of God who makes room for us….for you and me…as shown here at this table by this bread and this cup...done for you.

Bow heads:

Have you responded to Christ’s welcome of you…? Recognized and accepted that despite all your sin and failures …God loves you and wants to come to your house like Zaacheus & eat with you…
Have you opened your heart and received Him? He who came to this world, have you received him? Or have you posted a sign on the door of your heart like the innkeeper: “No room”. Invite you to open your heart to Christ.
If you have , want to invite you this cmas season to open your heart to others…not just friends but to the people God welcomes…

(Charles Wesley, 18th century)

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast;

Let every soul be Jesus’ guest

Ye need not one be left behind,

For God hath bid all humankind.

Come, all ye souls by sin oppressed,

Ye restless wanderers after rest;

Ye poor, and maimed, and halt, and blind,

In Christ a hearty welcome find.”

Click here to return to sermon page

Peterson, E. H. (2002). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (Lk 2:6–7). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.

The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 1:9–11). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 5:27–32). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. 2011 (Mk 10:13–16). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 14:12–14). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. 2011 (Mt 25:34–40). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. 2011 (1 Co 11:17–29). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.