Practicing hospitality

"There are families where the faith is not developed, because what is given is traditions poisoned by economic and political interests and wrapped up with things of faith. They want a religion that will merely support those interests. And when the church protests against such selfishness, sins, and abuses, then it is thought to be departing from the truth, and these Christians, with their children and all, go away and continue to live traditions that are not true Christian traditions." ~Archbishop Oscar Romero 12.31.78

"Let no family isolate itself from society as a whole because it is itself well off...It will be so easy once boys and girls are trained in the heart of each family to aspire not to have more but to be more, not to grab everything but to give abundantly to others. They must be educated for love. Loving is what the family is all about, and loving means giving oneself, surrendering oneself to the well-being of all and working for the common happiness." ~Archbishop Oscar Romero 10.7.79

I have learned much about family from my Latino brothers and sisters, as I have learned much about generosity, hospitality, and giving. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I feel so comfortable and grounded in Latin America; I have always been so well taken care of.

This visit in El Salvador is a case in point. Another female pastor from Virginia and I stayed in the home of Maria, her daughter Brenda, and Brenda's son Diego. They have a small two-bedroom house, and we were given one of the bedrooms. We were treated like family from the moment we arrived, except that we weren't allowed to do any chores or work around the house (as is usually expected of family!) We ate delicious food, watched tv with the family in the evenings, and played with Diego. The day that I asked where I could buy some cough drops, Brenda went out and bought some within the hour (after she had been at work all day, an hour-long bus ride away).

I know that hospitality to strangers was of utmost importance in the culture of the Bible. This is why Abraham and Sarah fall all over themselves to provide for the three strangers who are passing through their camp in Genesis 18. This culture of hospitality is alive and well in Latin America, where strangers and visitors are treated like honored guests.

I wonder if that level of hospitality is encountered here, in the United States, among the dominant culture. I often feel that strangers are seen as intruders or dangerous unknowns instead of potential bearers of God's blessing (did you ever hear the phrase about entertaining angels unaware?) We have large homes and spare bedrooms and even sometimes extra cars, and yet, are we generous and giving of our resources and our homes?

Generosity and giving are characteristics that Archbishop Romero says are learned at home, within the context of family. I know that Diego is growing up in a home where hospitality for strangers, generosity and sacrificial giving are practiced and modeled. Can we say the same? Are we giving such that it hurts, to the stranger, the visitor, the outcast? Or are we demonstrating the selfishness and obsession for accumulation that characterizes much of our society?

The Task of Preaching

"A church that doesn't provoke any crises,

a gospel that doesn't unsettle,

a word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin,

a word of God that doesn't touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed -

what gospel is that?

Very nice, pious considerations

that don't bother anyone,

that's the way many would like preaching to be.

Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter

so as not to be harassed,

so as not to have conflicts and difficulties,

do not light up the world they live in." ~Archbishop Oscar Romero 4.16.78

"That is why we preach this way. We wish to shake our baptized people out of habits that threaten to make them practically baptized pagans, idolaters of their money and power. What sort of baptized persons are these? Those who want to hear the mark of the Spirit and the fire that Christ baptizes with must take the risk of renouncing everything and seeking only God's reign and his justice." ~Archbishop Oscar Romero 1.13.80

Immediately after I returned from El Salvador, I had my morning of interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry. I have been in the ordination process in the United Methodist Church for nine years now, since 2001, and this was, I prayed, my final round of interviews to become an ordained United Methodist minister.

Many people thought I was crazy for going to El Salvador the week before this major event that I have been working on for almost a third of my lifetime. What if you get sick? What if you get hurt? What if something happens with the weather? Won't that make you tired? But I knew that the opposite was actually true; going to El Salvador was the best thing I could have done before being grilled on theology, leadership, and the practice of ministry.

There are many times when I feel like most of us in the dominant culture in the U.S. are living in something akin to a giant version of Disney World, a fantasy land that is not real and is in fact, far removed from the reality of the world.

Methodist pastors in El Salvador are living in the real world, a world in which persons depend on God to provide daily bread and give joyous praise when God does indeed provide. This is a world in which the gospel is GOOD NEWS because it declares that God is with us, presently, and especially with those who live daily on the edge of survival. Most of the pastors are as economically poor as their parishioners; one pastor commented to me that it must be easy to be a pastor in the U.S. because I have access to so many things, like a car for instance!

