I felt at rest. Time seemed to move slowly and my schedule had nothing on it. Have you ever had one of these seasons in life? Some of you are thinking, “Yeah, 15 years ago when I was in college.” Or, “I can remember the days before we had kids…” Perhaps it happened on your last vacation. Well, regardless of the circumstances, most of us have had moments of deep rest at some point in our lives. We’ve known what it was like, as it were, to be at peace in the world.
I recently returned from a study leave afforded to me by Riverside. The lake house I found myself in had a massive fireplace, the cupboard was fully-stocked, and the company I had all played a role in giving me a restful place to simply be. It provided me “space” to study, to read the Bible, to pray, and enjoy moments of reflection too. It was ironic because I was reading a book by Henri Nouwen called “Reaching Out”. One of the major themes of his book is a recovery of Christian hospitality. Hospitality, says Nouwen, is "the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy." In that lake house, hospitality was shown forth and I was further invited into being human.
Hospitality does not simply refer to giving someone, who happens to be passing through town, cookies and milk and wishing them happily along their way. Rather than treating people like Santa Claus, hospitality is much more than providing a meal and a place to stay. I need to interject: room and board are certainly hospitable acts of love, but there is much more to hospitality than just food and sheets. Nouwen suggests that hospitality is a “disposition of the heart” to allow people that God brings in our midst a safe place to be. To be hospitable is to allow room for God’s work in the lives of our neighbors, without our forcing or controlling. It is to create space while remaining present.
As we seek to be a community at Riverside, it is our aim to create space while remaining present. It means that we won’t run away. It means we won’t control. And it means that loving-well will be characterized by patience and care. Why would we pursue community this way? Because we are aiming to promote restfulness and comfort, ultimately, in Jesus. What does this mean—restfulness in Jesus? While I’m no statistician, my experience in caring for the human heart leads me to the conclusion that about 100% of our disquietude of soul (whether one is a follower of Jesus or not) comes from our inability to rest—to find our deepest satisfaction—in Him. So true rest is of this kind: where the soul is at rest in Jesus alone.
To have this sort of community will mean that we must remain present with others. It will assume that we are doing the hard work of taking our own fears to God, so when people respond in ways that are uncomfortable for us, we’ll know that we are safe too. In other words, our best community will only be experienced to the degree that we are able to give space while remaining present (hospitality). But the giver and protector of this space will only be able to do so to the degree that they themselves have found Jesus providing this selfsame space for them...
I’d love to hear your thoughts, if you care to share them…Ryan
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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Thanks for the reminder that true rest (maybe we could even call it “Sabbath rest”) is found not just in the cessation of activity, but rather in finding ourselves united with Christ.
ReplyDeleteAs for hospitality, I’d love to hear more feedback on Nouwen’s book. I’m sure that he has some great insights. Too often when we talk about hospitality, what comes to mind first for me are the tasks I must do in order to entertain friends (buy groceries, clean the house, etc.). But I need to be constantly reminded that true Christian hospitality is not about a series of tasks. Rather it is at its core about the relationships that proceed from a life transformed by and tethered to the gospel. Hospitality should not always be about putting our best foot forward. Sometimes it involves inviting others into our mess.
In her book, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, Christine Pohl asks, “Where does hospitality fit in the biblical story and in our identity as the children of God? Why does Jesus, both as needy guest and gracious host, make hospitality compelling for us?” These are questions we would all do well to ask and questions for which we should all seek to find answers. Thanks again for the post.
The story of Mary & Martha came to mind when I read this entry. Too often, I tend to be like Martha, wanting to do the right things, making sure the house is clean when someone comes over, making an excellent dinner, keeping myself presentable, along with my daughter. I forget to be at rest at Jesus' feet and just be with Him. I forget that those things don't matter in the end. Jesus could care less if my house is clean. He wants that time with me.
ReplyDeleteIn a crazy, fast-paced, pressured to be perfect world that we live in, it's hard, but I need to be more like Mary.
I love reading Henri Nouwen. Have you read "Out of Solitude"? In that book (or maybe one of his others) he talks about how we can only be effective at hospitality if we are, first, at home with ourselves and, second, willing to have our door open to unexpected guests. It's funny you would write about hospitality because it has really been on my mind - hospitality not of my home, but of my heart. Thanks for sharing, Ryan.
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