Advent as Hospitality

I wrote this reflection during the 2006 season of Advent. At the time, I was a member of a religious-based organization for worker justice. We were at the brink of a new Sanctuary Movement. Consequently, I saw a need to articulate Christian Hospitality as a Spiritual Discipline due to its centrality in both the Jewish & Christian faiths as well as a singular characteristic of Christian identity. Living in the city, I saw a need to emphasis a pressing intentionality to live out the spirit of radical hospitality in all expressions of Christian ministry - especially as it relates to serving the "other".

Here's the origin piece:

It is through table fellowship, and when we welcome the stranger, that we are entertaining the least of these. In essence, we welcome Christ into our homes, churches and yes . . . into our countries. Hospitality is the way of Love. To be sure, hospitality is the quintessential expression of table fellowship, of Christ’s love and His commandment that we love one another. Christian hospitality is an act of profound grace. In contemplating the Advent season and preparing for the coming of Christ, I consider hospitality as the ultimate expression of Emmanuel. As the church, we are "God with us" to the world. Therefore, we, as the body of Christ, are called to offer ourselves and our churches as “dwelling places” for strangers and for our neighbors. In looking at hospitality in the neighborhood, I suggest we look at the greater neighborhood as our city, or our county.

As we look at the local labor crisis many of our neighbors are facing which result in low wages, wage theft, no medical insurance or benefits and intimidation, “How can we provide hospitality?” Hospitality as “doing justice”. This is certainly the case as we fight for better wages, dignity at the workplace and safe conditions for workers. One classic example of this selfless hospitality is the legacy of Jim Corbett. According to Davidson, “Corbett and others began helping refugees to avoid capture, yet he insisted that what they were doing was not “civil disobedience.” He argued instead that it was “civil initiative” -- they were upholding laws regarding treatment of war refugees that the U.S. government refused to enforce. On March 24, 1982, Southside Presbyterian became the first church in the country to declare itself a sanctuary for Central Americans fleeing persecution . . . the movement,” Davidson continues, “quickly gained attention and acceptance. At its height, more than 200 religious orders and congregations nationwide, several universities and municipalities, and more than 600 religious organizations, including the National Federation of Priests’ Councils (representing more than 33,000 Catholic priests) declared themselves in favor of sanctuary. In 1984, Corbett accepted the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award on behalf of the movement.”[1]

Through hospitality we enact our faith. It is the encapsulation of unconditional love (agape) as demonstrated by Corbett for the “other”; “Christian hospitality is a risk taken in faith. It is an act of sacrificial joy offered in the full light of the risen Christ, a light that transforms our perspective on everything.”[2]

Miriam Davidson, “Corbett Offered Sanctuary to Refugees,” in National Catholic Reporter, Sep 14, 2001, http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/091401/091401j.htm; Internet; accessed December 10, 2006.