God as host, humanity as host

Since my blogging time has been taken up by writing a systematic theology essay, I figured that it is only fair to share this essay with you. This is an academic paper, and although it is rather lengthy, I think it is something upon which I can build in the future. I am interested to hear what you have to think about it. You can even call me a heretic if you like (just be ready to defend your postion)

God as host, humanity as host:

The construction of a systematic theology is no simple task and should not be entered into lightly. There are, however, certain tools which will be useful to us along this journey. Systematic theology’s primary task is to overcome the Shareability gap. For the sake of this paper, the piece of the Shareability gap that I wish to consider is the gap that exists between Christians and Muslims.

Drawing on Macquarrie’s six sources of theology, we will need to establish a framework with which we can construct this theology. Macquarrie lists experience, revelation, scripture, tradition, reason and culture as the formative factors of theology. Within this paper these factors will be treated in order of importance.

Revelation takes the highest place among Macquarrie’s formative factors. Revelation includes not only the places in which God reveals God’s self in a powerful way. It also includes God’s revelation in the Word. Humanity’s encounter with the Word has transformed the way in which it encounters all of the rest of the formative factors. Revelation takes the highest place because it is the pure in-breaking of the divine into the life of the world.

The next formative factor is Scripture. Scripture is important for a number of reasons. First, it helps us to understand and interpret revelation. It is often through Scripture that we encounter the previously mentioned revelations. It is also important because it is the source of much of the language and symbols which are critical in any discussion of theology. Scripture has a third critical importance in that it can express a meaning deeper and more powerful than mere words. We also allow Scripture to interpret Scripture.

We must also pay attention to the influences of tradition within the life and history of the Church. Peters identifies two “overlapping uses of the term tradition . . . vital growth [and] dogmatic authority.”[1] Tradition is the source of some of the great pillars upon which the faith is constructed. The creeds, the doctrine of the Trinity, and our understanding of the nature of the humanity and divinity of Jesus all come from tradition. Tradition also informs the ways in which we read Scripture, and Scripture informs the way in which we view tradition. Peters referred to this as, “a reciprocity between scripture and ecclesial tradition that prevents any simple identification of scripture as norm independent of tradition.”[2]

Culture is of lesser, yet still significant importance in this discussion. In light of the influences of postmodern thinking, in any attempt to bridge the Shareability gap, it is important to realize the impact and influence of culture upon the discussion. Culture is the lens through which the world is viewed. It simultaneously creates areas of sensitivity and blind spots. In this specific attempt to bridge the Shareability gap, culture, and an understanding thereof, will be of great importance. Much of the conflict that exists between Christianity and Islam can be traced back to differences in culture and the conflictual understandings and sensitivities that these differences create.

In a similar way, we need also pay attention to the influences of experience. Regardless of how we attempt to bridge the Shareability gap, our efforts will be in vain if they do not resonate with the experiences of those impacted by our work. If our work has no basis in reality and in the lives of those whom we seek to address, then it is of little if any use.

Finally, we must also be certain that we respect the boundaries and parameters of reason in our attempt to bridge the Shareability gap. In light of the influences of postmodernism it would be easy to reject any meaningful importance to reason. However, even if we cannot view reason in the same way that our Enlightenment predecessors did, reason still has an important place in our work. Any attempt at a systematic theology that does not meet with sound reason will ultimately ring hollow.

In an attempt to bridge the Shareability gap that exists in the dialogue between Christians and Muslims, I will be considering the overarching principle of “God as host, humanity as host.”[3] I have chosen this principle after reading through Cross and Crescent by Collin Chapman. In this book, Chapman highlights the importance of hospitality in Muslim culture, “Hospitality is an almost sacred obligation. It is so important that one should never, under normal circumstances, turn a visitor away.”[4] It is my hope that by helping Christians to find a connection with the act of hosting, that groundwork will be established for dialogue between the faiths.

For the sake of this discussion, we will consider the acts of making the appropriate preparations for the guest, seeing to the health, comfort and safety of the guest, and providing unique and meaningful opportunities which would otherwise be unavailable to the guest, to be acts of hosting.

The Bible is full of places in which God acts as a host to humanity, or where the actions of a proper host are affirmed. A logical beginning point is with God as host to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God formed creation out of nothing and used it to host humanity. God formed creation in such a way that humanity had everything that it needed. The Garden was a source of life, health, and comfort to humanity. God also empowered humanity to be host to the rest of creation,

Gen 1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." ²⁹ And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.

