Category: Hospitality

Posted on

The Heaven of Hospitality: Final Post

In this final post on hospitality, I wish to offer some practical wisdom–the kind of wisdom that hopefully gets planted as a mustard seed and grows into a beautiful tree. It is no small task to host other humans. In most cases, everything goes as planned, but in a few cases, things fall apart.

I remember distinctly having a group of about 20 guests coming to my home after Lord’s Day worship. I had all the meat in the grill seasoned and slowly reaching perfection. I decided to take a quick break (no longer than two minutes), and when I came back, my grill looked like a scene from the great fire of London in 1666. I hurried my way to rescue the once innocent meat, but alas, the entire endeavor went to hell in an unkept grill.

We quickly adjusted and cooked other meat in the oven. Yes, we waited an additional hour, but had I not told the story to my guests, they would not have known since the conversation, and the drinks flowed beautifully during that entire hour of waiting. If we did not have additional meat, we would have ordered pizza. The moral of the story is that “every situation can be redeemed.”

I have a dear brother in Louisiana whose wife makes delicious gumbo. She makes enough to feed around 30; she sets the table and her assortment of hot sauces, and whoever is invited feeds on the southern delicacy. I know another sweet family of modest income who dedicates 10% of their budget to hospitality. In fact, the first two items on their budget are: “Tithing: 10%”; “Hospitality: 10%.” Not everyone will embrace that same vision, but everyone who walked through the doors of the home of this family walked out satisfied and refreshed by their hospitality.

I wish to conclude this delicious banquet with 15 practical theses on hospitality:

1. The husband is the head of the home. If he invites and imposes all the hospitality duties on his wife, he’s an idiot. Hospitality is a family affair which means husbands are to be involved and children are to be trained to participate in the preparation. If they begin young, they will master it when older.

2. Make hospitality a priority and budget for such. When people say they cannot host because it is expensive, I often ask if they eat out much. In most cases, they do. A family of 5 will pay between $40-60 at a restaurant. That same amount could easily feed about 15 people on a Sunday afternoon. Hospitality is about priorities.

3. Every wife (or husband, if he fancies the chef) should learn 3-5 meals that feed larger groups. The videos and recipes are often given in a very precise fashion, making learning fairly easy to follow.

4. Hospitality is an opportunity to know others. Engage people. Ask questions. Get out of the scene as much as possible and make room for others to be known. Remember that the intimacy of a house is probably the most social some people will ever be. Bring the timid into conversations and learn to engage with good questions. This latter will take practice for some, which is why more hospitality is good practice.

5. Abandon any sense of competition. Sometimes people will say, “But my house cannot host this many.” Again, this is not a competition. If you can host two people, then let it be done with joy and not envy for those who can host 20. I have eaten in $1 million homes and $100K homes. The difference is not the quality or quantity of food but the heart of the fellowship (Prov. 15:17).

6. It’s easy to get into a comfortable hosting rotation of families that are just like you. That’s wonderful and good. But also remember the diversity of the church. Invite those with different interests, especially the single and widows, into your home.

7. Set the rules early. “Ok, everyone! That room is off-limits to the kids. The bathroom is located in that room. There are some games for the kids in the playroom. The drinks are in that fridge.” You are hosting, and therefore, you set the rules. We do it every time, and with a little cooperation, the rules become a host’s best friend.

8. Sing. We print a hymn or invest in 20 hymnals for the family. We sing almost every time we have folks over. If you have a familiar crowd, choose your favorites, but if a more diverse crowd, choose a classic hymn/psalm that everyone may know. We gather around the table, sing and pray. It’s that simple (as a side note, train your boys to give the opening pitch).

9. Moms with big families and little ones rarely rest when they are invited somewhere. They are changing diapers, feeding little infants, keeping children from breaking things, etc. If you have a responsible child, assign him or her to some of these duties to give our guests some level of peace. This is especially fruitful if you have young girls/ladies in the home.

10. Enjoy conversations on every topic. Literally, everything is on the table. Religion, politics, and local breweries. But hesitate to tweet at the table. You don’t have to opine strongly about issues. We don’t need to hear about your theories about the COVID infection rate on Mars or your favorite Alex Jones impersonation.

11. Love people. And men, love especially your wives. In our home, we have decided that as a pastor’s family, we are generally incapable of getting the kids home after church and doing final touches for the folks coming at mid-day for lunch. As a pastor, I go through a stage called “Partly dead” between the hours of 11-3 in the afternoon on a Sunday. My exhaustion level is high, my kids need a nap, and the house needs to Sabbath before Sabbathing.

So, the principle here is to know your limits. What we do around the Brito household is to reserve our Sunday hospitality for later afternoon, around 5pm, instead of right after church. When we have guests from out of town traveling, we will have them over right after church, but in most cases, we rest and then host. It’s been life-changing for us.

