Wedding feast at Asbury Church
The fires in Los Angeles, California, are a blunt reminder of the damage we’ve done to our planet over the past century. Our planet recorded the warmest year in history in 2024, and Southern California’s drought that began several months ago continued into the rainy season, setting them up for disaster.
According to a recent New York Times article, climate scientists warn that “the world has entered a dangerous new era of chaotic floods, storms, and fires made worse by human-caused climate change.” And the wildfires in California are one example. As were the cyclones in Appalachia, where Hurricanes Helene and Milton tore through mountain communities this past October.
Scripture reminds us that God put us in charge of caring for creation from the very beginning. But we’re doing a miserable job of it. Most of us realize there is a problem, but we’re not in a hurry to do something about it. Unfortunately, a few of us continue to deny that we’re the ones God expects to stop the harm.
There is more than enough denial around to make progress painfully slow. But the ramifications are becoming increasingly more deadly.
Alex’s hope to connect with the spirit of his dead father suddenly takes a weird turn he couldn’t have imagined in our companion book chapters for this week. He is transported into another world where his daily work consists of moving rocks from one place to another. Only to start over again the next day. The work seemed meaningless to Alex.
The author’s use of imagery and metaphors to capture the lives of so many of us is brilliant, but it has an in-your-face impact that’s almost too much to handle.
When one of the community leaders, Greg, asks Alex if he is happy in his new life, Alex shares that he is. Alex notices that he has become kinder, calmer, and more appreciative of his time. Nevertheless, Alex longed for the life he had before.
This puzzled his new friend. “Were you happy there?” Greg asked. “To be honest,” Alex replied, “No. I was stressed all the time, But Alex just couldn’t get used to the idea that tomorrow might be the last day of his life.
The mirror that changed everything when Alex stared into it may be the most subtle yet powerful metaphor of all. Don’t most of us deal with this fact of our existence simply by denying the truth? The truth is that we simply don’t know how much time we have left, so we should live as though we may not have a tomorrow.
In his new life, Alex had everything he needed. When he decided to start writing again, he was given everything he needed. Alex had always wanted to get back to writing but never took the time. In many ways, Alex had been transported to a place of abundant hospitality, although it didn’t feel that way. Alex simply couldn’t find contentment.
For most people, the world is not a place of abundance. When a preacher like me says that God wants us to have abundance, we say with substantial doubt, “Bring it on!” Honestly, though, the abundance sought b y most of us is more excess than necessity. For those of us who live in privilege, there is never enough.
When I think of abundance, I wonder what it means to be a good host. Let me explain.
We’re all visitors here on earth. We arrive as a guest of its Creator. And God knows how to be a good host. So I googled “What does it mean to be a good host?” in search of ideas we can all identify with that aren’t clothed in symbolism.
I found an article by Martha Beck in Oprah Magazine that illustrated her experience visiting a friend. She was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable her host made her feel. It was clear that her friend knew what it meant to be a good host. Essentially, a good host focuses on the needs of their guests rather than their own need for approval.
For this week’s theme scripture, we turn to John for a story that illustrates abundance and being a good host. According to John, the story takes place in the village of Cana. Jesus, along with His family and friends, attended a wedding there. Jewish weddings usually lasted a week, and there wasn’t enough wine for the number of guests.
Since wine is mostly water, it was common to increase the amount of wine by adding water. Unfortunately, by the end of the celebrations, the quality of the wine reached its lowest point. Perhaps there wasn’t even enough diluted wine to satisfy all of the guests, or perhaps this story illustrates radical hospitality.
Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot, he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now!
John 2:1-11
Mary, the mother of Jesus, recognizes an inhospitable situation brewing and asks her Son to help save the party and the reputation of the groom and his family. Jesus instructs the servers to fill the large water jugs, which He then turns into fine, undiluted wine. More than enough to satisfy all the guests.
Divine intervention enabled the guests to enjoy radical hospitality. God knows what it means to be a good host.
While we’re all visitors here, we’re made in the image of our home’s Creator. We’re more than guests, however. We’re family, and we’re asked to be His hosts.
Good hosts set boundaries for their hospitality. As hosts, we’re expected to take care of ourselves even as we take care of our planet. We’re expected to find a balance. But we’re still obligated to take care of all the guests.
Those who can afford to be the best hosts aren’t sharing their wealth. A 2023 report published by Oxfam, an international non-governmental organization focused on climate change, claims that “The richest 1% of the world’s population are responsible for as much carbon pollution as the people who make up the poorest two-thirds of humanity. Oxfam is challenging the inequality that comes with climate change.
Oxfam’s report reminds us that the richest people and countries have enough wealth, power, and influence to protect themselves. But with that power comes a huge responsibility to be better hosts for all of creation. And some of the properties lost in the LA fires belong to wealthy people.
Perhaps we’re not really able to hide behind wealth or denial.
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This is a reminder that we publish this newsletter called the Circuit Rider each week. You can request this publication by email. Send a request to FlintAsburyUMC@gmail.com or let us know when you send a message through our website. We post an archive of past editions on our website under the tab Connect – choose Newsletters.
Pastor Tommy
Parts of our series are inspired by Dr. Leonid Alt. The Price of a Second.© Leonid Alt, 2021.
David Gelles and Austyn Gaffney. “We’re in a New Era’: How Climate Change Is Supercharging Disasters.” © New York Times, Jan. 15, 2025. Retrieved from: link
Martha Beck. “How to Make Your Guests Feel at Home.” © The Oprah Magazine, 2007. Retrieved from: Link.
Emily Ghosh, Anisha Nazareth, Eric Kemp-Benedict, and Sivan Kartha. “Climate Equality: A planet for the 99%.” © Oxfam, November 20, 2023. Retrieved from: link