Open Doors. Open Hearts.Sýnishorn

Embracing everyone.

Across the world, the tradition of sharing a cup of tea is important. These occasions give us time to relax, engage and get to know each other. Taking the time to enjoy tea together also creates an opportunity to share sacred space. Later in this biblical passage, Jesus asks to sit down at the table with Zacchaeus. People in the wider story questioned why Jesus would make such a request. Zacchaeus was not everyone’s favourite ‘tea’ partner.

People living with disabilities sometimes find themselves left to take tea on their own. A friend of mine noticed that after services at church, people did not choose to sit down at the morning tea table with her sister. Her precious sister lived with a disability and was not always easy to understand. While this sister was not excluded from the morning tea, her presence was not really appreciated. Theologian John Swinton reminds us that ‘Jesus sat with those folks that society did not want to sit with.’[1]

Choosing who we sit with communicates to the person and the wider world that we appreciate their company and their experience of the world. Faithful hospitality accepts that both sets of people sitting around the teapot reflect the image of God and have gifts to share with each other. Choosing to sit with someone who appears different to ourselves is a key marker of Christ’s pattern of hospitality.

For reflection:

As you think about your own context, who are the people that Jesus might ask to have tea with today?

How might you pursue faithful hospitality with disabled people in your community?

A prayer for today:

Father, help us to see the image of God reflected in every face we encounter. Guide us to move beyond welcome statements and towards hospitality that seeks to build relationships.

AMEN

[1]John Swinton, “Using Our Bodies Faithfully: Christian Friendship and the Life of Worship,” Journal of Disability & Religion 19 (2015): 239.