Dear Faith Family,
Several weeks ago, I invited you to join me in an extended epiphany. A drawn-out "aw-ha moment" of noticing what's been latent in our understanding of purpose in God's kingdom becoming more vivid in our imagination and more tangible in our daily life. And today marks the final ascent of our epiphanic journey!
If you're new to these notes or just now jumping into the conversation, I encourage you to go back to the start before continuing forward. While what's ahead might be helpful, it will be much more so if you begin from the outset. For those choosing to share in our collective moment at another time, know you are cherished and that I am praying our Father's blessings over you this week!
Now, if you're still with me, we need to take one last look at Jesus' familiar charge echoing through an unfamiliar frame:
Now that I've put you on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:16)
I have to confess something. I am guilty of thinking (and living like) a life of generally “good works” is the “shining” that Jesus is after in this verse. I often fall prey to the thought that if I can just do enough good, be good enough, people will want to know why and will surely come to acknowledge the goodness of God. I know my thinking is a bit naïve, but honestly, it's where I get hung up in the more familiar translation of Jesus' exhortation, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” I take good works, and their visibility, as the main thing.
Do you ever get caught up in this observable aspect of Jesus’ appeal? Focused on making sure your goodness is seen, shining before others so that people will give God credit for it?
I think this is where the motivation to “Thank God” while the spotlight is on us springs from; at least, it does for me. Admittedly, it is usually at the moment of success or triumph—whether physically, vocationally, morally, or otherwise—when the “glory sharing” kicks in. While giving God his just due is never a bad thing, what’s come to the forefront in our journey is that my way of thinking has a couple of issues.
First, let's be honest, no matter how much “good” shines forth in my actions, if you enter my house, it won’t be long before you see the “not good” too. For nearly every moment of success or triumph, there is often a moment of failure and defeat. For example, no matter how many moments I have of gracious and patient response to my children, there are still moments of frustrated impatience. In other words, the credit God gets for my daily actions is liable to be a mixed bag!
Second, there is no denying that there are many truly “good works” done by those who have no intention of giving God the glory. Good works that often out-do our own. It's not like Christians have the market on "good works," which makes total sense when we think about it.
Remember last week we discovered that the observable “good works” Jesus encourages would have been imaged as holistic hospitality by Jesus’ listeners. A "love of stranger" has always been necessary for both the survival and thriving of humanity. This is why cultures across the globe then and now champion hospitality as an indispensable, actionable value, and why you don't have to look too hard to find examples of "good works" everywhere.
Yet Jesus assumed that our practice of being gracious and generous to guests would be distinct. Specifically, that our hospitality would "prompt people to open up with God." In other words, what Jesus assumes people will observe in our life together is not merely good works (they'll be there, of course) but God with us and for them.
The light Jesus says we put forth when we “Keep open house, being generous with our lives…opening up to others” is not our “good works” but the hospitality of God towards us. Shining through our ordinary hospitality is the honoring welcome, sustaining intimacy, and restful safety we’ve received from our heavenly Father. What is seen is not a perfect life, but the perfect, present love of our Father for us through Jesus.
Jesus assumed that when welcoming people into our homes/lives, we are welcoming them into the presence of our Father, "this generous Father in heaven." The idea is not novel, but it is powerful. What Jesus expects and assumes will be effective “ministry” is simply that we'd share what we have received.
I wonder, do our neighbors, friends, family experience our heavenly Father’s hospitality in our hospitality? When opening up to others (personally, as an individual/family, and as a faith family), are they prompted to be open with God? Do they feel the wholeness of his welcome through our welcome?
This is where our epiphany has lead, at least me anyway. Having been welcomed home by our Father, we extend that welcome to others--God with us and for them--by sharing what we've received. A rather straightforward revelation, but one that requires a regular reminder of what we have to share. I think this is why when Peter re-articulates Jesus' charge, he encases the "good works" of hospitality (1 Peter 4:9) explicitly in what we've received through Jesus, "love [that] covers a multitude of sins" (4:8) and unique gifts "of God's varied grace" (4:10-11). Peter saw reconciling love and Spirit-led speech and service as distinguishing Jesus’ hospitality, and ours as well. May it be so for us!
Onefinal encouragement as we conclude our extended meditation in Matthew 5:16. Spend some time reflecting on Jesus' expectation through Peter's re-articulation in his first letter (1 Peter 4:8-11), then let the questions above poke around your heart this week. Use them to invite the Holy Spirit to examen our life together so that we might be fully who Jesus assumes that we are: a city on a hill and lamps on a stand for the good of others and the glory of our Father.
Love you, faith family! God bless.