March 29 2015 Palm Sunday and Youth Sunday - Give It UP - Guest Room

March 29 2015  Give It Up – the Guest Room” Mark 11.8-11, 14.13-16 Pastor Jacqueline Hines

The bible makes a BIG deal about hospitality. We all know how a warm welcome and tasty treats makes us feel good. Sharing pleasantries and feeling accepted for who we are is God’s way of building all of us up to be better together than we are alone. The bible makes a VERY BIG deal about hospitality. [slide # 1 umbrella]

Jesus knows well how delightful it is to be welcomed, to have others roll out the red carpet, to be received with glad smiles and open arms. Jesus knows. On Palm Sunday a crowd cheered him as he rode into the city. It was a holy parade, an awe inspiring and happy moment. It was exciting and God was pleased! [slide # 2 yellow welcome ]

Lord knows if you are going to measure up to God’s high standards for welcoming – even strangers – you need a whole lot of wisdom and discernment. This is exactly what Jesus had when he sent two of his disciples on an errand in verse 13:

13So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” 15He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ [ slide #3 verses 13-15 ]

Jesus had all the wisdom and discernment to direct God’s people on how to prepare for a gathering. He knew who to ask, what to ask, where to ask, and when to ask in order to get the preparations in order. [slide #4 key ] Like Jesus we are using that same wisdom and discernment in constantly making preparations. We too want to celebrate God’s blessings of deliverance and provision. That is why we gather together at the communion table and why we share testimonies. We too want to eat good spiritual food and prepare a feast for those who hunger for God. That is why we study, pray, and serve in missions together.

We gather, not simply as children of the most high God on an ordinary day, but we gather in a guest room because the occasion of being together is special, because we are special and our experience is special and always extraordinary. We gather so that we can nurture one another and support one another. Gathering is how we grow strong in the Lord, strong enough to stand in the day of testing, strong enough to stay so united that our enemies will find no loopholes in our covenant with one another. [ slide #5 loopholes]

It is our joy to gather. God intends that we have joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. It is also our need to gather. We need to be in the presence of God in order to grow and mature as disciples. We need the wisdom that we glean while mingling, serving, and worshipping with others who have the Holy Spirit living in them and around them. We need to be together at the same table, not only for those who already have faith, but for those who are ready to confess their faith for the first time.

Every year churches are asked to report the bottom line of their ministry. We are asked to tell how we have prepared a blessing for those who are hungry and homeless. We are asked to show how we have prepared a place in our heart for those who are new converts, people who come to the table from no religious background, a non-Christian background or no official church home.

We are asked whom we are inviting to this table. We welcome others for fellowship with us in the Holy Spirit. We welcome them for power to do good deeds in a world filled with evil.

One church with a budget of $1.6 million began to seek God for new priorities in their missions. They thought they needed God’s guidance because after an entire year, they thought they wanted to launch out into deep waters and seek God’s guidance to broaden their pool of invitations, to see who God was calling them to invite.

Youth Sunday is our reminder that it is good to prepare a special space for those who are young.  We have reserved space for them to be themselves and share what God is doing in their lives. We are blessed beyond measure to worship with so many youth. God is pleased.

May the Holy Spirit put in each of our hearts the names and faces of others who are ready for our invitation to the place that we, by the grace of God, are preparing for them, a place where they can find rest for their souls [slide #6 resting with God] and a feast for every place they hunger. [slide #7 bowls  ]  May it be so today. Amen. [slide # 8 resting in grass ]