I got the phone call on Wednesday night that I have indeed been recommended for ordination at Annual Conference this year, so by the grace of God, I will be ordained on June 14, 2010. All week I have been reflecting on this. The bishop will place a stole around my neck and charge me with the task of preaching the gospel. I pray fervently that I will heed the words of Archbishop Romero to truly preach the good news of Jesus Christ that is provocative and bothersome to many, particularly to the majority of those who sit in the pews of the United Methodist Church. I pray to light up the world in which I live, knowing that many will want to put that light out, as they did to many priests in El Salvador, Archbishop Romero, and even Jesus himself. I pray to shake up the baptized pagans and proclaim God's reign and justice, both with my words and with my life.

The Monsenor

"And so the church values human beings and contends for their rights, for their freedom, for their dignity. That is an authentic church endeavor. While human rights are violated, while there are arbitrary arrests, while there are tortures, the church considers itself persecuted, it feels troubled, because the church values human beings and cannot tolerate that an image of God be trampled by persons that become brutalized by trampling on others. The church wants to make that image beautiful." --Archbishop Oscar Romero

It doesn't take long in El Salvador before someone brings up the Monsenor, and when they say this, they are referring to Archbishop Oscar Romero. Romero was a Catholic priest who became archbishop here in El Salvador and gave his life preaching and living the gospel. He was a "voice for the voiceless," for the poor and the people, the pueblo. After several years of speaking out strongly against the violence in El Salvador, at the hands of both the military and the guerillas, after his weekly radio addresses, after his refusal to support the violence and give it the blessing of the church, Monsenor Romero was shot and killed during a church service, while he was consecrating the communion elements.

As Christians, this is a powerful witness, but as pastors, it is even more striking. I will be sharing much more about this experience in the days to come...

Holy Conferencing

Monday was our first day of dialogue with the Methodist pastors of El Salvador. There are 10 Methodist Church in El Salvador, and the majority of the pastors did travel from their homes to be here with us for the time of holy conferencing. (Yes, I think that this is an example of holy conferencing, distinct from what we do an annual conference...)

We are working at the Methodist Church ¨La Providencia¨(Providence) on long tables that span the entire length of the sanctuary. In the large group, I am primarily translating from Spanish to English, and Norma is from English to Spanish. Pastor Juan, who is the president of the Methodist pastors group, gave us a presentation on the history and issues of the Methodist Church in El Salvador, which put us in context for our dialogue. It is such a young church, with such opportunity and challenges all at the same time. Four of the 10 churches are pastored by women, which is a good percentage, even though it is VERY difficult for female pastors here. They struggle in a culture where it is unacceptable from both the Catholic church and the other Evangelical churches to be a woman and a pastor at the same time.

We spent most of the afternoon talking about baptism, first in small groups and then in the large group all together. It is such an amazing opportunity to be a part of this conversation.

None of the pastors here are ordained. They are in the work of developing an ordination process that is suitable for their context, and they are very clear that this is such an important task that it must be carried out with care, great wisdom, and fervent prayer. Most of the pastors do not have formal theological training. Currently, they have a Course of Study school twice a year, and professors from Clairmont Seminary come to teach, which is both a blessing and a challenge, because their courses are not contextual, but are from the North American, U.S. context.

So, it is rather amazing to sit around and discuss things like baptism...what is baptism, why do we baptize infants, what happens in the act of baptism. Wow. I can see why John Wesley said that conferencing, gathering with other Christians like this, is a means of grace, a way in which God shows us grace. It truly is a grace filled experience to gather and share with our brothers and sisters on such a deep level.

The Methodist Family

I am here with a group of pastors, so you know that we are going to spend a lot of time in the church.

Yesterday on Sunday, we attended two worship services in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. It is a two hour drive from where we are staying, plus the flat tire that we had on the way there. We went first to the Methodist Church Vida Nueva (New Life). One of the greatest things about this church was the worship team, which consisted of about 10 young people, all under the age of 17, led by the music minister, who is 30. The drum player was a 15 year old girl, the keyboard player a 15 year old girl, and they were all phenomenal. They lead the worship at this church, and there is indeed a spirit of new life in this place. After worship I spent some time with a couple of 13 year olds, who were telling me about their church, their faith, and how they love to lead worship at the church.

