By Dr. Lani Wilson

 

Good morning! This heat wave in October is not to be taken lightly, is it? As we fast and pray for our little way station in the true heartland of Oakland, let’s keep in prayer those who do not have the privilege of or access to air conditioning. Even though it’s only a few days out of the year, those days feel like months in unseasonably hot weather and can be life threatening for some.

This week we are to consider the word “abide.” It’s a beautiful sounding word that always sounds biblical or archaic (Apple Dictionary), right? There are several definitions (etymonline.com, oxforddictionaries.com; merram-webster.com) that can be summarized as follows:

1. To agree to act in agreement with; conform
2. Inability to tolerate something or someone; withstand or put up with
3. To continue on without fading or being lost;
4. To live or stay somewhere.

We don’t hear the word used very often in today’s world in spoken or written form, but it is a word that Jesus used a lot. He used it in reference to “making a home” in Him.

Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
John 15:4 (TMB)

But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.
John 15:7 (TMB)

Etymologically, “The historical conjugation is abide, abode, abidden, but the modern formation is now generally weak” (Online Etymology Dictionary). But beginning around the 1570s, the word “abode” came to be used to refer to a “habitual residence:” Remaining or staying turned into a place where one resided, a place to be. Eugene H. Peterson’s Message Bible translation of Jesus’ words using “home” in talking about an intimate relationship with Him is consistent with the Latin and Old French etiology of the word “hostel.”

hostel (n.) early 13c., “inn, house of entertainment,” from Old French ostel, hostel “house, home, dwelling; inn, lodgings, shelter” (11c., Modern French hotel), from Medieval Latin hospitale “inn; large house” (see hospital). Obselete after 16c., revived 1808, along with hostelry by Sir Walter Scott. Youth hostel is recorded by 1931.
Etymonline.com

Originally, monks took in travellers and fed and offered them a place to stay as taught by The Christ.

Monasteries also were distinguished by their ready hospitality to Christians coming from distant parts [HOSPITIUM]. Palladius (Historia Lausiaca, c. 6) describes the hospital or guest-house…… which adjoined the church of Nitrian monks, in which pilgrims might stay, if they chose, two or three years; the first week a guest was not required to work; if he stayed longer, he must work in the garden, the bakehouse, or the kitchen; or if he was a person of too much consideration for menial labour, the monks would give him a book to read.
Smith, William, and Samuel Cheetham. A Dictionary of Christian Antiquities: Comprising the History, Institutions, and Antiquities of the Christian Church, from the time of the Apostles to the Age of Charlemagne Vol. 1. London: J. Murray, 1875. Print. p. 785.

A hallmark of Christianity from its earliest beginnings was to welcome other Christians and even strangers.

HOSPITIUM (also Hospitale). One of the characteristics, perhaps the most commendable, of monasticism, was its unvarying hospitality to all comers. None were to be refused admission; all were to be made welcome (Bened. Reg. c. 53); especially monks, clergy, poor, and foreigners (Reg. Pachom. c. 51; Isidor. Reg. c. 23; Mart. Ad Bened. Reg. c. 53). No questions were to be asked (Reg. Patr. c. 4) unless by the abbat’s order (Reg. Tarnat. c. 7). Even passing wayfarers were to be pressed to eat before going; if they could not wait for the usual hour, the dinner was to be served three hours sooner than usual; of if they could not stay even so long, they were to have their meal separately (Reg. Mag. c. 72).
Ibid, p. 789.

Monasteries later became dwellings where the injured and ill were cared for and thus, from the word hospitale we get hospital. And then we get this famous and frequently cited adage.

A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
(Abigal Van Buren, Dear Abby)
Pauline Phillips. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved October 15, 2015, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/paulinephi381033.html

Everyone in church nods in agreement at this quip and self-mockingly agree. But if we commit Dear Abby’s statement to its deepest meaning, we come face-to-face with a not-so-funny truth. Only the sickest patients are admitted to hospitals: The ambulatory go home to heal.

