Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our
Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Well before this pandemic started, my husband and I were
addicted to a YouTube show called “Gourmet Makes,” created by the US food
magazine, “Bon Appetit.” In this show, a pastry chef named Claire would
recreate all of our childhood favorite processed food – Twinkies, twizzlers,
Taquitos, you name it, made in such a way that we all – theoretically – could also make at home. One problem
though – Claire was surrounded by a beautiful and fully stocked “test kitchen”
located in Manhattan, brimming with state-of-the-art gadgets and staffed with
other food professionals. We watched, but we didn’t make. After all, who has
Masa Harena flour and a professional grade dehydrator just lying around the
house?
Then, the pandemic hit. And the videos changed.
Now, the staff members and youtube stars of Bon Appetit
no longer have access to their amazing Manhattan “text kitchen”… they can only
use whatever is on hand in their own kitchens, or the kitchens of their
parents. They started doing videos about how to make great “pantry” pasta, or sharing
their favorite way to make coffee. Instead of asking other staff for a taste
and an opinion, their kids and their cats wander into the videos. They welcomed
us into their kitchens, where they were also struggling and making do. And
we’ve already made more than a few of these new recipes.
During this strange time, we as a church and as congregation
are no longer worshipping our “Text Kitchens” aka the church building – where
we used to be able to “test out” and
practice our discipleship in a controlled environment. For the last three
months, however, we have been thrust full time into our own “home kitchen”
worship and discipleship spaces, where children are crying and being goofy,
dogs and cats are getting into our business, and things are a little bit messy.
But it’s just a little bit closer to real life.
We as followers of Jesus may find ourselves in figurative
and metaphorical “kitchens” different from ours. And for some of us, we are
seeing the kitchens of others for the first time. The terrain and utensils are
unfamiliar and in different places than we are used to. It feels uncomfortable
to explore or to ask for help. And it’s going to feel really uncomfortable.
In the before times, it was much harder to be a guest
than it is to be a host. Yes, when you host someone, you have the inconvenience
of having someone else using your towels and eating your food. But you know what
is in the kitchen. But as a guest, you sleep on someone else’s pillows and
drink from someone else’ cups. You eat what comes from someone else and learn
how to respect and navigate someone else’ kitchen.
At the end of Jesus’ long pep talk to his follower’s
right before they travel, Jesus reminds his disciples of what it means to
welcome and be welcomed. The followers of Jesus found themselves traveling
during a very uncertain time. They didn’t know if or when they would be
welcomed or rejected. We, as disciples of Jesus live in some uncertain times as
well, and not just because we are still very much in a pandemic.
As we look forward to celebrating July 4th
this year in 2020, there are still citizens of our own nation, even of our own
Lutheran denomination, who don’t know if, and when, they will be welcomed or
rejected by the country they belong to, or the denomination they love. The ELCA
is the whitest denomination in the United States, according to the Pew Research
Center. Even those of the MORMON faith have more racial diversity than we have.
But diversity itself is not the answer to our challenges right now.
Certain people aren’t allowed access to our “kitchens,”
and we are not willing to be guests in theirs. When this happens, we lose a
part of who we are. Without the mutual love and support of ALL of our diverse
members – black, white, straight, gay, bi, transgender, rich, poor, differently
abled, young, old – without all members, the body of Christ is
incomplete.
We like to say that “all are welcome here.” But what do
we really mean when we say that?
We – consciously but usually unconsciously –
put caveats on our welcome. We say, “all
are welcome,” but we mean – you can come to worship here, but we won’t
talk to you at coffee hour (in the before times). You can sit in our pews (in the before times) but only if you aren’t
sitting in MY seat (and yes, that has happened HERE at Family of God).
But when we REALLY welcome people, we are doing it in the
name of Jesus. We are doing it because our language, symbols, and names are
important in how we welcome. When I
introduce myself and state my pronouns as “She/ Her/ Hers,” or wear a pronoun
button, I am normalizing the conversation for transgender individuals and
hopefully creating space for welcome. Designations like “Reconciling in Christ”
in the ELCA are vital for welcoming our LGBTQIA siblings. If our congregation chooses
to do the work of being recognized in this way, it tells the whole world that
WE MEAN IT when we say ALL are welcome, because we have spent some time
learning in another person’s kitchen…
and not just during Pride Month, but every month. We are called to do this,
because ALL are welcomed into Jesus’s
kitchen.
In Jesus’s kitchen, all are welcomed, and all are fed. In
a simple meal we are given life… we are given welcome…. and we are given a new
kind of family. We were given the body and blood of Jesus, a body that was
broken so that humanity might be made whole, and blood that was shed so that we
treat one another as blood kin, not someday, but right now.
Writer and abolitionist Fredrick Douglas was a slave who
escaped to freedom, but later in life he wrote an open letter to his formermaster, to extend an invitation to his home. Douglas wrote, “There is no roof
under which you would be more safe than mine, and there is nothing in my house
which you might need for your comfort, which I would not readily grant. Indeed,
I should esteem it a privilege, to set you an example as to how [we] ought to
treat each other. I am your fellow man, but not your slave.” As far as I know, the
slave owner never took Douglas up on his offer. He stayed at home… just as
most of us white people would much rather do right now more than ever – stay home,
safe and ignoring the world, where we don’t have to face anything uncomfortable.
Well, too bad… This radial welcome of God comes after us,
and is knocking on our HOME door right now, come right here into you home
kitchens, even as we are streaming. And it WILL NOT leave us alone. The radial
love of God is like the worst kind of house guest – making noise, getting all up
in our business, rejecting the excuses we make. We are being called out of our
comfort zones and into other people’s kitchens. And we will find ourselves
doing things we don’t normally do, things we never expected we would be doing.
When we welcome others, we welcome God, as God has
welcomed us. Nothing will get in the way
of God’s radical welcome in God’s kingdom. Not our own prejudices and biases,
not institutional racism or white privilege - not even sin, human brokenness, and
death can stand in God’s way.
The training wheels are off. Our congregational building
“Test Kitchen” is still off limits. But you, beloved child of God, have the
tools at your disposal to make some recipes that are practical, nourishing, and
will feed your families and feed the world. The world is hungry – the world
needs some good news. Its time get cooking. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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