Won't You Be My Neighbor? (Part 2)

How many of you saw the movie Won’t You Be My Neighbor? that came out in 2018? It was a movie/documentary about the life and work of Fred Rogers, a Presbyterian minister and TV personality. You may remember Mr. Rogers donning his cardigan sweaters and talking to the audience through the camera in every episode, welcoming children into his world of puppets, imagination, music, and conversation about being a kid and being human.

Mr. Rogers was very intentional about the themes of his show.  He wanted to help them understand a confusing, sometimes cruel world, as well as their feelings and reactions to it. Rogers believed that children should feel as though they were special just as they are, and that every child should experience a place where they felt welcome, and safe, and accepted. This posture was affectionately termed “radical” by some of the team that supported his work, and indeed it continues to be today. Mr. Rogers was no “meek and mild pushover… he was a quiet but strong American prophet who, with roots in progressive spirituality, invited us to make the world into a counter-cultural neighborhood of love,” wrote Michael Long, author of the recent book, “Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers.”

A beautiful quote from Fred Rogers is as follows:  “Love is at the root of everything, all learning, all parenting, all relationships. Love or the lack of it.”

This was the epitome of his faith and it was with this ethos in mind that he explored topics related to the Vietnam War, racism and segregation, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, and, much more recently, 9/11.  One very special moment in the film showed him taking off his socks and shoes to cool them off in a kiddy pool. One of his neighbors came by (an African American man known to the audience as the police chief), and mentioned that he was hot and the cool water looked refreshing. Immediately, Mr. Rogers invited him to take off his shoes and join in the cool water. The man who played this character in the show was interviewed later and noted that this was a radical idea for that time because blacks and whites didn’t share fountains or pools or communal … well, anything.

Mr. Rogers’ widow was interviewed by NBC after the movie premiered. Joanne Rogers was asked what her late husband would say now about how divided America has become.

Joanne Rogers’ answer? Immigrant children. One goal that he truly succeeded at was teaching young people about acceptance and kindness. He said, “we live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say ‘It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’  Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

We are continuing our sermon series on “Be The Neighbor”.

Our scripture is from the letter to the Hebrews 13:1-3. Let mutual love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 

Last week, we talked about the Greatest Commandment to love God and love our neighbors. This text echoes the same sentiments, and gets more specific about how to love our neighbors. I want to unpack what the writer of Hebrews was asking of the readers.  Remember that this is a pastor’s letter to his/her congregation in the 1st century (probably between 60-90 CE) before Christianity had a name or was a legally recognized religion.  It is difficult for us to recognize what was at stake in such a communication. This pastor was challenging, urging, exhorting, provoking his congregation to show compassion with people in their community who were imprisoned and tortured. That sounds easy, right? However, this imperative is not satisfied by a moment of silence or by prayer for the strangers and the imprisoned. This pastor actually demands them to behave as if they themselves were the ones being mistreated. He asks them to expose themselves as a fellow believer by being present with those who are excluded.

The Christians of that time were opposed by the majority of Jews and others while living in an atmosphere of suspicion and persecution. To be present to those who were strangers or imprisoned meant outing themselves as Jesus followers and suffering the punishment. It is hard to think of a modern day equivalent - this was more than letter writing to government officials – although that would have been expected as well. It was calling them to be actively involved in welcoming the stranger and submitting oneself to the same fate as the immigrant or prisoner.  So what would be today’s equivalent?

The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary says, “…to do so requires more than a sympathetic ache; it means refusing to distance oneself from those suffering out of fear and becoming the target of the same mistreatment, providing for the needs… including food, clothing, and all other needs, even though this meant exposing oneself as a fellow Christian…”

Hebrews 13:3 instructs: Remember those who are in prison (brothers and sisters in Christ who are there for persecution), as though in prison with them,

• Notice here, this is not “charity” where you give money to them, but you take their pain upon yourself like you were in prison with them. and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

• Feel the pain of those mistreated as if it were our own body!

o If your arm is on fire your brain doesn’t look at and say, “Wow… that’s too bad… I bet that hurts. Well, good luck, arm.” It says, “We’re on fire!”

• That’s how we are to feel about other suffering members of the church, especially those imprisoned for their faith.

When Eric and I were on a tour recently, I was having an awful day. I had an infection in my mouth and had to see a dentist in a foreign country. She indicated that I had an infection in and around a tooth. She prescribed 4 different medications for me! On top of that, I was upset about a family issue back in the US and I couldn’t do anything about it. And… I was having a particularly bad day in general. There is nothing you can do when you are on a group tour in a foreign country and you are in personal misery. At one point in the afternoon, I sat on our bus and I just cried.  You may not know me well enough to know – but this simply is not who I am - I do not just cry in public; especially in a group I do not know well. I was seated near the back of the group and I kept quiet, but the tears were streaming. Our guide came back and quietly asked if she could help.  I told her I was okay, just having a bad day.

Later that evening, she came around to my seat at dinner and quietly put her arms around me from the back and said, “My Robin”. And she just held me and rocked me a bit. It was such a kind way to show care and concern. That was all I needed - someone to reach out and show a bit of TLC. I will probably never see Jalena again… but I will remember her hospitality as long as I have breath.

1 Peter 4:9 “9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

These verses teach me the need to practice hospitality with both action and affection. Hospitality is the joyful reception of the stranger. In other words hospitality is about welcoming the stranger with both our hearts and our hands.

The fact that Peter commands us to show hospitality to one another tells me that we are to show hospitality to everyone we encounter on our path (familiar people and outsiders).

Theologian Karl Barth talked about understanding the cross this way:

• The vertical bar of the cross represents our relationship with God.

• The horizontal bar of the cross represents our relationships with one another.

• Our relationships with one another are balanced by, and supported by our relationship with God.  Everything in our life is rooted in and guided by that relationship with God.  Our vertical worship will have a horizontal effect in our relationships.

• Think about that in terms of hospitality. Hospitality is more than food.  Hospitality is about welcoming those outside our common circle of family and friends.  How can we show hospitality to people we do not know? Greet people (shake hands, tone of voice)

• Smiling is a form of hospitality.

• Invite someone over who’s never been to your place before for coffee/tea.

• Start with your neighbor.

• Make our building useful and welcoming/ ADA bathrooms, signs, pew width, wheelchair access

• Fellowship Time - talk to people we do not know 

• Give people more than our name; engage in conversation and show interest in them

• Offer compassion to those in need

Take time this week to “Be The Neighbor”; to show a bit of kindness.  For in doing so, you may be entertaining angels!

Resources Used:

        VanDerWerff, Todd.  “9 Times Mister Rogers said exactly the right thing.”  

www.vox.com.  Feb. 19, 2018.

        Soichet, Aude.  “Mister Rogers’ wife on how her husband would speak up against political leadership today”.  www.nbcnews.go.com.  July 7, 2018.

        Smith, Peter.  “The ‘radical’ legacy of television’s Mister Rogers”.  Pittsburgh Post- Gazette.  March 26, 2016.

“The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary”.  Volume X.  Abingdon Press. 2015.