Micah 6:6-8
Acts 6:1-15
My blog is entitled “Tripping into Grace,” only as I was trying to leave Little Rock, for my journey overseas it was more like “Stumbling into Grace.” Here is one of my stories.
When I began my journey to Scotland to go to school it started at the airport in Little Rock on a flight that was “bound” to be late. The “patient” flyers waited eagerly to get to their destinations and as we waited for a plane to arrive, passengers to deplane, the ground crew to clean up, some of us began talking about where we were going.
There were people traveling to many and varied destinations. It was interesting to listen to the people talking and sharing and getting to know one another without using their names. There was a young woman who hoped to get on the flight but was on standby; a couple of sisters traveling together; an army officer in fatigues not in any hurry so considering giving his spot up and taking another flight so someone else who needed to go could; several business folks—dressed and ready for action, with computers and phones and conversations all going at one time; some who were connecting with tour groups and many others—if you’ve been on a trip before you’ve seen a similar sight.
Well, the plane finally arrived and the passengers exited, and the ground crew cleaned and then we were allowed to board. I was in the last boarding group. And when I got on the plane I realized that my seat was at the front of the plane so that I could get off quickly to connect to my next flight, but there was no place under the seat for my backpack. So, I started to look above and move down just a bit, but the flight attendant said, “It’s full, you’ll have to check that bag.” I said, “My computer and camera are in here I’d rather not have to check the bag.” “Well,” he said, “I don’t think you will find anywhere to put it.” At which point the man in the army fatigues who was five or six rows back said, “I’ll put it under my seat, I don’t have any carry on baggage.”
My first reaction was gratitude. I said, “thank you.” And handed him my bag.
Much later I got to thinking – you handed over all your stuff to a complete stranger.
But more than that I thought about hospitality—in this case hospitality was the generosity of a stranger to the point of inconveniencing himself for another.
As I pondered the words God spoke to Micah and the people–– “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God”––and even as I thought about the lectionary reading from the other day from Acts 6:1-15 about the apostles’ concern for those who need to be served—I began to think about hospitality in different ways. Hospitality is an opportunity to demonstrate God’s grace, God’s justice, God’s love for another—whether we are at home or away; whether we are with friends or strangers; Hospitality is making known the generosity of grace. And that’s one of the ways I keep tripping and stumbling into grace: the hospitality of others, the giving of their talent and their skills, their time and their interest to those like me who have a particular need. No, it wasn’t a big deal, putting a bag under a plane seat, but it was, in a small way, indicative of what God calls us to do in a big way, day in and day out, all of our lives.
As you and I journey along the road of life, what can we do to help others stumble, not into danger or loss or pain, but into grace so that they will know God’s love and will be able to live more fully?
After the flight my bag was returned to me in good shape, nothing missing. But even as I carry my backpack every day with me I also carry with me the memory of the act itself, a person’s gesture of hospitality, and a willingness to do the same.
