Hospitality in the Biblical Tradition Guardian Angels Catholic Church 16 April 2013 Fr. Jan Michael Joncas
Hebrew Scriptures / First Testament A. God as host toward humanity 1. Who provides food for all 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. 11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 12 The birds of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. 14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate bringing forth food from the earth: 15 wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts. [Psalm 104]
A. God as host for humanity 2. Who particularly cares for the alienated 14 The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. [Psalm 145]
Further references for these topics: God as source of food and clothing for humanity Genesis 1:29-30; 2:9; 3:21 Psalm 136:25 God as particularly caring for the alienated Psalm 146:9
B. God as guest of humanity [in the person of the patriarch Abraham] 18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 3 He said, If I have found favor in your eyes, [my] Lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way now that you have come to your servant. Very well, they answered, do as you say. 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get three seahs [ca. 36 pounds] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread. 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
C. God as host to the covenant people of Israel 9 Then Moses told Aaron, Say to the entire Israelite community, Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling. 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, What is it? For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
16 This is what the Lord has commanded: Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer [ca. 3 pounds] for each person you have in your tent. 17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. [Exodus 16]
Further references for this topic Covenant People dependent upon God s hospitality: Psalm 39:12 [viz. Heb 11:13] God feeds and clothes them in the wilderness Deuteronomy 8:2-5 God brings them as sojourners into God s own land Leviticus 25:23 There God offers them health, long life, peace and fertility Deuteronomy 11 N.B. Meal as the locus of hospitality with the elders of Israel Exodus 24:1-11
D. God/Angel of the Lord as guest of the Covenant People of Israel [in the person of Gideon] 11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
13 Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian. 14 The Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian s hand. Am I not sending you? 15 Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. 16 The Lord answered, I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.
17 Gideon replied, If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you. And the Lord said, I will wait until you return. 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah[ca. 36 pounds] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
20 The angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face! 23 But the Lord said to him, Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die. 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. [Judges 6]
Further reference for this topic Judges 13:2-23 [Manoah]
E. The Covenant People of Israel as hosts to their own, sojourners, and foreigners N.B. Some forms of hospitality toward NON-FOREIGN strangers appear to have been commonly practiced among the nations of the biblical worlds Israel alone seems to have included the FOREIGN SOJOURNER along with those other alienated persons who were to receive care: the widow, the orphan, and the poor
The narratives of the patriarchal period advocate receiving the foreigner/stranger at least on a temporary basis (Genesis 18-19) Landed Israel distinguished between the SOJOURNER, who made some allegiance to the Israelite community of faith, and the FOREIGNER, who might represent a threat to cultic purity
E.1. Divine command: As Israel received the hospitality of YHWH, so Israel was to love and care for the alienated 6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?... 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. [Isaiah 58]
E.2. Customs of hospitality Alienated persons may harvest the corners of fields 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this. [Deuteronomy 24]
Tithing food for the needy 28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year s produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. [Deuteronomy 14]
Including alienated persons in religious celebrations 48 A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you. [Exodus 12]
10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. 11 And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees. [Deuteronomy 16]
E.3. Violation of hospitality 19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 My lords, he said, please turn aside to your servant s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning. No, they answered, we will spend the night in the square. 3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom both young and old surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them. 6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, No, my friends. Don t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.
9 Get out of our way, they replied. This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We ll treat you worse than them. They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door 10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, Do you have anyone else here sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it. [Genesis 19]
Christian Scriptures / Second A. Jesus as host Testament First Testament allusions reveal the identity of Jesus as host-like- YHWH In Mark 6:30-44 and parallels (feeding of the multitudes) Jesus is portrayed as one like YHWH, who fed the people in the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16) Similarly, Jesus is portrayed as one like the coming Davidic shepherd, who would care for his flock in the wilderness (Ezechiel 34:11-31)
Likewise Jesus is portrayed as one like the prophets of YHWH, who fed his disciples and had food left over (2 Kings 4:42-44) At the Last Supper, Jesus serves as host, washing the disciples feet (John 13:3-5) and directing the meal Jesus becomes the spiritually sustaining meal itself (Mark 14:12-26; John 6:30-40; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
Identifying himself with the symbolic elements of the Passover meal (if in fact it was a Seder and the Seder s structure was set in Jesus time), Jesus associates his body with the bread of affliction that was offered to all who were hungry and needy Jesus associates his blood with the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption
By halting the meal before the traditional fourth cup, Jesus anticipates his role as eschatological host, when he will drink again at the messianic banquet celebrating the consummation of the reign of God (Isaiah 25:6: Matthew 8:11; Luke 14:15; Revelation 19:9). In post-resurrection appearances, the disciples perceive Jesus identity when he takes the role of host (Luke 24:13-25; John 21:1-14)
B. Jesus as guest Jesus itinerant ministry placed him in dependence on the hospitality of others (Luke 9:58; 10:38) Jesus identifies himself with needy alienated persons (Matthew 25:31-46)
In his capacity as guest, Jesus bound himself to the lost, sharing table fellowship with tax collector, sinner, and Pharisee alike 1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. 9 Jesus said to him, Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. [Luke 19]
C. Christians as hosts Christians serve to proclaim/embody Christ s reconciliation of the world to God 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision (which is done in the body by human hands) 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. [Ephesians 2]
Thus the commands to act hospitably occur as expressions of Christian love 1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. [Hebrews 13]
D. Christians as guests Itinerant Christian ministers and refugees often found themselves in need of sympathetic hosts 1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a minister/servant/deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.