The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines – Hospitality 2

    Our last article looked at the tradition of hospitality as an ancient custom shared by human beings all over the world. The essence of hospitality is sharing what one has (food, clothing, shelter and protection) with a stranger. This sharing was not dictated by law but was considered to be part of the essence of being a good human being because it was believed that God or the gods desired that we take care of one another. While hospitality was primarily a product of nomadic cultures we will see that it became part of the Jewish and Roman cultures in which Christianity was birthed.

    We witness the pervasive nature of hospitality within the New Testament in the travels of the disciples, the teachings of Jesus and the travels and letters of Paul. In terms of the ministry of Jesus and the travels with his disciples we need to remember that they did not work to support themselves. They were completely beholding to the kindness of others. Scripture tells us that Jesus and the disciples were supported by the gifts of his female followers. In addition there are numerous stories of Jesus eating with Pharisees as well as with sinners and tax-collectors. In other words Jesus was willing to accept the hospitality of anyone who offered. One of the most retold stories of this hospitality concerns Jesus' meal with the tax-collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19), where Jesus actually invites himself to dinner. In the Gospel of Mark (6:8 ff.) we read of Jesus teaching his disciples that they must be completely dependent on the hospitality of those who would receive them. This admonition also included a warning that they not move up to better quarters even if they were offered. Jesus' offering of hospitality is seen in the crowd feeding stories in which the disciples were told to share their meager rations with the thousands who were listening to Jesus preach. The fact that the little food possessed by the disciples fed everyone was a reminder of God's hospitality.

    Jesus' teachings also include stories about hospitality. One of the most significant of these stories was the Good Samaritan story. If you recall the story it concerns a Jewish man who has been beaten and robbed on a road going from Jerusalem to Jericho. Hospitality would dictate that anyone coming across this poor man would stop and help him. However, in Jesus' story, a Jewish priest and Levite pass him by and ignore the hospitality directive. Ultimately the one who shows Godly hospitality is a Samaritan (an enemy of the Jews) who binds the man's wounds and provides for his lodging. The Samaritan understands that God requires hospitality for everyone including strangers and enemies. A second significant teaching on hospitality occurs in Matthew 25 where we hear Jesus telling his followers that they are responsible for taking care of "the least of these." The story is focused on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving water to the thirsty, opening our homes to the homeless and visiting those in prison. All of these are acts of hospitality.

    Finally we catch glimpses of hospitality in the life of the early church through the stories in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles and in Paul's letters. In Acts 6 we watch the struggle over hospitality as the church tries to figure out how to care for Greek speaking widows in Jerusalem. They were strangers and thus had been left out of the food distribution. The Apostles take care of this and assure that the widows' needs are taken care of. In Romans 12 Paul specifically encourages the church to practice hospitality. In I Corinthians 11 he chastises the church because at their love feast (sort of an early communion service) some people were eating and drinking at the same time others were going hungry (a violation of hospitality in which all is shared). The Apostle Peter (I Peter 4:9) reminds his readers to practice hospitality "ungrudgingly".

    In the final analysis hospitality was one of the hallmarks of the early church. It is what set it apart from much of the urban Roman culture in which it was being formed. People were drawn to a community that cared for and about the stranger.

    

The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines Hospitality 1

I want us to begin thinking about hospitality by musing on the "hospitality industry." Wikipedia defines it as "a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise lines and additional fields with the tourism industry." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality_industry) What makes this reference germane to our discussion is that the hospitality industry understands that it has an obligation to serve the needs of its guests. The Ritz-Carlton chain puts it this way; their staff members are "Ladies and Gentlemen, serving Ladies and Gentlemen." In other words the people who stay in their hotels are to be treated as honored guests and not merely paying customers. While not all portions of the industry act in this manner, it is becoming more and more common. Virtually every time I buy a fast-food meal or stay in a motel, I am offered a way go on line and tell the company about the service I have received. All of this is a realization that there is an obligation to serve the customer in a way that they feel like they matter.

This sense of hospitality, that one has an obligation to treat strangers as honored guests, is in fact an ancient concept. Most nomadic cultures (both ancient and modern) practiced and practice hospitality. There seemed to be something about the shared experience of wandering and having no idea where your next meal might be coming from that engendered a culture of welcoming the stranger into one's home. There is extensive literature concerning hospitality within Bedouin, Mongolian, Tibetan and Kazakh nomadic societies. Each of these groups developed a particular set of customs and rituals centered on the welcoming of the stranger. The welcome that was offered was not for gaining money or prestige, but was a culturally condition obligation. Hospitality within these cultures included offering food, shelter and safety to the stranger. This hospitality also included a welcome to an enemy, in so far as the enemy was willing to follow the rules of being a guest (no violence or betrayal).

