Christian Faculty and Staff Network gathering on 1/29 - More about the Jesus paradox and radically ordinary hospitality

Come to the Christian Faculty and Staff Fellowship on Wednesday, January 29, at 11:45 AM (done by 12:45 PM). We meet at the Baptist Campus Ministries building (University Boulevard and 4th Avenue), and lunch will be served. 

More:

• It's the best meal deal in town: You can get lunch there for $1 thanks to the generosity of local churches. Don't forget to thank the church workers for what they do for the students. The first meal of the term is special, so you won't want to miss it.
• We'll read The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield. Here's the summary from Amazon:
• What did God use to draw a radical, committed unbeliever to himself? Did God take her to an evangelistic rally? Or, since she had her doctorate in literature, did he use something in print? No, God used an invitation to dinner in a modest home, from a humble couple who lived out the gospel daily, simply, and authentically.
• With this story of her conversion as a backdrop, Rosaria Butterfield invites us into her home to show us how God can use this same “radical, ordinary hospitality” to bring the gospel to our lost friends and neighbors. Such hospitality sees our homes as not our own, but as God’s tools for the furtherance of his kingdom as we welcome those who look, think, believe, and act differently from us into our everyday, sometimes messy lives—helping them see what true Christian faith really looks like.
• You're welcome to facilitate one of our meetings as well. I pass around a sign-up sheet and invite all to participate. Some things you might want to do:
• Facilitate the discussion of the current chapter of the book we're going through. That involves asking questions and inviting responses.
• Giving a discipline talk about what you're doing in your area. It's a chance to get to know you and what you're doing at UA.
• Bring in a guest speaker (we can also dial up someone on speakerphone).
• Invite your pastor or college minister to chat about college students in your church.
• Etc. That's a catch-all in case you have a great idea about something else for our lunch gathering. 

After the 1/22 gathering, several people suggested we keep working on Chapter 2, The Jesus Paradox, since it's a long chapter and has quite a few important concepts. With your indulgence, let's plan to keep at it one more Wednesday. 

A concept in Chapter 2 was the theology of adoption (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:4–8) and how it related to radically ordinary hospitality. I came across Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl. She interviewed participants in these Christian communities: l'Abri Fellowship (Massachusetts), Annunciation House (Texas), l'Arche (Washington, D.C.), The Catholic Worker (New York), Good Works, Inc. (Ohio), Jubilee Partners (Georgia), The Open Door (Georgia), and St. John's and St. Benedict's Monasteries (Minnesota). She made some statements that resonated so well with what we've been discussing.

• "While the energy for this book came out of my experience with people on the margins of society, my hope is that attention to their gifts and needs will also precipitate a deeper sensitivity to people closer to us. Family and friends, coworkers and classmates, neighbors and church members flourish in the context of hospitality."
• "Years ago, another Christian community helped to shape my early understandings of hospitality. Along with thirty other students and seekers, I lived with the families of I'Abri Fellowship in England. It was there that I first saw how much more powerfully the gospel spoke when those who were teaching opened their homes and their lives to strangers — with no pretense, no perfection, but extraordinary faithfulness and generosity. Their hospitality made the Christian life both credible and inviting to many who stayed with them."
• "A mystery of hospitality is how often one senses God's presence in the midst of very ordinary activities. Even in writing on the topic, I frequently found myself walking on holy ground. Over and over again, I've come to see that in God's remarkable economy, as we make room for hospitality, more room becomes available to us for life, hope, and grace."
• "People who are isolated or distant from family and friends need a welcoming place, the warmth of a shared meal, a family that will adopt them. International students, foreign workers, college students, and soldiers far from home can easily be drawn into a welcoming household or church." 

January 29:

• 1499. Katherine von Bora was born. She left her convent and later married Martin Luther. She manage the monastery that provided for the family, student boarders, visitors, and the sick during times of widespread illness.
• 1688. Emmanuel Swedenborg, a scientist and mystic, was born. Describing several visions, his writings led to the movement named after him.