Proper 11C – July 20th, 2025
Hasten and make ready
run and welcome
and then
sit and listen
and choose that which will not be taken away
Amen.
One of our favorite house gifts is a book entitled, The Inevitable Guest: A Survival Guide to Being Company and Having Company on Cape Cod.[1] Published in 2000, the author Monica Monbleau begins:
“Native residents of Cape Cod have had company all their lives, as have summer residents who are natives. These hosts are fairly casual about guests, seeing them as a natural and inevitable part of any year — like ticks.”
Monbleau, a resident of Harwich Port, offers wisdom on a wide range of houseguest subject matters. In the first chapter entitled “Stopping By,” she debunks that myth by pointing out that the Cape is not on the way to or from anywhere so nobody just stops by. In a chapter entitled “What to Wear,” she advises visitors not bring anything that says “dry clean only” or “wash separately in cold water;” rather, “the label should read, ‘Whatever.’” She writes that, “if more than two days of rain are expected during the week, a Cape Cod host should urge guests to leave their children at home.” She also says that, “travelers wishing to have matching queen-size beds, private bath and tv with remote are urged to stop at a nice hotel.”
She continues, “the invitation to ‘make yourself at home’ has certain limitations,” like keeping your belongings within “a three-foot radius of your bed.” To the familiar Cape Cod guest question, “What’s that smell,” she answers: it depends on the wind and the tide, how damp it’s been, and how well the septic system is working.
Monbleau makes wise cracks about guests expecting air conditioning and reluctant to use outdoor showers. It’s where Emily and I got the idea to sometimes tell a guest that the indoor shower doesn’t work. It’s a fun book full of advice and sometimes snarky but well-meaning humor.
If you own a home on the Cape, you should put a copy of it in your guestroom. If you’re visiting someone with a home on Cape (or any other vacation community), you should read this book before you leave home and consider taking it as a house gift.
How many of you get tired from the hospitality you offer out here on the Cape – even to your nearest and dearest? I think houseguests are sort of like sailboats – the best day is the first day they arrive, and the other best day is the day they leave.
Hasten and make ready
run and welcome
and then
sit and listen
and choose that which will not be taken away
Many of us get so caught up in the haste and make ready, or the run and welcome elements of hospitality that we forget or neglect to stop and listen so that we might really appreciate the presence of our guests, see and hear what our guests have to do and say, and then choose to hold onto that which will not be taken away. I was reminded of this when a recent dinner guest remarked that we were fortunate to have such a large house with our bedroom and bath on the first floor and guest rooms on the second floor. I responded a bit defensively, “You know, we have to host guest preachers.” He replied, “You get to host these visitors.” Point well-taken. Or as the Book of Common Prayer exhorts: “read, marked and inwardly digested.”
I’ve met so many interesting people and learned so much from my summer house guests over the years. It really is a privilege and a gift (albeit sometimes frustrating and exhausting) to be a host on Cape Cod.
Two weeks ago, we heard Jesus teach his disciples how to be good house guests. This morning’s readings invite us to consider the other side, the more familiar side of hospitality – how to be a good host. In the Bible’s guide to entertaining, the authors suggest that we are to hasten and make ready, run and welcome, and then sit and listen.
The scene by the Oaks of Mamre in the Book of Genesis reminds me of some dinner parties Emily and I have hosted over the years. Trying to cram too many activities into one day, we began our preparations an hour before the guests were scheduled to arrive. So we ran around, cooking the meal, setting the table, preparing the drinks and appetizers, cutting and arranging flowers, and picking up the house – like two mad women hastening to make ready and welcome our guests.
Unlike Abraham and Sarah, we usually sit down and enjoy the meal with our guests. However, there have been times when we’ve thrown a big party, and at the end, after the guests have left, one of us says, “I’m hungry.” The other agrees, and we go into the kitchen and make plates of leftovers. Reviewing the evening at the kitchen table, we realize that we never stopped long enough to really enjoy our guests. We never sat and listened to what they had to say. We were too busy being good hostesses. The truth is that on those occasions, we actually did miss the mark.
In both the Hebrew Scripture and Gospel readings appointed for this morning, the guests delivered important messages. The strangers by the Oaks of Mamre, being angels of God, told Abraham that Sarah would have a son. Busy cooking and washing dishes in the tent, and not welcome at the table, the soon-to-be expectant mother chuckled at this absurdity. But sure enough, God did for Sarah as was promised, and she had a son, and Abraham named their son Isaac, meaning “the one who laughs.”