Hospitality was also part of the ancient Greek culture. The concept was called "Xenia" which can be translated as "guest friendship." Its roots were based in religion where the Greek god Zeus was also known as Zeus Xenios because he was the protector of travelers; thus protecting travelers mattered. Religion also played a role in that one was supposed to offer hospitality to strangers because they could be gods in disguise. There were two parts to Xenia. The first had to do with the host respecting the guest. This could include offers of food, drink, lodging and safety. The second had to do with the guest respecting the host. The guest was to be courteous and was never to take advantage of the host. In The Iliad we witness the breakdown of this relationship when Paris, as a guest of King Menelaus, abducts the king's wife, Helen. This infraction of guest friendship demanded vengeance and thus became the basis for the Trojan War. The entire book, The Odyssey, functions around this concept as well with some characters showing Xenia and others not.

The most significant story of hospitality in the Old Testament is that of Abraham and the three strangers in Genesis 18:1-8. In this story Abraham sees three strangers at the door of his tent. Abraham immediately rises and begs the men to stay with him. He follows the custom of offering them a place to rest, water to wash their feet and a "morsel of bread." The morsel of bread however turns out to be freshly baked cakes and a calf cooked up for dinner. Guests received the best the host had to offer. The most prominent story of a lack of hospitality is that of the city of Sodom. (Genesis 19) When Lot, who had been a nomad and understood hospitality, received his guests into his house, the men of the town want to rape them, which is a violation of hospitality. Lot was even willing to allow his virgin daughters to be ravaged rather than violate hospitality. Notice in both of these stories the strangers are not human strangers but in the Abraham story it is the Lord who visits and in the Lot story it is angels who come to his home.

The Road to Redemption: Spiritual Disciplines - Fasting 3

    Our last two articles have examined the spiritual discipline of fasting in both the Old and New Testaments. We discovered that it has been a common spiritual practice for God's people across the ages. At this point many of you may be wondering how you could experiment with the practice as a means of focusing your life upon God. What follows is a brief overview of how one might go about fasting.

    Be clear about your basic purpose for fasting: as has been said, fasting is a spiritual practice by which we can focus our mind and heart upon God rather than upon the body. Fasting is not to be used as a means of earning "brownie points" with God, as a way of punishing yourself for misdeeds, or as a means of losing weight. It is to be used as a time of self-examination and focus in which our hearts can be opened in new ways to God's leading.

    Check with your doctor: you should not begin a fast until you have cleared it with your doctor. For many of us there may be requirements to take medications with food, issues with blood sugar levels, or existing eating disorders (among other issues) which might make fasting difficult and even dangerous. By checking with your physician you may be able to work out a modified fast regime that keeps you safe while you practice.

    Begin slowly: some of us have a tendency to set extreme immediate goals in all that we do. This might express itself in trying to fast for a long period of time at the outset of experimenting with fasting. It is better to begin slowly, fasting for part of day, then a day and if desired perhaps for a longer period after that. Remember that fasting is a spiritual discipline intended to focus our minds and hearts. It is not a competition to see who can fast the longest or the best.

    Let someone know you are fasting: this may seem a bit odd that you should let someone know about this practice considering Jesus did not like public displays of fasting. I offer this advice for two reasons. First it allows someone to pray for you while you fast in order to encourage you in your fasting. Second there is someone who is watching over your physical well-being, helping to assure that your fast does not harm you.

    Decide on the type of fast in which you will be engaged: this means deciding if you are fasting as the beginning of an ongoing practice (weekly, monthly, annually), for a specific purpose (seeking God's will on a particular issue in your life), or merely experimenting to see if this might be a practice in which you might want to further engage. By so doing fasting does not become haphazard but has a focus which will make it more meaningful.     

Set a definite time and length for your fast: good parameters are helpful in any task including spiritual disciplines such as fasting. Setting parameters entails making clear when you will begin your fast and when you will end it. You may want to choose a particular day of the week as well as a specified time during that day. This will help to insure that you actually fast rather than letting it slide by.

Be consistent: if you choose to make fasting a practice, it is good to be consistent in the timing and length of your fasting. By so doing you begin to develop a rhythm to your practice which will deepen your experience of encountering God. This is similar to prayer, where having a set time and place to pray helps to ensure that prayer (and fasting) become long term practices.

