Last Sunday, we spoke of our Congregationalist rule-breaking roots. They wanted a return to simplicity of worship, covenant living in a local community, and no hierarchy. They couldn’t get that in England, so they came to these shores.

It’s good to talk about roots, for they are what hold the tree when the storms come. Trees are rooted into the earth. Some species are deeply rooted. Others, like the towering redwoods, have shallow roots—but they are intertwined with their neighbors. They hold onto one another.

I think we are a mix. We have deep roots with our Congregational heritage. But we also have shallow roots with our UCC history, which only goes back to 1957. Though they often strike us as rigid, our Congregationalist ancestors practiced hospitality in ways that surprised their world—providing for widows, binding themselves in covenants of mutual care, opening schools so every child could read, and even keeping storehouses so no neighbor went without. Their vision of hospitality was not about lavish feasts, but about a community where no one was forgotten.

Bob Fenn told me a story. There was Rickard’s Grocery on the Square. When someone fell on hard times, the pastor here would walk them over to Rickard’s. The church would pay the grocer, but the person would then pay the church back. It was a simple, local way for the community to look after one another.

In New England towns, church and town often worked together to ensure widows were supported. For example, Plymouth Colony records (1636) required that “all the people provide for the poor,” and towns appointed Overseers of the Poor to see that widows and orphans had food, clothing, and fuel for the winter.

In Concord, Massachusetts (1644), the town covenant declared that “if any man be sick or weak amongst us, we will respect him, and not leave him to shift for himself.” That’s communal hospitality—no one left alone. There’s a balance here: respecting agency and valuing the dignity of labor. To work and find meaningful employment, and to pay someone back for the kindness they were shown.

Yet some folks can’t pay back. That’s why we have the Shepherd’s Fund. We give out Aldi cards. We are about to fire up our Blake Family Feeding program for this school year. It will start in early October. It’s our way of showing hospitality, and we do so expecting nothing in return.

Another way the Congregationalists showed hospitality was through public education. Harvard College was founded in 1636 by Puritan leaders to train ministers, but it also opened pathways for broader learning. Hospitality here took the form of making advanced learning available in the New World, not just in Old England’s universities. This value led to laws like the memorably named “Old Deluder Satan Act” in 1647. The law required every town of 50 households to hire a teacher, and every town of 100 households to establish a grammar school, so children could read Scripture. The rationale: illiteracy would let “that old deluder, Satan” keep people from God’s word.

It was religiously motivated, but the outcome was public education for all children, boys and girls. That was an act of social hospitality, breaking the monopoly of learning held by elites in Europe.

We see that legacy in our DELTS, working hard on a strategic plan and implementing it this year. They are well in line with the long history of education in this church dating back to our start. Think of the Sunday school superintendents and the care we took in building Fellowship Hall and all the classrooms now used by Hobby Horse.[1]

Here’s my confession, church: I don’t feel like I’m all that gifted in hospitality. For my D&D games, I set the table, have the time and space, maybe a few choice beverages. Then let’s play! We’re here to game! Let’s game!

Yet at other gatherings, there are folks who spend days setting up the space just so. They have crafted meaningful things for others. There are those among us who have the spiritual gift of hospitality. They make you feel warm, fuzzy, and at home. That is a gift.

But there are many ways to show hospitality. Public education is hospitality. Looking after the hungry through our Blake Families program, our support of CUPS Café, and Feeding Medina County—that is hospitality. We do these acts so that others feel at home and welcomed in our town. We do these things because some have “entertained angels unaware.” We do them not for our own benefit or self-aggrandizing, but because Jesus calls us to. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Jesus in today’s Gospel teaches his followers to be risky. Don’t seek status. Take the worst chair at the table when you gather. That way the host can move you up, thus giving you greater honor. And if you yourself are hosting, invite people who can’t repay you.

Solid advice. Hard and risky advice. It’s a risk because people can be bad guests. They can behave poorly. They can mistake your kindness for weakness. And then there are the violent folk who insist on their own way… They believe in peace so much, they become violent. They believe in life so much, they’ll kill for it. They believe in the Constitution so much, they’ll ignore it.

If we want to feel comfortable and stress-free, we should go to the beach or the spa, not the church. Walking with God is not about comfort or an easy life. Jesus did not live in the middle of the herd. He was the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his flock. He struggled and asked hard questions.

People grow the most in times of tension, adversity, and crisis. If we still have the same understanding of Jesus we had 20 years ago, we are probably not growing. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). But our understanding and discovery of God must grow and deepen. That maturity happens if we allow ourselves to remain in places of discomfort.

Hospitality can bring discomfort. We must keep ourselves humbly open to the needs of others. We focus on the youth because churches too often treat young people as a sideshow. Yet Eboo Patel notes that religious extremists do not. Osama bin Laden began his terrorist career as a teenager in a radical, fundamentalist group whose slogan was “Islam is the solution.”[2]

We see nationalists recruiting young men. Pastor Doug Wilson was recently featured saying how he doesn’t think women should have the right to vote, among other harmful things. This is counter to our Congregational way. One of his disciples is Pete Hegseth, who is now Secretary of Defense. He was recruited at a young and impressionable age, raised to seek control and domination of others.

We need to focus on our youth, for that is when the church is at it’s strongest. Those with wisdom passing it on to the youngest amongst us. If you want to live forever, mentor someone. They, in turn, will care for you. Yet the role of the servant is still calling us.

We, by contrast, seek covenant. We seek to educate one another toward understanding and loving our neighbor and ourselves. We seek freedom of conscience for every individual—young, middle, and elder. We do this not for our own ego or need for control, but for the flourishing of humanity. That flourishing comes not from seeking the best seat for ourselves, but the lowest. For from there, we do our best work.

When I was installed here, I stated the biggest issue facing the church was not atheism or worship fads or anything like that. Our biggest two issues are apathy and consumerism. Apathy can’t even, can’t even. It’s the attitude that someone else will take care of it. Consumerism is the idea that we can just buy it. That we’ll be served. It’s wanting to be fed. These stances toward the world are neither humble nor hospitable. Yet it’s the attitude of many a church member. As the Rev. Mike Piazza stated, when we join we take off our bib and put on our apron. We become the host. We start feeding others. You feed literally, and if you can teach, you feed figuratively. You create what you want to see in the world. And you can do this because there are many ways to show hospitality.

May you continue to show hospitality in your own way. May you leave folks feeling warm and welcomed. May you look after need. May you humbly and quietly address the issues most near and dear to your heart—hunger, education, and justice for all. If others take notice, may you invite them into the work. In doing so, you will entertain angels. Amen.

Works Cited

[1] https://www.uccmedina.org/history/

[2] Acts of Faith, page 127.

Bibliography
Pastor Doug Wilson Interview: https://youtu.be/qFeIO0ZjdF8?si=_b2ECLYn-qI7A_bI

About Christian Nationalism: https://www.badfaithdocumentary.com/