Mar 1, 2015
On the day of the 8th Day Faith Community's return to the Potter's House
We are finally here in this beautiful, renovated space: it is the work of many people's hopes, dreams, yearnings, and connections to the past through a rich history of commitment and rootedness in this neighborhood and city. This also is the work over the past two-plus years of many people who have shown up at visioning and focus groups and circle gatherings and have served as consultants, advisors, mentors, and funders, and that includes the 8th Day Faith Community. And, it is the persistent and faithful work of several young people who got hold of a dream of what the Potter's House could be in the hear-and-now and who held sacred the past 50+ years of the Potter's House and its rich and committed life in the Adams Morgan neighborhood and beyond. This is the place where we have chosen to call our home, and it is from this place that we choose to minister.
So, what does this ministry look like? I've pondered this question as 8th Day took over the ownership of this property which includes Columbia Road Health Services. Ownership was a huge decision of the 8th Day Faith Community that never wanted to own any property. So, it was a momentous step for us to agree to assume ownership and to support the folks in the newly formed Potter's House Mission Project Team to lay a foundation for the renovation and the new PH mission. It was not always easy; there were tears; processing of feelings and fears; and humility, an ability to admit that some of us needed to learn and listen more.
In the spring of 2014, the PH Project Team ended its life and the PH Board assumed the responsibility for the oversight of the PH. The board is multi-racial and multi-generational and gifted and wise in the ways of participatory leadership. We need to bless and support them as they go forth.
This morning I want to reflect on two stories from scripture that I think help us as a community to mirror and link our lives as individuals and as community with the greater story of our faith journey. The two stories come from the 10th chapter of the gospel of Luke.
We all are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. Here is a religious scholar who asks Jesus how to attain eternal life. Jesus throws the question back at the scholar, and he answers: love God and love neighbor. (Dt. 6:4-5 & Lev. 19:18) "You're right," says Jesus, "so do this and it will be life-giving."
Wanting to justify himself, the scholar then asks for a definition of "neighbor", and Jesus tells the story of the Samaritan, the scorned outsider, who sees the traveler beaten, bloody, ignored and half-dead at the side of the road. The Samaritan binds up his wounds, takes him to an inn, pays for his care, and promises to return to settle any debts for care of the wounded man.
The real neighbor, the person of compassion, is the stranger/outsider, the one who binds up the wounds and makes sure that that the wounded man is cared for. He sees the need and responds lavishly without regard to boundaries. This story shows us what loving the other looks like, be it a neighbor or stranger. It shows us what radical hospitality looks like, and that is what Jesus calls us to practice. Luke then moves us immediately to the story of Martha and her sister Mary who welcome Jesus into their home.
38 Now as they went on their way, he (Jesus) entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.' 41But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.'
The thread of hospitality and care from the Good Samaritan story plays out in Martha's role. She is concerned with what it takes to clear physical space for the guest, Jesus. For Martha, clearing space is action – welcoming words, preparing food and drink, assuring the comfort of the guest. It is the work of the host, and it is important and needed work. This work of hospitality is and will be critical for us as a community and for the Potter's House. Jesus does respond to Martha's complaint and desire for kitchen help. Luke is now focusing our attention back to the scholar's response to Jesus' question: "That you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength (Dt. 6:4-5), and that you love your neighbor as well as you love yourself." ( Lev.19:18) Love of neighbor flows from love of God; they are intimately intertwined. Mary is listening to Jesus, embodying a devotion to God's word as an expression of her love for God.
In these two back-to-back stories, we have two characters featured as model disciples: the Samaritan, a marginalized and scorned outsider, and Mary, a marginalized woman who is sitting as a disciple listening to the rabbi Jesus, thereby violating a social boundary. The Samaritan sees the distress and need of the stranger. His actions are Christ-like. Mary listens to Jesus, clearing a place for God's word in her heart.
I don't think it is a coincidence that the story of Martha and Mary follows immediately on the parable of the Good Samaritan because only if we clear a space for Christ in our hearts will we be able to behave as the Samaritan does. Clearing a space for others, the act of hospitality and inclusion, and clearing space for Christ, for God are two themes that I want us to hold onto as we begin a new chapter in our life together. In the recent interviews that Kate conducted with community members, the two themes surfaced: the themes of inclusion and hospitality and of drawing closer to God, the inward journey.
Hospitality and inclusion are practices and values that have grown stronger at 8th Day in recent years, and they are shaping and challenging us. We need to continue to clear space in our communal life for people from diverse communities and cultures; and, this includes people from communities that have been less visible among our guests and attendees. We need to embody welcome, respect, sensitivity, invitation, beauty and safety as we open space for others and grow in love for neighbor and stranger.
Clearing space for Christ, for God can certainly include our more traditional spiritual practices or disciplines: prayer, meditation, bible study and reflection, journaling, retreat, silence. But, whatever draws you or me closer to God and others can clear space for God. Some of us find creative ways to open ourselves to God's presence -- walking meditation, contemplation in nature, listening to and creating music, drawing and sketching, sitting in circles of silence, and so on.
Henri Nouwen, the late beloved author, priest and spiritual guide noted: "Almost anything that helps us to slow down and order our times, desires and thoughts to counteract selfishness, impulsiveness, or hurried fogginess of mind can be a spiritual discipline." (Nouwen, Spiritual Direction, p xviii) He goes on to say that the disciplines or practices of the heart are: 1) seeing/imaging God in our heart, 2) looking to God through scripture/our foundational faith story, and 3) being in relationships with the people of God who witness to God's active presence in the world. These are the cornerstones of the inward journey, the journey that clears space for God.
"In Luke's gospel, Jesus, despite the constant outpouring of his energy in [teaching], preaching, and healing, always finds time to "withdraw to some lonely place to pray." Then, immediately after the story of Martha and Mary, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.
"When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom /your reign come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who wrong us. And do not put us to the test."
Luke seems to have built up a sequence which begins by answering the question "Who is my neighbor" and then goes on to remind the listeners and readers, that it is each one of us and us as a community, that unfailing kindness and compassion, even to strangers, is possible only if we keep God in mind, only if we try to pattern our lives on Jesus. And, to accomplish this, we need prayer, listening and asking God to watch over us and guide us.
So, let us carry these two stories with us into our future. That means clearing space for God daily like the Good Samaritan and Mary, and clearing space for the neighbor, guests, strangers and one another. Let us pray for God's care for all of us as we commit to care for one another and God's creation.