Spend time in prayer: as I have noted in earlier articles, fasting is a practice intended to connect us more fully with God. If it is to do so it needs to be accompanied by prayer. The connection between the two can be seen in the scriptures where fasting and prayer are almost always linked.

Reflect on your experience: Ultimately any spiritual discipline must deepen your relationship with God or it is not worth doing. If fasting does not prove to be meaningful to you, then perhaps other disciplines might prove more beneficial.

The Road to Redemption: Spiritual Disciplines – Fasting 2

    In our last article we looked at fasting in the Old Testament. Fasting was/is the spiritual practice of not eating food for a particular period of time. Fasting was used for any number of purposes including seeking God's help in the face of war, sickness and impending danger. It was also used as means of approaching God while seeking forgiveness or more generally seeking God's will. Fasting was considered to be useful because it allowed people to focus on prayer and a relationship with God rather than the needs of their own bodies. Fasting was only commanded on the Day of Atonement but was frequently used (as we have seen) on many other occasions. Finally fasting was to be done not as a ritual but as a devotional practice which was accompanied by a humble and contrite heart. Fasting as a public show of piety was rejected by the prophets and by God. As we turn to the New Testament we will see that while fasting is present, it does not play as significant a role as it did in the Old Testament.

    The scriptures only record one fast of Jesus. This fasting occurs during his testing in the desert at the beginning of his ministry. In Matthew 4:1-4 we read of Jesus being forced into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by Satan. For the Gospel writer this is Jesus' Moses-like wilderness experience which will require total concentration on his call from God if he is to save humanity. In order to succeed, Jesus fasted, setting aside all physical desires so that he could be totally connected to God. The fast prepared him for the test and gave him the courage to remain faithful to his mission. It is noteworthy that on at least one occasion (Mark 2:17-19) when the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting and Jesus and his followers were not, Jesus explained this by saying that his followers could not fast because he was with them (implying that they might fast later). Jesus also continued the prophetic tradition of condemning fasting that is for show and not as an act of inward devotion to God (Matthew 6:16-18) .

    The Book of Acts offers us a glimpse into the place of fasting in the early church. In Acts 13:1-3 we read of the church at Antioch praying and fasting in order to discern God's will for their congregation. The result was that the Holy Spirit commanded them to set aside Paul and Barnabas for missionary work. A second example of fasting is that of the commissioning of elders. Paul and Barnabas in their travels would appoint elders in each of the churches they visited. This appointment process was accompanied by prayer and fasting (Acts 14:21-23) . This passage can be understood that all "ordination" of elders was accompanied by fasting…though it may only mean that Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in all the churches. The third and final occurrence of fasting in Acts comes in Acts 27:9 which refers to "the fast." This would imply that Paul along with his companions continued to keep the Jewish fast of the Day of Atonement. The dearth of references to fasting in Acts has been taken by some scholars to mean that the practice was not essential in the life of the early church. I would take it to mean that Jewish Christians brought this practice to the Gentile Christians and it took a while to take hold in those communities.

    I believe this to be true because over time fasting became a required practice in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican traditions. Within these traditions there are fast days and fast seasons such as Lent. Each tradition created its own rules and regulations so that people would know when and how to fast. Lutherans encouraged individual fasting but it was not a prescribed practice. Our own Protestant tradition initially rejected fasting as a practice. Calvin believed that believers' entire lives ought to be focused on a simple life which would produce a sense of continual fasting. Zwingli (an early Reformer) was so opposed to periods of fasting that he encouraged people to have a sausage-fest during Lent. In more recent years we Protestants have come to see fasting as a spiritual discipline which can be used to focus our lives while we seek God's guidance and direction.

    

The Road to Redemption: Spiritual Disciplines – Fasting 1

    Fasting is perhaps one of the most ancient and common practices among all religions. It is the practice of abstaining from eating, and sometimes drinking, for an extended period of time. In ancient religions fasting was used to prepare priests and priestesses for the task of approaching the gods (Hellenistic religions); for obtaining penance (pre-Columbian Peru); as the preparation for a vision quest (Native American peoples); as a means to receive visions (Evenk peoples of Siberia); as a means for shamans to control the spirits (multiple religions); as preparation for changing seasons (Pueblo peoples); as a way of enabling individuals to reach a transcendent state (Jainism); as a way to celebrate holy days (Theravada Buddhism).

