Divine Hospitality

Isaiah 25:6-9
November 1, 2009

If I say “Thank you” you say, “You’re welcome.”
In Spanish it’s different, isn’t it?
If I say “Muchas gracias” you say, “de nada.”
Which literally means what in English? . . . “It’s nothing.”
But in English we say, “You’re welcome.”
Which in Spanish literally means “Tu eres bienvenido.”
Those are two quite different responses to thank you.
Oh, it’s nothing! In Spanish
You are welcome! In English
I think that us English speakers don’t really think about what we are saying when we say “You are welcome.”
Welcome is the hospitality word.
When we say, “welcome” we are saying, “come on in. What’s mine is yours. Make yourself at home!”

Maybe subconsciously that’s why fewer people say “you’re welcome” these days.
When I say “thank you” to people these days I hear “no problem” or “sure” in response more often than I hear “you’re welcome.”
It’s amazing that our response to ”Thank you” is supposed to be, “Take it. Take what ever you need. You are welcome to it.”

You know who says, “You are welcome” and really means it, though?
When we say, “Thank you for this day, Lord!” He says . . .
“You’re welcome! And there’s more where that came from!”
When we say, “Thank you for this food, Lord.” He says . . .
“You’re welcome! And there’s more where that came from!”
When we say, “Thank you for life, Lord!” He says . . .
“You’re welcome! And there’s more where that came from!”

God is the one who really knows what “You are welcome!” means.

The book of Isaiah tells us about this divine hospitality.
The church father Ambrose told Augustine that Isaiah wasn’t merely a prophet. He said that Isaiah is the first apostle and evangelist.
The passage we read today is the 1st apostle and evangelist at his best.
What an incredible vision!

Isaiah tells us that God is going to set a lavish banquet for . . . whom?
For the Jews only?
For the Christians only?
For the Muslims only?
For English speakers only?
No. No. No and no.

Isaiah tells us that God is getting ready to welcome all people to the Table.
God is setting the Table with filet mignon and KC strips.
There’ll even be soy burgers so that everyone feels welcome.
And it doesn’t matter if you prefer a bold cabernet or sparkling grape juice.
Whatever it is, God will have the Table full enough to meet everyone’s needs.
Everyone. All. Todos son bienvenidos.
That’s what God is up to, the divine “You are welcome.”

But Isaiah tells us that as God is welcoming us to the Table, God is also eating.
What is God eating?
God is swallowing up death.
God is making a meal of all those things in life that limit us.
God is swallowing up all those things that diminish our well-being.
God is swallowing up all those things that try to take away our community.

Death here is more than just when the breath leaves our bodies.
The death that God is chewing up and spitting out is the death that produces individualism . . .
Death that produces greed . . .
Death that produces poverty . . .
Death that produces warfare . . .
Death that produces racism . . .

God is like a great sea monster gobbling up all these sharks and jellyfish we produce and he doesn’t even say thank you.
He doesn’t have to because God says what?
“You’re welcome.”
God welcomes us to the Table at the same time he is gobbling up all the things that threaten us.
Oh, yes, God can indeed multi-task!

God in Jesus does the hard work for us.
The positive and the negative.
He sets the table and welcomes us.
While at the same time eliminating threats to his generosity.
When we come to this Table, all we can really say is . . .
“Thank you!”
Thank you for welcoming us, God, all of us!
Thank you for defeating all of those things that prevent us from welcoming others.
At this Table, God is teaching us to say, “You are welcome!” and mean it.

Now because we live in an individualistic society and culture, I’m supposed to say what this means for you and your individual salvation.
Well you get to live forever, right?
You get your mansion on the hill and an Escalade with a Quik Trip in your garage.
You see, we have traded the real sweetness of the good news for getting mine in the sweet by and by.

Isaiah’s vision of what God is about, Isaiah’s vision of God’s salvation has very little to do with my wants and desires.
What God is about, according to Isaiah and Jesus and Paul and Peter and John and Mary and Martha and Miriam and Ruth and Naomi is a community, a community called God’s Kingdom.

It is a place where the tears will be wiped away.
It is a place where a table is set for all people.
It’s a place that Jesus said we can experience now.
It’s a place so close that at times we can actually experience it.

Like yesterday morning.

Yesterday morning the kitchen downstairs was buzzing with people who got up early and came to set the Table for our youth after their lock-in.
I was burning the bacon.
Greg and Javier were screwing up the pancakes.
Telma and Carmen were fixing perfect eggs and trying to fix the bacon and the pancakes.
Lisa, who had spent all night on her birthday with the youth, was entertaining us with her ebullient personality.
And all the while the youth were stumbling into the kitchen, wiping sleep from their eyes and saying, “What are you burning, Pastor Rick?”

Yesterday morning I saw Isaiah’s vision.
I smelled it.
I tasted it.
And all I can say is, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord!”
And all God ever says back to me is . . .
“You’re welcome.”
“You are welcome . . .
What’s mine is yours . . .
There’s more where that came from . . .
Make yourself at home . . .
Mi casa es su casa . . .
You’re welcome!”