Jesus, relaxing the home of Mary and Martha, had many important things to share with his good friends. But Martha “was distracted by her many tasks,” so instead of listening, she complained that her sister Mary wasn’t doing enough. And Jesus, with what I expect was a loving smile and gentle tone, reminded Martha of what she was missing because of her task-oriented focus and worry.
In his book The Active Life, Parker Palmer recounts the parable of a wood carver who was reminded to pray and focus before carving the king’s gift. In the parable, the wood carver learned that action without contemplation is a form of frenzy and busyness – not necessarily productiveness.
Martha couldn’t slow down and hear what Jesus had to say. When I hear Jesus’ gentle but firm scolding, I am reminded that good things come to those who can stop and listen. For as Jesus often told his followers, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God…” (Luke 11:28) Good stories come to those who take the time to hear them. Good wisdom comes to those who slow down enough to receive it. Good news comes to those who have the patience to wait for it.
Do you recall the film Chocolat? Set in the 1950’s, it’s about an outsider, a single woman with a young child, who opens a bakery in a small French village that threatens local church leaders by being open on Sundays, by selling chocolate during Lent, and by welcoming into her shop and befriending unwanted strangers – Roma, otherwise known as Gypsies. This scandalous shopkeeper does not just offer the hospitality of baked goods, candy and hot cocoa; she also takes the time to sit and listen to her customers.
Having the owner or chef of a restaurant sit down for some conversation at your table can be one of the memorable treats of going out to eat. That’s what makes the 246 Kitchen – one of the Chapel’s outreach partners – so wonderful. At this Wellfleet winter tradition, everybody’s welcome and eats together – whether or not they are food insecure.
And here’s the real kicker. It’s all a part of the blessing. Our Jewish friends talk about doing mitzvahs, good deeds for someone else that becomes a blessing for the doer. The ministry of hospitality is a mitzvah in that it embraces the unexpected and sees God in one another and in the world around us.
The author of the epistle Hebrews writes: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels unaware.” (Heb 13:2) When we offer genuine hospitality to others — family, friends, and strangers — hospitality that not only includes food, drink and a place to sit; but also time to listen — we are blessed in the doing as we see God and receive the Good News that God speaks to and through our broken and blessed humanity.
By the Oaks of Mamre, Abraham and Sarah received the blessing that they had hoped for over so many years – the promise of a child. In the house of a certain village, Mary also received a blessing – the blessing of affirmation and equality. In those days, most women were not educated and could not be students of Torah. By sitting at the feet of a rabbi and listening to what he had to say, Mary claimed for herself a role generally reserved for male disciples. And by telling Martha that Mary had “chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her,” Jesus affirmed this woman’s rightful place – a seat at the table of God – an equal inheritor of the faith of Father Abraham and Mother Sarah.
A few weeks ago we explored the notion of Christian minimalism – clearing the clutter from our lives to make room for God. Today we’re being told by Jesus to stop the busyness, listen carefully, discern what’s really important, and then wholeheartedly embrace it.
This morning’s lectionary teaches us three important lessons. Hospitality – gracious (that is, grace-filled) hospitality is not just about putting the food on the table. It’s also about giving ourselves to one another as guests and hosts. Balance – action and contemplation are like exercise and sleep. You need both to live a healthy life. And if you don’t slow down, stop and listen, you’ll likely miss what’s really important. Affirmation – God’s wisdom and teaching is there for all of us, and so is a place at the table – regardless of gender, age, or station in life.
So friends, the next time you offer hospitality:
Hasten and make ready
run and welcome
but don’t forget
to sit and listen
and choose that which will not be taken away
Amen!
Dedicated to Judge Lesley Brooks Wells – one of the wisest women I know who taught me in word and example the gift of hospitality and the wisdom of attentiveness.
[1] I have taken the liberty in this sermon to borrow – quote or paraphrase – from this wonderful book. The Inevitable Guest: A Survival Guide to Being Company and Having Company on Cape Cod, Marcia J. Monbleau, 2000.
The Very Rev. Tracey Lind
Chapel of St. James the Fisherman
Genesis 18:1-10a • Luke 10:38-42