Hospitality is heart of Christmas story
On a Christmas day several years ago I was frantically racing around the kitchen trying to finish off the details of dinner, directing two Mexican students in carving the turkey and making gravy, conscripting a sister-in-law to slice bread, a brother-in-law to serve drinks and another family member to prepare vegetables.
Suddenly I wondered where my husband was—and why he wasn't helping!
I poked my head around the corner to the dining room, and there was Ian, deeply engaged in conversation with two Chinese students, answering their questions about church history and theology, seemingly oblivious to the frantic activity happening all around him. In a twist to the Mary-Martha story, I was definitely Martha, and Ian was, not Mary, not totally Jesus, but doing what Ian does best.
For these two students, who had never celebrated Christmas before, the lovely dinner we were about to eat was less important than understanding why we were going to all this effort of having dinner.
Hospitality is at the heart of the Christmas story.
It starts with an irony, though. The Middle East is legendary for its hospitality. Yet when Mary and Joseph went in search of a place to stay, a place where Mary could give birth to the Saviour of the entire world, there was only a cave to shelter them, shared by cows and sheep.
So Jesus was born homeless, and shortly after that the family had to flee to Egypt. This little, homeless baby became a refugee.
Often I hear people say, "Christmas is about family." Well no, it isn't, unless by family we mean all our brothers and sisters. Christmas is about welcoming the poor, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the refugees. Those are the people Jesus would want to have at His dinner table. Having been homeless at Christmas Himself, wouldn't He want us to go out of our way to welcome the needy?
But how can we follow Jesus' example?
I have a friend whose Christmas dinner table routinely includes a couple of developmentally-challenged adults. Even as her own family has grown to include spouses and grandchildren, she never forgets to invite people who are on the fringes of society. "I just enjoy them as good and valuable friends, and I hope they feel the same way about us," she says.
In Vancouver, a woman I knew decided to rent a community centre one Christmas. She invited friends for a huge potluck and opened it up to whoever wanted to come. It was her favourite Christmas, and after that she made it an annual event.
A couple I know in Regina spend the morning with their family, then go to their Baptist church, where they and other volunteers prepare dinner for up to 100 people, mostly international students. Here in Kingston, one of the Anglican parishes hosts a community dinner right on Christmas day for all those who have no place to go.
Ian and I get great joy out of including students from different parts of the world at our Christmas dinner table. And I've come to realize it isn't the fuss over the turkey but the warmth and love that they appreciate most.
If Jesus welcomes the poor, the humble, the lame and the blind, why don't we welcome them to our homes this Christmas?
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