Sometime between 1411 and 1427, a Russian monk, Andrei Rublev, painted an icon that he named The Trinity. What is interesting about The Trinity, is that it does not depict the Trinity as we usually envision it. Neither God the Father, God the Son nor God the Holy Spirit are there. What is there are three angels, a table, a bowl, three chairs, a house and a tree. Like most icons it is flat and some might consider it plain. Yet in 1551 a Council of the Russian Orthodox Church declared it “to be the ideal medieval painting of its type, and the model for all Orthodox Russian artists” (Encyclopedia Of Art Education). Ultimately Andrei Rublev was canonized by the Orthodox Church.
So why am I telling you about this icon. I’m telling you about it because it is better known by its other name, The Hospitality of Abraham. And you probably have seen it at some time or another. It tells the story about when God visited Abraham in Genesis 18:1-10. Abraham didn’t know it was God, he only saw three men. Even though he didn’t know who they were, he welcomed them, washed their feet and provided a feast. Before they left, “One of them said, “I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son.” This is one of the greatest hospitality stories in scripture and today’s first reading and Gospel are also about hospitality.
In today’s first reading from 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a, we hear about a woman from Shunem who offered Elisha hospitality multiple times. She built him a room and furnished it so that whenever he was in Shunem he had a place to stay. In return for her graciousness Elisha promised her a son. Hospitality is one of the greatest virtues of the Bible. The scripture scholar William Barclay observed that: “If a man is a true man of God, to receive him is to receive the God who sent him.” Jesus carries this virtue into New Testament duty in today’s Gospel from Matthew 10:40-42, “whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me…. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple--amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”
The virtue of hospitality is recognizing the presence of God in other people and honoring and nourishing that presence. We cannot all be prophets, or preach and proclaim the word of God, but we can all practice the simple virtue of hospitality. By practicing hospitality each of us can bring the Kingdom of God into our hearts, homes, communities and the world.
On Saturday, we celebrate Independence Day. Our celebrations will be different this year. However, what we are celebrating remains constant. We are celebrating the principles of democracy and freedom. And so, we pray:
God of justice, Father of truth,
who guides creation in wisdom and goodness
to fulfilment in Christ your Son,
open our hearts to the truth of his Gospel,
that your peace may rule in our hearts and
your justice guide our lives.
Make our vision clear and our will strong:
that only in human solidarity will we find liberty,
and justice only in the honor that belongs
to every life on earth.
Turn our hearts toward the family of nations:
to understand the ways of others,
to offer friendship, and to find safety
that only in human solidarity will we find liberty,
and justice only in the honor that belongs
to every life on earth.
Turn our hearts toward the family of nations:
to understand the ways of others,
to offer friendship, and to find safety
only in the common good of all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