God empowered humanity to become the caretakers, or hosts, of the newly formed creation. They were even given a chance to form creation by naming the animals in creation. In effect, they were “making themselves at home.” By giving humanity dominion over creation, God makes humanity responsible for seeing to the care for and growth of creation. In that regard, humanity has been invited to become a part of God’s hosting of the rest of creation.

Genesis provides another accounting of hosting; this time humanity is given an opportunity to host the divine. In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah are privileged to host what many scholars consider to be the Trinity,

Gen 18:2 [Abraham] lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, ³ and said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, ⁵ while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on--since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."

Abraham and Sarah display an appropriate amount of graciousness. They were blessed to host the Trinity. While they were acting as gracious hosts, God announced that God had chosen to bless them with a child. Beyond that, through their actions Abraham and Sarah, “shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him.”[5] By being gracious hosts Abraham and Sarah became the first in an unending line of humanity to bless one another through hosting and welcoming the stranger.

Welcoming the guest continues to be an important theme in the New Testament. In what seems to be a reference to Genesis 18, the author of Hebrews writes, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”[6] This instruction comes as a part of a larger program of appropriate Christian action, but it does recognize the importance of the act of hosting.

The account of Ananias’ hosting of the blinded Saul in Acts 9 reveals quite a bit with regards to how we are to welcome the visitor. Hosting Saul was not something Ananias was keen to do. Ananias even protests to God saying, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name."[7] It is not exactly a radical notion to ask people to be welcoming to those who are no threat to them. However, the Saul that Ananias knew was a very real threat. Ananias’ example has much to teach us today, as in our world, conflict is a very present reality.

Returning to the idea of God as host, we also see God as a host through the parables of Jesus. In Luke 14, Jesus speaks about how the kingdom of heaven is like a man who has prepared a marriage feast for his son. Through this parable we can see the determination of God to act as host, for when the initial guests rejected the invitation, the man (God) sent for more people to enjoy his hospitality,

Luke 14:21 . . .'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' ²² And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' ²³ And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

In this same passage we also hear from Jesus regarding why humanity should host, and who it is that we are to be hosting,

Luke 14:12 [Jesus said] “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

This leads us to a rather clear conception of the mission to which we are all called. Viewing God as host reframes the task of the Great Commission. At his ascension, Jesus said, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”[8] In this way, we see God as standing at the fullness of time, drawing us into that which has been prepared.

In light of this, we are much like the servant in Luke 14, sent out into the community to invite our neighbors into that which has been prepared.

We also encounter God as host through Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper. Jesus hosted the disciples for one final meal before his arrest and crucifixion. Even though Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, Judas was welcome at the Lord’s Table. Though the simple action of blessing bread and wine, Jesus established a sacrament which makes him host at the ongoing Eucharistic feast. Jesus calls all of humanity to, “do this in remembrance of me.”[9] This position as eternal host is solidified by Jesus’ encounter with the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Through the Eucharist, Jesus invites the believers to encounter him in a new and meaningful way.

The question yet remains, “How then do we understand the resurrection in relation to hosting?” Through Jesus’ death and resurrection God opens the door to new life, extending the invitation to us to become a new creation. Without the resurrection this invitation would be impossible. This new creation, prepared by God, stands at the heart of the Gospel message. God, our host, has opened the door to our new selves.

This understanding of “God as host, humanity as host” will be useful in Muslim-Christian dialogue since it provides a connecting place. Being a gracious host and welcoming the visitor are important concepts in Muslim culture. Contrary to a “western” understanding, you actually honor people more by visiting them in their homes (allowing them to be the host to you) than you do by inviting them to visit you in yours (making yourself the host.)[10] It may be useful to consider how Abraham and Sarah were blessed by the visitation of the Trinity. This concept requires some intellectual reframing on the part of westerners. However, if we are able to view being welcomed into someone’s home as a way of being blessed by that person, we open a great number of opportunities.

By understanding “God as host, humanity as host,” we should be able to find some common ground with our Muslim neighbors. When we understand how God has acted as a host, and how humanity is called to bless one another by being a host and by being hosted, we tap into a practice that lies close to the heart of Islam.

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[1] Peters .57

[2] Ibid p58

[3] Unfortunately, English does not have a gender neutral term for the act of hosting. For the sake of readability I will continue to use the term host to refer to this action. However, I am making no attempt to differentiate between hosts and hostesses, or to ascribe only masculine characteristics to God.

[4] Chapman p34

[5] Genesis 18:18

[6] Hebrews 13:2

[7] Acts 9:13,14

[8] John 14:2,3

[9] Luke 22:19

[10] Chapman p24