First of all, let's talk about spiritual disciplines. Many of you took me up on the challenge of praying together daily using the book, "Cultivation Fruitfulness." The idea of the challenge is to have all of us reading, reflecting and praying together daily, using the same devotions. Once again, the book is designed to be used on a daily basis, with a reading and prayer provided for each day. If you started reading last Sunday, you'll have finished the first chapter by now. If you are new with us, or just didn't get a chance to get a copy of the book, there are several still available and they can be picked up in the back of the sanctuary. So that we're all on the "same page," everyone should be reading a daily devotion from the second chapter: "passionate worship." For those who were able to begin the book last Sunday: Some may find it easy to slip into the discipline of praying daily in this manner, other might find it more of a challenge to get into such a rhythm. Be patient with yourselves and keep trying. A friend of mine says it takes three weeks to make something like this become a habit … so you have two more chapters to go! By the fifth one we'll all be pros! Also don't worry if you get behind a few days – you can catch up! A few years ago, two groups in this congregation went through a 28 week program on spiritual growth. One component of this program was daily readings and reflections. The group got to referring to their "holy" Wednesdays, when they caught up for our meetings on Thursdays … so sometimes in this process you all might have a holy Saturday or two!

Now for some radical hospitality! I am sometimes called by friends who are looking for a church in a new area. Usually by the time they call me, they have tried a few and haven't found a place they feel comfortable, and so they want a recommendation. I found myself in such a conversation not too long ago with a person who told me they'd tried, let's call it Main St. UMC and they didn't like it because there were all these kids doing the service. Given the time of year she had attended, we figured it must have been their Vacation Bible School celebration. I encouraged her to give the church another try to see what it was like on a more "normal" Sunday. I'm not so sure that it was the difference of their service that was my friend's problem. Most of the time when people come church shopping, it is to find a place where they can feel welcomed and at home. And so, I wonder what kind of welcome my friend find there … was it enough to make her feel at home even in the midst of a worship service that might not have been so traditional. Someone reaching out to her and helping her navigate the different service might have made all the difference. As our devotional book said: "for the visitor or the person who is searching for spiritual help, 'This Sunday is the only Sunday that counts." (Cultivating Fruitfulness, page 11)

When the Pharisees and Sadducees conspired to trap Jesus in the intricacies of the Law, they put forth a lawyer to question him. A lawyer could surely trap Jesus in his own words. Instead Jesus turned the trap onto the religious leaders … a radical answer if you will … the greatest of the laws has nothing to do with knowledge, but rather is all about behavior … it is a hospitality law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

For Jesus, it was all about inclusion, bringing in those who had no place, the lost and the hungry. In this time, the religious authorities had fenced in the Torah, or Law. This was done to protect the law and teachings they deeply loved … keeping it "safe." Over time, what had happened was that only certain people had access to a religious life … literally, only certain people had access to God. Jesus challenged all of that … his message was one of what our book calls radical hospitality: "offering the utmost of oneself." (Cultivating Fruitfulness, page 7) For Jesus that became the ultimate offering when his radical example of living became too much of a threat to the leaders of his day and they had him put to death.

It is the example of Jesus Christ that we follow in living hospitality. It is to know that neighbor as defined by Jesus is not simply the proverbial person next door. In Luke's gospel he makes this very clear by expanding our gospel this morning with the story of the Good Samaritan where unlikely people become the ones extending hospitality.

Radical hospitality, loving our neighbors starts in small ways. It is finding the ways to "offer the cup of cold water" to a stranger. It is remembering what it is like to be the outsider, the stranger … and being welcomed in to a new place. So many times we tend to become protective like the Pharisees became of their beloved Law. We become protective of our beloved spaces – those places where we find comfort and security. Congregations get like that … it is here that cherished relationships have built over the years, traditions are kept, we find support in times of pain, God is found … and the newcomer has a hard time making it in. Think back to your entrance into this church community. For some that might be long, long ago … for others it might have been this morning. Who offered you "a cup of cold water?" Who showed you around? … in a building like this that is not a small matter! Who showed you the ropes? And now, how are you being called to extend that generosity to another.

To practice radical hospitality is not without its risks. Ask Jesus about that one! We will make mistakes … one that people worry about making in greeting someone they don't know in church, is what if that person has been here for years and gets offended that I treat them as a newcomer. A man in one of my former congregations never worried about that – he would go up to a person he didn't recognize and say: "Hi, I'm John … and I don't know you yet!" Other risks are a bit harder … but we take them in the name and example of Jesus Christ, knowing that we are called to follow in his footsteps.

And … the steps we take in this place, in the relative safety we find here, become the models for our behavior when we step outside the doors of this sanctuary. In finding our voice and courage here, we are sent to the world to practice radical hospitality. To find the stranger without a place, to give voice to the unheard, and to open eyes to those not seen. In the name of Jesus, what will you do this week to be one practicing radical hospitality, loving your neighbor as you love yourself?