    Fasting is also a part of most major world religions. It is integral to the Baha'i faith where during most of March Baha'i's will not eat or drink during daylight hours. In Buddhism it is practiced during times of intense meditation, though monks and nuns seldom eat after the noon meal as a way of practicing an almost daily fast time. Hindus (depending on which school one follows, or which gods one worships) can fast on certain days of the month, certain days of the week or during religious festivals. The type and duration of fasting varies as well. In Islam, fasting is the fourth of the Five Pillars of the faith. Most Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan. The fast is daily and lasts from dawn until dusk. Fasting is believed to move one away from bodily desires and toward charity and humility because it focuses on giving up indecent speech, fighting, arguing and improving ones charitable giving. Sikhism is one of the few world religions that does not promote fasting.

    The ancient Israelite religion (the precursor to Judaism) practiced fasting as well. One of the oldest examples of this occurs in the book of Job when Job's friends join him on the ash-heap and sit with him for seven days and nights. Though fasting is not specifically mentioned, the context of mourning (wailing, dust and ashes) implies that they did not eat for this period. A second example of fasting as mourning occurs in the book of Esther when the Jews fast because of a decree which was intended to destroy them. This use of fasting, as part of mourning, is one of many different ways in which fasting was used. Here are some other ways in which fasting was used.

Fasting was used as a way of preparing to encounter God. Moses speaks of having fasted for forty days and forty nights on Mt. Sinai as preparation for encountering God (Deut. 9:9). Daniel used it as preparation to meet God in prayer (Daniel 9:3). It was used as a means of expressing penance for wrong-doing, such as when King David, having been convicted by the prophet Nathan of having committed adultery and murder fasts as his infant son dies (2 Samuel 12:17); or when Moses fasts because he broke the first copy of the Law (Deut. 9:17-18); or when Ezra mourns for the faithlessness of the people in Jerusalem (Ezra 4:4-5). It was used as a means of seeking God's forgiveness. We see this in the writings of the prophet Joel when he encourages the people to fast in order that God's judgment not fall upon them (Joel 1:14). The prophet Jonah calls the people of Nineveh to fast for the same purpose; so that God will not destroy them (Jonah 3:7). Fasting was also used to humble one's soul (Psalm 35:13), to celebrate a victory (2 Chronicles 20:3), to seek God's protection in dangerous times (Isaiah 58:3) and as preparation for a dangerous mission (Esther 4).

In modern Judaism fasting continues as a religious practice. There are six major fast days within Judaism, with the two primary being Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Tisha B'Av (the remembrance of the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians). Certain Jewish traditions add other days and times such as a bride and groom fasting on their wedding day. Fasting is used seek atonement, to mourn and to express gratitude.

The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines Prayer in the New Testament 2

    The previous installment of our New Testament prayer discussion focused on The Lord's Prayer as a model for Christian prayer. What we will look at in this article is the place of prayer throughout the New Testament. We will do this because prayer, as much as any other element, binds the second testament together. We will begin with prayers around the birth of Jesus, continue with Jesus' prayers and then move into the prayers of Paul in his letters.

    The Gospel of Luke begins with the acknowledgement that Zechariah the priest and his wife had been praying for a child. An angel says to Zechariah, "Do not be afraid for your prayer is heard…" (Luke 1:13). We move from this prayer to Mary's prayer of praise which she offers when she is told she will bear the messiah. It begins, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior" (Luke 1:46-47). The opening chapter of Luke finishes with Zechariah praising God for the gift of his son John, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited his people" (Luke 1:68). Soon after Jesus' birth we meet Simeon who gives thanks to the Lord (Luke 2:29ff) and Anna who worshipped, fasted and prayed every day (Luke 2:37).

    The recorded prayers of Jesus are relatively few, though the scriptures make it clear that prayer was an integral part of Jesus' life. The prayers of Jesus which have been preserved are those which were offered to God at significant moments in Jesus ministry. The first appears in Matthew 11:25 which is a transition point between Jesus' initial teaching ministry and his laying claim to the messiahship. Jesus prays, "I thank thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding…." This prayer is a reminder of why Jesus will be rejected by the religious authorities. Next we have Jesus praying to raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41ff). Jesus asks God to raise Lazarus in order that people will believe that Jesus is the one sent from God. In John 12:27 we listen to Jesus wrestling in prayer, with his impending crucifixion. This prayer will be echoed in the other gospels when we find Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39ff; Luke 22:42; Mark 14:43). John 17 contains one long prayer. Jesus prays for himself, for his disciples and for all of his followers who were and are to come. Finally we hear Jesus praying on the cross, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34) as well asking forgiveness for those who crucified him (Luke 23:34).