Interestingly, from the word hospital we get the word hostel.

hospital (n.) mid-13c., “shelter for the needy,” from Old French hospital, ospital “hostel, shelter, lodging” (Modern French hospital), from Late Latin hospitale “guest-house, inn,” noun use of neuter of Latin adjective hospitalis “of a guest or host” (as a noun, “a guest; the duties of hospitality”), from hospes (genitive hospitis) “guest; host;” see host (n.1.). The sense of “charitable institution to house and maintain the needy” in English is from early 15c.; meaning “institution for sick or wounded people” is first recorded 1540s. The same word, contracted, is hostel and hotel. The sense shift in Latin from duties to buildings might have been via the common term cubiculum hospitalis “guest-chamber.” The Latin adjective use continued in Old French where ospital also could mean “hospitable” and ospitalite could mean “hospital.”
Online Etymology Dictionary

Surprise. The entire hospitality industry derived from The Nazarene’s teaching His disciples that He would reside in Him, be at home in Him:

abide…abode…home…ospital…hospitalis…hospitable…hotel…hostel…hospital. Wow.

Questions for us might be:

Which one was Jesus talking about?

• If “Dear Abby” was right, then are we still ailing if we are “saved,” even though we are in Jesus’ hospital and care?
• How do we explain to new believers that Jesus “abides” with and in us? He lives in us? He puts up with us?
• And if one definition of abide is “to put up with,” Who’s putting up with whom?
• Finally, what are we to those peering into the church, curious but not committed? A hotel? A hospital? A hostel?

Hostels are inexpensive lodgings around the world, known primarily for youth. They lack the amenities that even the least expensive hotels provide because they are meant for young people on a serious budget. In 1975 the “Elderhostel” movement (now called “Road Scholar”) was created so that senior travellers can now experience the world inexpensively if they are willing to forego pampering.

Road Scholar is the name for the programs of Elderhostel, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1975 to provide lifelong learning opportunities at a remarkable value for adults. Elderhostel was founded by two unlikely collaborators - Marty Knowlton, a world-traveling, free-spirited social activist and former educator, and David Bianco, a highly organized university administrator. Knowlton had recently returned from a four-year walking tour of Europe, carrying only a backpack of bare essentials and staying in youth hostels. He was impressed by the youth hostel concept, with its safe, inexpensive lodgings and opportunities to meet fellow travelers. Knowlton was also taken with institutions in Scandinavia, called folk schools. There, he saw older adults handing down age-old traditions - folk art, music, lore and dance - to younger generations. Seeing Europeans in their 60s, 70s and 80s playing an active and positive role in their communities made Knowlton wonder why their American counterparts didn’t have a similar opportunity to remain active after retirement. And, why not give them continued opportunities to learn as well?
The History of Elderhostel and Road Scholar www.roadscholar.org

Is the hostel for everyone? No. But it is an attractive concept for many people, young and old: Bargain travel, education, and adventure all rolled into one. Some of our young people are doing these kinds of things that we could not have imagined as first-generation college graduates. But most of our young are working and trying to make their way through a trepidatious economy and deeply polarized American culture. Those with at least minimally stable support communities like family, tend to weather 21st Century America, sometimes battered and bruised, but in one piece. The issue is what percentage of them actually have this kind of support from family?

The many economic decisions an individual makes early in his or her working life--their first job, how much and what kind of an educational investment to make, how to finance that investment, whether to strike out on their own, and whether to rent or buy a home--can have a lasting effect on their subsequent financial security and the economic foundation they provide for their children. There are times, however, when larger forces materially interrupt or impede the individual efforts of young people to build a better economic life. The Great Depression left an indelible imprint on the generation that came of age in that era, influencing their subsequent job trajectories and attitudes toward risk and investment. The question we face today is whether the Great Recession may similarly leave a lasting mark on the many Americans who came of age in its shadow.
April 2, 2015 Coming of Age in the Great Recession Remarks by Lael Brainard Member Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System at “Economic Mobility: Research and Ideas on Strengthening Families, Communities, and the Economy” Ninth Biennial Federal Reserve System Community Development Research Conference Washington, D.C.

The numbers of African-American college students increased from 2000 to 2013, but there is disparaging news.

Increasing numbers and percentages of Black and Hispanic students are attending college. Between 2000 and 2013, the percentage of college students who were Black rose from 11.7 to 14.7 percent, and the percentage of students who were Hispanic rose from 9.9 to 15.8 percent (source). Also, the percentage of Hispanic 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college increased from 21.7 percent in 2000 to 33.8 percent in 2013; the percentage of Black 18-to 24-year-olds enrolled did not change measurably during this period (source).
Fast Facts: Back to School Statistics (2015) U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics

This means that from 2000 to 2013 the number of young Black adults (18 to 24 years old) enrolled in college did not change. We know that a bachelor’s degree improves the economic outlook over a lifetime for Americans.

