Lectionary Reflections  |  Indigenous Peoples

Radical Hospitality
 By Carol Gallagher
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
 

Lectionary Reflections for the Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

Readings for Easter 5, Year A, Apr. 24, 2005

  • Acts 7:55-60
  • Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
  • 1 Peter 2:2-10
  • John 14:1-14

"In my Father's house are many rooms," says Jesus to the disciples. This passage from John's gospel is often read at funerals and is considered to be the quintessential Christian understanding of heaven, the promise of a room for everyone in the afterlife. Every clergy has included this passage as part of their words of comfort to a bereaved family, and Christians find strength and promise in these words of Jesus. In the past week, these words have taken on new meaning for me.

Despite all of the trauma and the suffering that has been part of our different communities' histories, I was in the midst of people committed to bringing promise and hope to those around them.
Last week I had the opportunity to be present at the biannual gathering of the Anglican Indigenous Network. Indigenous (Native) peoples from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the continental U.S and Hawaii gathered together to worship, pray and discuss their common issues and concerns together. Each delegation was comprised of five people, each representing a constituency of our people, including women, clergy, youth, theological educators and elders.

We spent our time listening to each other's stories, hearing the ways in which indigenous peoples have been marginalized and thwarted both within the church and in our homelands. There were many tears and there was much laughter. We also heard the ways in which indigenous peoples have brought hope and healing to people in need, both in our communities and beyond.

Despite all of the trauma and the suffering that has been part of our different communities' histories, I was in the midst of people committed to bringing promise and hope to those around them. They were committed to working for justice and to seeing justice break forth for themselves, their children, the generation yet unborn. They were committed as well to seeing justice for everyone. We, who were from so many First Nations, from so many different peoples of the land, were united in our commitment to make God's hospitality and welcome for everyone. The people who had been excluded and marginalized committed themselves anew to the full inclusion of others -- of radical hospitality in the name of Christ.

The realm of God, the homeland of the Creator, is a rich soil, which is provides abundantly for all people. The words of Jesus are no longer words of comfort for the dying, but are words of challenge for living communities.
In light of the witness of the Anglican Indigenous Network, this gospel takes on a whole new meaning for me. The words of Jesus, and his promise to his disciples, are no longer sweet comforting words about an afterlife far off, but are commitments for our present lives in community. Jesus promises to make room, to make hospitable, livable, and welcome, the realm of God here on earth. Jesus prepares a place for his disciples and we are called to, like them, make a place for others which us welcome and warm.

For indigenous peoples, we have always understood that one of our principle responsibilities is hospitality and welcome. We are always concerned with feeding people and making room for others. The life lived as a disciple of Jesus is a life of hospitality and welcome. Our Creator, God, Grandfather, is understood to have places for us all. The realm of God, the homeland of the Creator, is a rich soil, which is provides abundantly for all people. The words of Jesus are no longer words of comfort for the dying, but are words of challenge for living communities. We are called to follow Jesus into a radical hospitality which invites us to actively make room for the marginalized, the excluded, the disenfranchised.

Aboriginal, First Nations, and indigenous peoples all understand their ministries in the context of hospitality. Many of the delegates present descended from people who first welcomed settlers from far away lands. We heard their stories of welcoming and caring for others and of the receiving of the Gospel. We also heard of the pain when the once welcomed, then became those who excluded and disenfranchised their hosts. This gospel challenges all of us to make room for others, to recognize in every person, the need for welcome and inclusion. The words from John call all of us to examine the way in which we make room in our lives and churches for those who are so different from ourselves. Jesus calls us to follow him as he makes room for us and for others. And he challenges us to do likewise.


The Rt. Rev. Carol J. Gallagher is chair of the Episcopal Council for Indigenous Ministries. She is the former bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, and is a member of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company board of directors (publisher of The Witness). Carol may be reached by email at revcjg@aol.com.