Thinking Anew – An invitation from the top

“Pray that none will be offended if I seek to make the Christian religion an inn where all are received joyously rather than a cottage where some few friends of the family are to be received.” The words of Richard Hooker, the 16th-century priest and theologian who had an important role helping the Church of England find a forward path as it struggled with the aftermath of the split with Rome on the one hand and the demands of the Reformers on the other. It is reassuring to be reminded that at a time of such bitter division and, at times, violent dissent there were at least some within the church, closer to “the mind of Christ” who thought that the church universal should be “an inn where all are received joyously.”

That is a vision churches find difficult to embrace not only between denominations but within. This summer, for example, at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops held at Canterbury there were strong disagreements over whether to reaffirm a 1998 resolution “rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture”. For some there can be no room in any inn for the LGBTQ community. The same issue featured in a report published in August by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland urging that church to be more welcoming to LGBTQ people, divorced and remarried people, single parents and other marginalised groups. The proposals were based on reports prepared by all 26 Catholic dioceses in Ireland in preparation for a Synod of Bishops called by Pope Francis for October 2023.

Hooker’s vision of the universal church “as an inn where all are received joyously” is challenging but John Stroyan, Bishop of Warwick, argues that it is consistent with God’s will. In his book Turned by Divine Love he points to the indiscriminate love of a God “who makes the sun shine on the evil, and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. This welcome – God’s welcome, and all our welcomes of others in his name – is a welcome to all. There is no one outside or beyond its reach. God’s love is indiscriminate . . . God’s love is radically and shockingly inclusive. It does not favour the religious. As the apostle Peter painfully discovered God has no favourites. God is no respecter of persons, religious or otherwise.”

This is demonstrated in the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus which we read about in tomorrow’s gospel. We can think of Zacchaeus as the equivalent of a senior tax inspector in today’s world. He had heard about Jesus and was curious to see him but could not because he was small, and a large crowd was blocking his way. So he put his great status to one side and climbed a tree to get a better view. Jesus saw him and, much to the dismay of the crowd, asked for an invitation to his home. It is an unconditional request. Zacchaeus is not required to make a declaration of faith, nor is he told how awful he is – Jesus the perfect one is at ease with the imperfect, an approach seen again and again in the gospels – good news for all of us struggling human beings. But such tolerance was not on the agenda of the crowd as they watched Jesus and Zacchaeus walk off together. We are told that they began to mutter: “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Such feelings remain a temptation in church life to this day among those who feel that they have a special insight into the mind of God when it comes to deciding who should belong and who shouldn’t.

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Richard Hooker’s inspiring vision of “the Christian religion (as) an inn where all are received joyously” echoes the words of Jesus: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” – an invitation from the top that is conditional in only one respect: our need for comfort and help.