Mark 6:1-13

The most famous line in Tennessee Williams’ play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” is delivered by Blanche DuBois as she’s being led away to a mental institution following a breakdown: “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” She’s always relied on others and given up some control over her life, because she’s always been out of touch with reality. Which makes relying on the kindness of strangers sound like not such a good thing, maybe even out of touch with reality. And yet in today’s passage in Mark’s gospel, Jesus tells his twelve disciples that’s exactly what they must do. He’s given them authority to heal, and they are to proclaim that all should “repent;” in other words, change the direction of their lives. He instructs them to take nothing with them so they have to rely entirely upon the hospitality and generosity of others for their meals, for a place to stay, for everything.

Being dependent on others feels vulnerable, especially to people with some privilege. We don’t like giving up control. Most church folks put a lot of effort into figuring out how to be welcoming, not just on Sunday mornings but all the time. But being the gracious host means we’re the ones in control, right? Our turf, our food, our rules, no surprises. And yet Jesus says, “Leave all that behind. Be a gracious guest.” Become the stranger who needs to be welcomed as a guest, with all the vulnerability that implies. Eat what’s put in front of you, listen to your host’s conversation and concerns, enter into your host’s reality.

And here we get to the nut of why Jesus wanted the twelve to rely on the kindness of strangers. Offering hospitality is important and always will be, but there is something about accepting hospitality that changes us profoundly, that opens us to new perspectives in a way that being a host does not. It means being open to what God is doing in someone else, on their turf. It means recognizing that everyone has something to offer, and every conversation is two-sided. As one writer quips, “We might have to reconsider some of the hymns we take along with us.” Instead of “We’ve a Story to Tell All the Nations,” “We’ve a Story to Hear from the Nations.” Or “Go, Listen on the Mountain!” or “Onward, Christian Guests!”

We celebrate Independence Day this week, and maybe that’s a good time to remember we are a nation of strangers, alternately called to receive and be received. In 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower put it this way: “We are a people born of many peoples. Our culture, our skills, our very aspirations have been shaped by immigrants – and their sons and daughters – from all the earth. Sam Gompers from England, Andrew Carnegie from Scotland, Albert Einstein from Germany – and Booker T. Washington and Al Smith – Marconi and Caruso – men of all nations and races and estates – they have made us what we are.” I suspect if he’d said this today, he’d have said, “men and women of all nations,” and he’d have added Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Tan, and Kamala Harris. I hope he’d also have noticed that the original inhabitants of this land are still here among us.

An English video that went viral a while back gives some perspective on all this.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls

We Americans are proud of claiming the term “melting pot” but the fact is each one of us, all over the globe, is a melting pot of sorts; each of us is an immigrant, an alien, a stranger. Whether it’s us or our parents or grandparents or “back and back and back” as the video puts it, our people have been strangers in strange lands. We all have needed and will continue to need to be welcomed. And we all have the opportunity to welcome. Sometimes, we will be the stranger who brings truth and peace; sometimes others will be that to us. “Go, Listen on the Mountain!”

© Joanne Whitt 2024 all rights reserved.

Resources:
Kelly Belcher, “Go,” July 3, 2016, http://nextsundayworship.com/july-3-2016/.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address in Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1956, https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/education/bsa/citizenship_merit_badge/speeches/address_convention_hall.pdf