12. Hosting does not only mean formalized meals. We have weekly “Wine/Dessert and Song” evenings with friends. It’s a simple way to have folks over for enjoyable fellowship. Sometimes we invite them to come a little later. It’s hard to believe, but sometimes parents enjoy talking with other big people uninterrupted.

13. Hospitality builds community. I suspect that people who don’t host are people either ignorant or disobedient to the Gospel or people who have unwarranted fears. Those who don’t host will often feel left out and may have a tendency to isolate himself/herself from the community. After a while, this tendency will build poor habits in the faith. Hosting re-affirms the centrality of Church life.

14. Host. How often? Just host. Some will begin hosting once a month; that’s twelve times a year. Some will host weekly or twice a week. Some will host 30 people; others 3. Just host. Pull out your church directory and start picking names.

15. Make hospitality a topic of conversation in the home. There was a time when my daughter would go around the church inviting people on our behalf. We were shocked to know 50 people were coming over for a meal. After a while, I thought to myself, we taught her that hosting is normal, and she imitates us. What else should we expect? We may need to moderate her enthusiasm but let the joy of the Lord flow in our homes and hearts. The more you talk about hospitality, the more desired it will be.

May our God build our homes and lift our hearts to the joy of the table! May heaven come down every time we open our doors!

Posted on

The Heaven of Hospitality, Part 3

Bonhoeffer spoke of three tables: a) the daily fellowship at the table, b) the table of the Lord’s Supper, and c) the final table fellowship at the Last Day. We can say that for Bonhoeffer, our daily meals are preparatory for future meals. After all, hospitality is eschatological. There is nothing more fitting for a table of kings and queens than to practice the habits of the eternal kingdom of our Lord.

One begins to see this eschatology in place when the very people you hosted in your home form their own households and begin to share in that treasure of untold stories and laughter. Remember that your children are watching, and they are likely going to imitate your patterns later in life.

It happens, but rarely have I seen inhospitable parents produce hospitable sons. The stories your offspring will tell will be of dreadful loneliness at home growing up or experiences of joy around a table. Again, it is very rare that an inhospitable family rejoices around a table as a matter of practice. Rather, the hospitality of others produces the joy around the table when there is no one to host.

We can begin somewhere to explore the pleasures of hosting when we see it as a seed planted in the eternal garden of praise. To have someone enter your home and partake of your gifts of food is to allow someone to enter into the place of deepest secrets; we are allowing them to see the transparency of unkept yards, rogue Lego pieces, partly uncooked or overcooked meals, rambunctious children, and the regular messiness of life.

Yes, you should probably do some cleaning, but you should restrain from excessive cleaning lest you treat it as a mechanical showcasing of your home. As one sage says, “Your home should look like someone lives in it!” To do that, leave open invitations for the single and the widows to come by for a lentil soup or a Sam’s bought pizza or a good home-cooked dinner on a typical weekday. Then, there will only be a short amount of time to remove the occasional kids’ clothes lying on the couch. Speedy and spontaneous hospitality is still good hospitality.

If hospitality is eschatological, then every experience in hosting is a theological act. If hosting is eschatological, then every piece of pie served, every glass of wine, the spilled peas, the summer watermelon, and the awkward pauses around a table is an act of grace. To be hospitable is to embrace heaven at an elaborate party or at a dinner of herbs.

Posted on

The Heaven of Hospitality: Our Noble Excuses, Part 2

Hospitality was a distinctive mark of the early church. Consider these words written in 96 AD by Clement of Rome, writing from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth:

“Indeed, was there ever a visitor in your midst that did not approve of your excellent and steadfast faith…or did not proclaim the magnificent character of your hospitality?”

What does it look for a Church to be known for its hospitality in the community? We often forget that one of the greatest displays of true religion which catapulted the Christian faith in the ancient world was the gift of hospitality. The Church constantly intermingled in this world of eating and drinking together (Acts 2:42). The result of such experiences was that the Lord’s Day became a day of exceeding joy, even amidst persecution.

The Christian’s most important day is doubled in communion and blessings when members have already tasted moments of worship around a table, singing with friends, and laughing with our children through the week. Indeed, hospitality throughout the week becomes the preparatory means to feast and prepare our hearts for Sunday. In fact, the more it is practiced, the richer will the Sabbath event be amidst the congregation.

Because this is so crucial in the life of the Church, and precisely because the Church’s imperative is so clear biblically and historically, I do not accept any psychological description that sounds like an apologetic for not doing it. Such may vary from, “But I don’t make enough money for hospitality,” or “I don’t know how to cook for large groups,” or “I am not comfortable entertaining people,” or “my house is too small,” or “I live alone,” or “life is too hectic right now,” and a host of self-defeating propositions (see Randy Booth’s article in the comment section).

