For the church today, we need to pay attention to the "communion" stories of Jesus where he is eating and drinking with whoever will invite him, and with whomever he will feed. Communion is about a common union with Christ shared through a meal, through hospitality. A meal is not just a meal to Jesus. For Levi it was a public show of unity with Jesus. And it sparked grumbling from the religious folks. "What's a holy man doing uniting himself to a dirty rotten scoundrel like Levi?"
A meal was an opportunity to forge unity through hospitality. Sincere and gracious hospitality made possible a lasting and rich unity. Jesus's name means "savior"; his other name at birth was Immanuel, "God with us". The incarnation implies that God has come as one of us to save us from our sins. He is willing to enter into our hearts and homes - to be the receiver of our hospitality and build unity with us. Jesus lived up to his name when he partied with Levi's friends.
But in a much more profound sense, this is Jesus' world - and he is coming to us offering his hospitality, his welcome, his gracious offer of unity with him. He is inviting us into his world, his home, his heart. He's throwing a party, are we willing to be united with him, sharing a meal with him, with the the Body of Christ? Jesus invites us to eat and drink with other Christians - will we do it? Will we let ourselves be united with other disciples, like what Jesus prayed for? Like what Jesus did? It's how Levi became a disciple. And wrote a Gospel. And united his friends to the Savior.
Why not look for ways for the Body of Christ and the community share meals together? Just as God has come to us to build unity, why doesn't the church go into the community to extend that unity? The church and the community already have meals scheduled to eat. There will be drinking. In homes? In a park. While serving in a local school? While working together?
What holds us back from building unity whereever and whenever possible? Christians who can share meals with other Christians different from them is a powerful example of unity. Jesus prayed that the church would be one, just as he and the Father are one. If hospitality and unity can break out within the church, it will fuel a rich hospitality and unity with the community.
The two ought to go together - the church united in it's hospitality to the community. There are going to be meals - why not infuse them with hospitality, wanting to build unity with people not like you - in another church or from a different "tribe"? This is communionity.
There are actions that form us to be more like Jesus. Hospitality and unity are spiritual practices that form our heart and spirit, our body and mind to love our neighbor as God loves us. The practice of hospitality and unity building, while it may start off quietly and under the radar - if it is a work of Jesus, it will be his instrument through which he shapes your heart to beat like his and by which he connects you to those in the community he has already been ministering to.
Here's some thoughts on the spiritual practices of hospitality and unity for you to consider. Which one of these practices is Jesus prompting you to try out this week?
Spiritual Formation thru Unity
* Working with believers from various traditions to achieve kingdom purposes
* Sharing worship with other Christian denominations in your community
* Finding points on which you agree, not simply points on which you disagree.
* Having fewer divisions between and more love among Christians in a community
* Growing in appreciation for the diversity of the Body of Christ
* Being part of the answer to Jesus’ prayer for unity in the church in John 17
“In essentials unity. In nonessentials liberty. In all things charity.”
What have you learned about building unity with people different then you?
What practices of unity and hospitality could you pass on to others?
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