In other words, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned more than twice as much as those without a high school diploma or its equivalent (103 percent more) and 62 percent more than young adult high school completers.
Ibid.

From history and experience we know that these numbers are less optimistic for African-American college graduates. We also know that the outlook for this same generation is bleaker over their wage-earning lifetime because of The Great Recession. So the question is what can the church offer them to keep them going? A hotel? A home? Or a hostel? And more importantly, do WE in the Body of Christ know the difference? Do we feel like we have something to offer at all?

Truth be told, we can’t offer them anything if what they really need isn’t in us to begin with.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you and he will be in you.
John 14:16-17 (TMB)

Listen to The Message Bible:

I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

We can have 1000 programs that address the needs of the poor, the unemployed, the underemployed, the ailing, the old, the uneducated, the wounded. But what differentiates us from other social-educational agencies? Why should these young adults see us as different from the other groups? Just what do they see?

It is believed that glass mirrors were invented at Sidon in the first century AD. After the discovery of glass making, the Romans produced glass mirrors by finishing them with a metal layer. Pieces of glass covered with lead were also found in Roman graves dating from the second and third century. Glass mirrors were quite common in Egypt, Gaul, Germany and Asia. The earliest glass made mirrors were only about three inches in diameter and mirror manufactured from metal was still preferable by many people due to the fact that glass mirrors still did not have a very good reflection.
www.mirrorhistory.com

Apparently, the glass mirror was invented during the time of Christ. Prior to the First Century, mirrors were polished stone or metal. What makes a mirror? The thin layer of metal that coats a sheet of glass: That’s the only difference between seeing oneself on a sheet of glass and seeing through a sheet of glass.

If The Christ abides in us…has a home in us…God is made hospitable in us, then we must be glass windows, not mirrors. It may not be coincidental that the glass mirror was invented around the time of God-in-the-Flesh appearing. His life presents us with a choice, if we are at home in Him and He is at home in us. We can reflect ourselves, our egos, our accomplishments, our titles, our positions back to those young adults trying to figure out if we are offering them a spiritual home or a sociable hostel. Or we can be see-through and if The Christ is at home they will see Him. And they will find the hope that the world doesn’t offer. There is also the danger of being see-through and if The Christ does not abide there, they will see nothing. Isn’t that the abyss? Isn’t that the emptiness of the material world? Isn’t that a world with no hope? Isn’t that a vision with no horizon? Isn’t that a trap? Isn’t that the deepest definition of homelessness?

When you face two mirrors toward each other, you get a seeming endless view of the same image, right? There is no room for any other image. But when you face two pieces of clear glass toward each other, you can see through them but what you see is a function of whether there is a light source - anywhere.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/Mirror-mirror.jpg

Energy can never disappear: If you're a fan of recycling, you'll love one of the most fundamental scientific laws in the universe called the conservation of energy. The basic idea is really simple: you can't make energy out of thin air or throw it away. It doesn't matter what you do or how hard you try, you can never create energy or destroy it: the best you can do is to convert it into a different form—recycle it, if you prefer.

Woodford, Chris. (2008) Mirrors. Retrieved from http://www.explainthatstuff.com/howmirrorswork.html. [Accessed 10.15.15]

Energy (light is energy) can never be destroyed. Thus, what others will see through us depends on what we are reflecting, what resides in us…what abides in us…what is at home in us…what our Source of Light is:

For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.
John 9:5 (TMB)

I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.
John 12:46 (TMB)

Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.”
John 8:12 (TMB)

"Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.
Mathew 5:14 (TMB)

 

1. Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
    the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
    When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
    Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2. Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
    earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
    Change and decay in all around I see.
    O Lord who changes not, abide with me.

5. Hold now your Word before my closing eyes.
    Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
    Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
    In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
    Henry Francis Lyte, 1793-1847
    William Henry Monk, 1823-1889
    Arr. Greg Jasperse
    Augsberg Fortress 2001

O LORD, who faints not and dims not. O LORD, whose Light reflects throughout the whole earth, within and without. O LORD, who sees through and sees all. O LORD, who stands waiting and hugging. O LORD, who resides and lives and abides in us. Make us clear through and through. O LORD, shine.

Shine.
Shine.
Shine.

Abide with me.
Abide.

Amen.