     Finally we have the prayers of the Apostle Paul. Paul's prayers throughout his letters and in the Book of Acts are so numerous that we could spend weeks looking at them. What I want to do instead is to look at some of the topics Paul covers in his prayers. One of the most prominent topics for Paul is that of Christian living; that Jesus' followers live lives which reflect the love and grace of Christ (2 Cor. 13:7-9; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-10; 1 The. 3:12-13, 5:23). A second topic of prayer is the Apostle praying for himself and his ministry asking that God would bless and protect not only him but also those who share in Christian work (Rom. 1:9-11, 15:30-31; Eph. 6:19; Col. 1:10; 2 Thes. 1:11, 3:1). Strengthening is a third area of prayer. Paul prays that Jesus' followers will have all the power they need to succeed (Eph. 3:16-17; Col. 1:10-11; 1 Thes. 3:13; 2 Thes. 2:16). Next, as one who was well educated the Apostle Paul prays that Christians grow in the knowledge of God (Eph. 1:17; Col. 9-10), of God's will (Phil. 1:9-10; Col. 1:9), of God's love (Eph. 3:17b-19), of the hope of God's calling (Eph. 1:18) and of all that God has given us (Eph. 1:18; Philemon 1:6). In addition Paul prays for more love (Phil. 1:9; 1 Thes. 3:12; 2 Thes. 3:5), Christian unity (Rom. 15:5-6), hope (Rom. 15:13) and grace and peace for believers (too many passages to mention).

    My hope is that his brief overview of prayer will help us to see that prayer is central to our identity as Christians and essential to our own spiritual journeys.

    

The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines Prayer in the New Testament 1

    In our last article we examined prayer as a major component of the Old Testament. We saw that it was a spiritual discipline practiced for more than a thousand years by God's people who believed that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was a God who was both approachable and caring.

    It is understandable then that prayer also plays a pivotal role in the New Testament. We see this most clearly when Jesus is approached by his disciples with the request that he teach them how to pray. This request can be found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. For many of us it might seem odd that the disciples, good pious Jews, would need Jesus to teach them "how to pray." After all they had been praying all of their lives. Context helps us understand their request. Jesus had been critical of those who prayed long-winded public prayers in order that they might be acknowledged as spiritually superior individuals. That being the case the disciples desired to know how they ought to pray. He then gave them a formula for prayer which has come to be known as The Lord's Prayer.

    For those of you who read last week's article you will remember that we followed the ACTS model for prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication). The obvious question then is if Jesus gave us a model, why ought we to have another model? My response is that much of what is in ACTS is also contained in the Lord's Prayer. Thus they work together as a means of teaching us about prayer. My hope is that this will become clear as we examine Jesus' model prayer.

    "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…" We begin with Adoration. The concept of "hallowed" means that we acknowledge that God is holy, meaning something or someone that inspires awe and reverence. The word "hallowed" is a reminder that when we address God we are not texting a friend or speaking with our best buddy. We are in communication with the creator and ruler of the universe.

    "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…" This phrase is an extension of the first phrase and its theme of Adoration. This is so because it reminds us that God is greater than we are and therefore God's will and the eventual establishment of God's kingdom are more important than our desires and our kingdoms.

    "Give us this day our daily bread…" This next phrase is one of Supplication…which if we were strictly working with ACTS means it is out of order…yet it reminds us that it is acceptable to seek from God those things that we need. I realize that many Christians struggle with praying for their own needs (this may seem selfish). Jesus however teaches that this is an acceptable practice in part, I believe, because it reminds us that God is giver of all that we have.

    "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…" We now reach Confession. Jesus makes it clear that confession and seeking forgiveness is central to a God-centered life. Without confession we would more than likely continue living in ways which are counter to the will of God. Confession allows for realignment. In addition we are to forgive others as we have been forgiven.

    "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one…" Once again we return to Supplication. We are taught that we are to ask God not to lead us into places where we might be tempted (recall Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan) as well as to protect us from the evil one who would lead us away from God. We are asking then for God's protection.

    What is notable about this prayer is that it does not contain a portion for Thanksgiving. I would offer that a reminder to give thanks was unnecessary because any observant Jew was already giving thanks multiple times during the day. Jewish teaching was that one gave thanks for virtually everything; another day, food to eat, beauty in nature, the ability to perform good works and many others. In a sense thanksgiving did not need to be mentioned because a good Jew could not exist without it.