Pure Dignity in a Garden Center

"That was God right there!"  The way she said it, the smile on her face, the excitement and aww in her voice, you would think she just met God walking down the street.  And in a way that's exactly what happened.  She was in a garden center and a woman of Mexican descent, perhaps mistaking her for an employee, walked up and began to ask her questions.  They had a nice conversation and then went their separate ways.  They ran into each other again at the check out counter and like old friends, talked some more before saying goodbye and really going their separate ways .

On the surface this sounds like it could, and should, be a typical encounter anywhere.  Under the surface though, this woman had a deep struggle with prejudice and she realized the morning after her encounter, that by welcoming the woman of Mexican descent she met in the garden center, she was in fact welcoming Jesus himself.  Consequently, by welcoming Jesus, she too experienced God's welcome in her own life, and in a profound way too.

In our current sociopolitical climate, her experience is unfortunately more the exception than the rule.  In a time where we hear stories of white people calling the police on people of color for sitting in a Starbucks or for taking part in a college tour or for simply wanting to have a bar-b-q, the thick fog of prejudice and racism in our country is all around us.  Experiences like hers should provide a ray, even if it's a pinpoint, of light.  We should be longing to hear stories like hers and yet despite even the smallest ray of light, we struggle to see or to hear through the fog.  I remember a conversation with a colleague not long after Donald Trump was elected president.  We were talking about racism and how many white people were surprised that this polarizing and charged issue was all of sudden being talked about so freely and frequently in our country.  In response my colleague, who is a wise man, made the comment and I'm paraphrasing, "White people thought racism went away because we weren't talking about it anymore, but if you're a person a color you know racism never went away.  It's always been there under the surface."  His point was that for white people racism was an "out of sight, out of mind" issue.  If the institutions of our country like the media, the government, the schools, or even the church weren't talking about racism, racism didn't exist.  However, if you are a person of color, racism has permeated your life for as long as you can remember.  Imagine the conversations around your dinner table.  You're having your favorite meal and if you're a white family, your conversation might be around family, sports, what your day was like, maybe even the weather, but race and racism is rarely something you think, never mind talk, about.  It was one of those "it causes nothing but trouble so we don't talk about it" issues.  If you're a person of color though, while you might chat about things like sports and family, race and racism are never far from your mind and are probably common theme in your conversations as a result.  When you're in the majority you are privileged not to have to worry about race and racism because your dignity, your humanity, is ensured by whatever structures or systems are in place.  If you're a person of color, ensuring your dignity and humanity is a daily fight.  Human dignity though, isn't a human construct like many systems and structures, but rather a product of being a child of God, created in the image of God.  True dignity reflects the goodness and abundant life of God's intended order.  An intended order built on wholeness, both individually and especially, collectively.  We won't know true dignity though, regardless of our race, until we're willing to welcome the 'other' as God welcomes us.

There's a story in the book of Acts about the Apostle Peter praying on the roof of Simon's house in Joppa when he gets hungry.  Apparently while food was being prepared, Peter fell into a trance and saw a large sheet being lowered down by its four corners.  Within the sheet were all sorts of animals.  A voice then speaks, commanding Peter to get up and to kill and eat the animals.  Peter, being a good Jew and therefore familiar with Jewish Law knew that to kill and eat these animals would be a violation of the Law.  Something he couldn't and wouldn't do.  So, despite being told three times that "What God has made clean, you must not call profane" (vs. 15), Peter demonstrated his signature stubbornness by refusing to "kill and eat" the animals God was providing.  He was more concerned with purity and cleanliness which pervaded the Jewish Law.  As a result the sheet and animals were suddenly taken away, up to heaven, and Peter is left struggling with what he just saw.

We find out not too long after this from Peter himself talking to Gentile converts, that the purpose of his vision was for God to show him that he shouldn't call anyone profane or unclean.  Peter is speaking to the belief many Jews held that only they were God's chosen people and therefore couldn't associate with Gentiles because they were, according to Jewish Law, profane and unclean.  Meaning in their eyes, Jews saw themselves as superior to Gentiles because they were the covenantal people who were given the Law, that if followed, would keep them clean and pure.  However, Peter learns, ironically through the Gentile converts, that he shouldn't call anyone profane or unclean.  From Peter's perspective it appears that God is changing the game and yet if Peter's vision is to be taken seriously, just the opposite is true.  That God in fact never intended for the Jews to be the only chosen people of God.  That God's abundant life realized through Christ was never intended to be just for the Jews but rather for all people.  God showing Peter that he should not call anyone unclean or profane is a profound reminder of Genesis 1 when God created humanity in His image and saw that it was "very good" (1:31).

While the story of Peter's struggle with accepting Gentiles as being clean and worthy of God's acceptance and love isn't explicitly an indictment of racism, implicitly his struggle isn't any different than the woman's struggle with prejudice earlier.  Their struggle is one of identity, belonging, and purpose.  The fear is that if we accept the 'other'...if we 'welcome' the 'other'...somehow we'll loose our sense of who we are, where we belong, and how we are to be.  I could imagine Peter having a similar struggle.  The irony however, is that by welcoming the 'other' we actually gain a fuller sense of identity, belonging, and purpose.  In a word, we gain a fuller sense of wholeness.  And that's what 'gospel hospitality' is all about:  Experiencing abundant life in God!  The invitation then, that God made to Peter to "kill and eat" is the same invitation God is making us.  As graphic and as uncomfortable as it is, seeing the 'other' as clean and sacred is essential to killing the fog of our personal prejudice and the systemic racism that is currently enveloping our country.  God's welcome means welcoming others as children of God, created in the image of God.  Hospitality is the open door to dignity and wholeness for all people.

The story I shared with you at the beginning is a true story.  The woman struggling with prejudice shared her story with me recently on a Sunday morning.  I encouraged her to share her story with the congregation that same Sunday, which she did.  The response was pure joy and thanksgiving for her and for God.  Like the Gentile converts bringing clarity to Peter's world, people of other races, cultures, and ethnicities can do the same for our worlds too.  Clarity that opens our hearts to mind to God's intended order and intended dignity for all things.  All it takes is a little hospitality in a gardening center or wherever you might be.