THE THREE MOVEMENTS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

PART 2 – FROM HOSTILITY TO HOSPITALITY – Luke 24: 28-35

A Sermon by Dr. Richard A. Wing, Co-Pastor, October 13, 2019

INTRODUCTION: I suggest that we are never so ARROGANT as to think we can find God. However, there are places we can go Where God can find us.

Thomas Merton said: GOD COMES TO US

  • In scripture
  • Inside ourselves
  • In the stranger

The biblical word proclaims: when hostility toward the stranger is translated to hospitality, God comes near. Henri Nouwen describes all of us: “In our world full of strangers, we witness a painful search for a hospitable place where life can be lived without fear and where community can be found.” If we go way back in our family history, all of us will find relatives who came to this land as strangers.  The Mayflower arrived in 1620 and just eleven years later four brothers and their mother came to the new land from Banbury Cross, England.  For a strong 15-year period, the newcomers found tremendous hospitality from the native people who had been there for 10,000 years.

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TO SEE YOURSELF AS GOD SEES YOU

This summer I filled out 24 pages of an application in order to teach contemplation and mediation to inmates in the prison system in Florence, AZ. When announcing I was entering the prison, some of my friends rejoiced that I was finally found out! Very funny friends. Actually, they remind me that “religion without humor is deadly.” Continue reading