On Sunday, we begin with a commercial that takes place at a rodeo:
A birthday party clown taking the place of a rodeo clown is absurd, not to mention downright dangerous. But underlying this, there is a real truth: sometimes we share a hospitality of presence and care with people in anxious situations -- the equivalent of helping someone ride a hard-bucking bull.
This is a form of radical hospitality, in which the clown sets aside his immediate responsibilities to reach out to someone to make them more comfortable. In the commercial, the clown is helping guide the rider into the ring.
When we hear the word "hospitality" we think about welcoming someone into our home or our church. But hospitality takes place whenever we reach out to help someone become more comfortable with the situation they find themselves in, whether it is eating in an unfamiliar house or trying an unfamiliar job task.
In the case of faith, it might be helping someone grow in the faith in any number of ways. For example, it might be calming a child the first time they enter a funeral home to see a deceased relative. It might be calming an older child before they walk down the aisle to get married. It might be reaching out to a new co-worker, a new neighbor who is new to the community, or a new Christian who is just beginning the next step in their faith journey.
The Bible is filled with stories of hospitality, where people go out of their way to help others feel more comfortable and confident where they find themselves. Jesus, in particular, was a brilliant giver of hospitality in all situations, even (oddly enough) with people who wished terrible things for him. Do we live up to these examples from our forefathers and foremothers in faith?
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