Rolling out the red carpet

Mark 9: 30-37

On Monday night two men made history. First, Isaac Caldiero was the first person to successfully complete the third stage of the American Ninja Warrior course. In case you have never seen it, it is an extreme obstacle course. Many thousands compete, but few finish. The course tests the strength, agility, stamina, balance, and determination of every athlete who competes.

The final course is so tough, many contestants dropped into the water before the final element. No one before Monday had ever finished. But that changed this year. Early in the evening, Isaac Caldiero finished the course. The last competitor, Geoff Britten, also finished.

 Stage four is a 75-foot rope climb. As the first to finish, Isaac had the option of going first or second.  By this time, Isaac had had an hour to regain his strength, but Geoff had only a few minutes between finishing stage three and the final challenge. Isaac chose to go last.

Geoff managed to climb the rope and hit the buzzer with less than a second remaining. Isaac’s time was 3 seconds faster. Because of his faster time, Isaac Caldiero was named the winner, with a $1,000,000 prize. But, because he completed stage 4 first, Geoff Britten will always be known as the one who did it first.

I don’t know why Isaac let Geoff go first. I like to think it was to give Geoff the chance to be first, while knowing in his heart that he was going to win the money. But, first, he rolled out the red carpet for Geoff.

 We aren’t always so hospitable. We want to be the first, the best, the most important. In the Gospel text, the disciples are beginning to wrestle with what it will mean for them if Jesus does die, as he has told them he will. Who will lead the group of followers? They decide it should be the greatest disciple, however that is defined. The first; the most faithful; the one Jesus talks to the most; the one Jesus trusts with the money; the one who has done the most healings; the one with the most converts; and so forth.

Jesus is frustrated. Over and over he has explained that the greatest one is the one who serves the most. They still don’t get it, obviously. So he takes a child and tells them that those who welcome children welcome him, and therefore they welcome the one who sent him.

This puzzles us today. We have to know about the culture of the day in order to understand it. Women and children were objects to be used. They had no real value as individuals. We might compare the way African people were treated by slave traders and plantation owners. African slaves in America’s history, and women and children in ancient times, were commodities, like money to be traded among men.

Jesus is saying that when we roll out the red carpet for the least important person in our midst, we are rolling out the red carpet for him, and for God, the One who sent him.

Today, the least valued people, the commodity people in the US, are the illegal immigrants, the addicts, the homeless, those who are different in some imagined way. Jesus spent his time with the poor, oppressed, rejected people of his time and place.

So, when we roll out the red carpet for the poor and outcast of our time, we are welcoming Jesus and the One who sent him.

But we need to be careful. When we think of ourselves as the hospitable ones, the ones doing all the welcoming, we are putting ourselves first. We are in control. When we see outcasts as God’s children, as real people, then we have a better chance of welcoming them as we would welcome Jesus. When we open ourselves to the outcasts and say, “Teach me about your life, your wants and dreams,” and we listen with open hearts, then we are truly welcoming.

Beyond welcoming, we can take a stand against the people and systems that work hard to keep them as outcasts in our midst. We can object when someone ridicules a group of people. We can stop bullying by identifying it and reporting it. We can support laws that create a more just world.

We can point out that a certain type of joke is not funny. I did that just this week with an email that was sent to me and a few others.

We can remember that we are not always right. This week, I watched the movie Heaven is for real. Pastor Todd’s five-year-old son Colton almost died on the operating table and visited heaven. Colton began to tell his father about the event, and Pastor Todd began to talk in church about heaven as a welcoming place of love. Parishioners were stunned. They objected to what Pastor Todd was saying, and came to an agreement that Pastor Todd had to go. They had to be right – even though they were wrong.

We can say thank you. And we can do little things that say you have done a good job. The Kiwanis year ends in September, and this week Dick, the current president handed out awards to the Kiwanian of the year. He said, “I tried to narrow it down to one person, but I couldn’t. This year, the Kiwanian of the year award goes to Barbara, … and Lynn.” I was not expecting it at all. Dick made me feel valued, while I thought I was just doing what needed to be done. He rolled out the red carpet for me. 

This week, pay attention to how hospitable you are. And notice if you are giving the hospitality, or sharing it with others. Are you rolling out the red carpet and walking down it alone, or are you inviting others to join you? Would you walk down the red carpet when an “Outcast” rolls it out for you?

Please pray with me. Gracious God, you roll out the red carpet for us every day. Teach us to share it with others so they, too, will know your love and grace. Amen