The second church we attended was celebrating their 11th anniversary. The Methodist Church is 16 years old in El Salvador, founded in 1994. There was also lively music and worship at this church, and I enjoyed the opportunity to sing songs of praise to God that I don´t often get to sing anymore in my US context. Again I say, there is something about Latin American that makes me feel at home, that feels right. The most profound part of this service for me, however, was the prayer of the pastor at the end of the service. He asked for everyone to put their arms around the person standing beside them, and then he prayed a powerful word about our connection, how we are blessed to gather as Methodists from the US, Colombia, and El Salvador, how we are one body, one people and we together bless the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and serve him. I felt so connected to this Methodist family from many different contexts and places but gathered to sing glory and honor to God. The pastor prayed for us, for our churches, and for the world that belongs to God and is beloved by God. It was powerful.

We were all pretty worn out by the time we got in the car at 6:30 for our two hours drive home. But as I sat in the car and we drove home in the dark, I sat with my eyes closed and enjoyed the time to pray and meditate on how good God is and how thankful I am. It was really nice to have that time of stillness, of rest, of prayer and reflection, and I wonder that I don´t spend this amount of time at home like this. But then again, who has time to spend two hours in prayer and reflection...maybe I should. Maybe we all should. Maybe we are all way to busy to enjoy God´s goodness the way that we were created to, and too busy to enjoy God the way that we were created to?

Home in Latin America

Many of you know that I am currently in El Salvador with a group of United Methodist pastors from Virginia. I was hoping to be able to blog fairly often, but well, as with many plans, it is not quite possible. For this moment, I do have a computer with internet, and so I hope to share a bit of the journey so far.

On friday I flew from Baltimore to Guatemala City, Guatemala. For the past two weeks, several pastors have been in Guatemala studying Spanish and staying with host families. I am part of a crew of bilingual pastors who are joining the team for the El Salvador leg of the journey. Arriving in Guatemala gave me a strange sensation of arriving home. I lived in Guatemala for four months in 2001, and even though a lot has changed in the last nine years, the feeling has not. As we drove away from the airport, I could feel myself relax. It is such a different rhythm than the US, and I can´t explain it, but I feel more grounded in real life when I am here, and in Latin America.

Saturday we drove to Ahuacapan, El Salvador where we are staying for the week with host families and participating in dialogues with the Methodist pastors and a few lay people of El Salvador. We are also joined by a Methodist pastor from Colombia, so we are quite the multicultural group. This is fun, particularly since I only knew one of the VA pastors before I came, so there is always someone to talkwith and learn about.

I am staying with another pastor in the home of Maria, her daughter Brenda, and Brenda´s son Diego, who is six. We have been welcomed with open arms and experienced tremendous hospitality. Diego in particular is excited to have us around, and he likes to show us his dinosaurs, his cars, or the birds singing outside. He doesn´t like to leave the house when we are there.

It´s amazing to know that you have family wherever you go, and that is what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of the Church (big C). We are received here as brothers and sisters, and it is a testimony to our connection that we can be a family so quickly. We have received grace upon grace from our hosts and the family of God in El Salvador. What a blessing it is to receive such grace!

Is prayer an action?

I have been wondering this as I observe the United Methodist Church's response to the earthquake in Haiti. The big response is first: pray. Then, we will figure out the next step.

I have to admit that I love this.

But I would guess that it gives us a certain sense of helplessness, this entire tragedy, this whole crisis. It is all so completely out of our control, and I know that we are a people who like to be in control of things. We are also a people who like to respond with "doing." We like to go and clean up or rebuild or do something.

Prayer seems so passive.

I wonder how many people, how many Christians, how many United Methodists have actually responded to this crisis with prayer. Gutteral, passionate prayer. Desperate, longing, bewildered prayer. How many of us are falling on our knees throughout the day as we are continuously overwhelmed by the news, by the grief, by the destruction? How many of us are praying fervently for a call to serve in some way, for a call to help in the restoration and the healing?

How many of us actually see prayer as an action?

(By the way, prayer is still the first response but not the only response. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is accepting donations for recovery and development. 100% of the money that you donate to UMCOR goes to the actual project; there is nothing taken out for overhead. You can donate through your church or do it online here.)