Of the Holy Spirit and Hospitality

I was going to write on this subject yesterday, but I decided instead to wait until Gil had posted his sermon...I'm rather shamelessly riffing off of it.

Yesterday's Lectionary reading came from Acts10:44-48:

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. ⁴⁵All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.⁴⁶For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,⁴⁷"Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?"⁴⁸And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days. (NASB)

Gil's sermon, wonderful in it's own right, highlights two theological implications of the expanded version of the story above.

"First, the Holy Spirit fetches us into the sacred space of the sacramental. In other words, God draws us into the Presence of the Holy.

The Holy Spirit is not confined by the rules of the Church. God was teaching Peter that the rules and laws of the Church would not confine God. Somehow the Church is still in the process of trying to learn that concept.

The Church seems to be able to find countless ways to keep people away from the sacrament of God’s Presence. I cannot find any reason to prevent someone from being baptized nor from receiving communion. God is the One who is doing the fetching; the Church is the one that should be dancing in ecstasy with anyone who is hearing the Spirit.

Second, hospitality is critical to community. The last line in the story is, “They invited him (Peter) to stay for several days.” Why? So they could get to know one another, to hear one another’s stories. Holy listening forms community (Sr. Joan Chittister).

Holy listening creates holy transformation. Transformation will create space for God to form, shape and call the people into the work of the Community of God. God’s calling will create transition. Our parish is a university parish. A parish that is called to pray, discern and provide hospitality. When we go about doing this holy spiritual and mystical work of God, holy transitions will happen. God is breaking down the barriers of the religious to liberate the work of the Spirit. We are experiencing the work of the Spirit in our congregation. We are currently sponsoring five discernment committees who are doing the work of holy listening. With that much holy listening going on we can expect God to be calling – calling more than just those in discernment. God is calling all of us into holy transformation."

I specifically want to expand on the notion of an open table. The House of Bishops' Theology Committee of the EC is working on a theological study of open communion right now, I think the results are expected in 2010. What has been going on recently is that congregations in the Episcopal Church, perhaps other denominations, have not been restricting communion to only baptized Christians. This directly contradicts the canons of the Church. To not restrict the sacrament is where the phrase "open table" comes from. All Saints' in Mobile is open, St. Augustine's in Tempe is open.

Open tables strike me as the right thing to do. To get back to the Bible story, the Holy Spirit moved first, to which Peter (the Church) was deft enough to react. The Holy Spirit continues to do her work in the world, which I believe involves calling people into Communion with God through the sacraments that the Church administers. What the Church has been doing is creating a sense of exclusivity where the Holy Spirit calls people to attend and commune (no Baptisms in Lent, no non-Catholics at the Catholic table, no non-Christians at the tables other denominations). Churches then become obstacles to God in the name of legalistic formalities. If one comes into a Church and feels moved enough to sense that something profound has occurred at the table, that God has called them together and they feel compelled to participate in this communion, who is the Church to require a membership card?

Some say that open tables cheapen the sacrament. I disagree; Something can be "special" without being exclusive and to welcome the stranger into our midst is the essence of the radical hospitality that is the root of the best of the Christian tradition. Some say the uninitiated do not understand what happens at the table. I'm not sure anyone really knows, so that strikes me as a silly reason to keep someone away. This is particularly true of the Episcopal Church, which enforces no doctrinal belief in what is thought to happen at epiclesis...and that is assuming one believes something actually happens as opposed to a simple memorial.

But regardless of the theological spats through history, I do think Communion holds power....radical hospitality...a tangible expression that the Church and God are open to all and imparts a sliver of the peace and love of God which passes all human understanding. Never underestimate the power of a shared meal, especially the Eucharist.