This gospel passage takes place soon after Jesus and the disciples descend from the mountain top where the disciples have witnessed Jesus being changed into a heavenly figure glowing in white, with God pronouncing pleasure with Jesus. You might remember how frightened and unsure the disciples were upon witnessing this event. And how the temptation was to simply build monuments and stay there on the mountain top. But Jesus tells them they have to leave and go back into the world … he turns towards Jerusalem and a journey that will lead to his arrest and crucifixion.

It is in this context that today's text takes place. After the glory, reality sets in … this is what discipleship is about. This is what being called by Jesus is going to entail. We find the difficult, harsh words Jesus says to those who are called. "I have to make sure my family is taken care of … I have to live my responsibilities out … but first … wait … " To all who seem to give perfectly valid reasons for delaying, Jesus says – the time is now, don't look back … follow me. The challenge Jesus seems to be giving us is that family isn't simply the family you were born into, but family is all of humanity. We are called to treat all people with the same care and attention that we would give those we consider "our people." For those familiar with C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles, the end of the battle in The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe is an example of what Jesus is talking about. At the end of the battle, Lucy finds her brother Edmund gravely wounded. The Lion, Aslan reminds her of the healing vial she has around her neck and she carefully administers a drop of that to Edmund. As soon as she does that Aslan says: "There are other people wounded," Yes, I know," said Lucy crossly, "Wait a minute." "Daughter of Eve," said Aslan in a graver voice, "others also are at the point of death." And off Lucy goes to heal the others. (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, p. 179)

Again, this gospel is Jesus telling us we don't get to only care for those we choose to care for … that all people are "our people." We talk so often about helping our own first. The best resources are saved and given to those on the inside, those in the circle we consider family. Because we fear resources are limited, we want to make sure there is enough to take care of our own, and then if there is anything left we can look outwards to others. These are challenging, difficult words from Jesus … what is the problem with making sure our fields are plowed and our family cared for before taking off?

The related issue this gospel text, and our epistle text take us to, is that of hospitality, living in community. Paul writes to a very divided Galatian church: "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." We are reminded of how absolute this issue of community hospitality is when Jesus encounters the man on the road: "As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." By becoming human, God becomes dependent on us to find a home. God has a place … a place in our hearts, a place in our church, a place in the world when we give God a home. We give God a home by welcoming God in Jesus Christ into our lives. We give God a home by making this place a welcoming place for others. We give God a home by reaching out to the strangers and by caring for them. We give God a home when we live in a community that reflects the fruits of the spirit that Paul lifts up to the Galatian church.

Living in community is not an option … something we do when we like the people we are with, or when it seems comfortable for us. In a world that seems to lead us to believe it is all about me, we are called to proclaim something far different as the people of God. In the Sacred Journey, Frederick Buechner writes: "You can survive on your own; you can grow strong on your own; you can prevail on your own; but you cannot become human on your own." In other words to be truly at home with God and with others … to be who God created us to be, humans in God's image we are called to live in community. We are called to treat all of humanity as our family.

In being born in human form, God becomes vulnerable to us … unless we extend hospitality to God and to others, God has no place to live … in our hearts, in our world. And so we are called to be … making a place for God, making a place for others … our lives as a demonstrating the fruits of spiritual living: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.