We shall address some of these in the future, but suffice to say, the kind of hospitality I advocate is the incremental type that begins by inviting a family or a couple or an individual over at least once a month. In fact, the kindest hosts I know are people who don’t make much money and live in small homes but determined long ago that this is a gift of immeasurable worth that cannot be set aside because of fears or uncertainties.

Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves whether we have allowed our apathy to dictate our imperative instead of shutting our apathy with God’s imperatives. The impact hospitality has on a family will endure to a thousand generations. If we linger, we are missing out on the benediction bestowed on others through hospitality, but more importantly, the benediction God would love to bestow on us.

#hospitality

#earlychurch

Posted on

The Heaven of Hospitality, Part 1

Many years ago, shortly after we were married, we decided to invest in this hospitality business. We had heard the tapes, knew our biblical imperatives and came across some really dangerous authors who told us that hospitality was not an option. I regret ever having served my neighbor with food and laughter…said no one ever!

I remember inviting over a fairly wealthy family. The father was a gentle soul who was very successful in his labors. They accepted our invitation, and when we returned home from church to get everything ready, it dawned on us that our table could only fit four people, but they were a family of 6. Our apartment was slightly over 700 square feet, and we only had four chairs.

After some deliberation, we decided to sit on the floor and eat, to which they happily agreed. I remember being slightly embarrassed, but our concerns faded when we started eating and laughing. It was one of the most memorable Sundays in my life!

Here is the truth, as black as Amazonian coffee: those who do not practice hospitality fail to taste the goodness of God. It’s plain and simple. When Paul said, “do hospitality” (διώκοντες (Rom. 12:13; root word engages the concept of “persecution;” think of happily persecuting hospitality), he said that we are to be zealous for this gift.

For Paul and many other biblical authors, hospitality was a visible demonstration of our baptism into Christ. Christ hosts us in his body, and we host others in our abode. We improve our baptisms by baptizing others into our baptized life around a table.

We shall deal with practicalities throughout, but we must begin this conversation with an important principle found in Solomon. Proverbs 15:17 says: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” The Bible uses the image of a “fattened ox” to represent the finest foods available. The contrast is significant in this text because love is preferred over the best foods. Abundance and hatred do not go hand in hand. Abundance and hatred produce an un-godly environment–an environment where people do not want to be. Wealth and hatred only lead to disaster, but wealth of love is the secret ingredient to hospitality.

In one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs, he writes:

It’s not the barley or the wheat

It’s not the oven or the heat

That makes this bread so good to eat

It’s the needing and the sharing that makes the meal complete.

What makes a meal complete is the sense of sharing and passing and needing oneness in the context of a table, even if that table comes from the meager earnings of a college student or a widow. At that moment, when we are joined, something mystical occurs: we are imitating a table of kings and queens. Whether with herbs or the finest meal, the very presence of image-bearers partaking of food and drink forms a sacred bond that affirms our love for God and one another.

And for this entire thing to run as good as a hot cup of ramen noodles in a cold college dorm, we need the recipe of love. We don’t need abundance; we need only a few grateful saints around a table sharing stories and affirming the image-bearing status of one another; for where two or three are gathered around a table, God is in their midst.

Posted on

The Heaven of Hospitality, An Introduction

We are fond of sharing our humble home with fellow humans. It’s a common practice in our household. But we didn’t just wake up one morning and, for the first time, decide to invite all those fine people for a meal. Over the years, my wife and I have surrounded ourselves with people seasoned in the art of hospitality. They invited us over when we were young in our married life, then when we only had one child, and they continued to do it as our family increased in numbers. They have refreshed my family and me.

Let’s face it: hosting a family of seven is not for wimps! But yet, they have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable and satisfied. And it takes a whole lot of food to satisfy a family of five hearty men.

It is hard to express the level of gratitude I have for the hundreds of meals prepared out of love and devotion. In turn, we have worked hard at imitating those who practice hospitality so generously. So many times, we didn’t have the mood or energy, but in the end, we all looked with amazement at how God transformed us through the ritual of hosting.

Yet, I am grieved by how the apostles’ imperatives (Heb. 13:2; I Pet. 4:9) are so often overlooked in the evangelical community. I often hear visitors to our congregation and outside our community state with some level of sadness that they have never or rarely been invited by a Christian to someone’s home for a simple meal. Yes, they have probably experienced what we call in the South “Potluck meals,” but that is different from the experience of particularized hospitality the Bible has in mind (general hospitality falls into a different category).

The Church and the individual family miss a genuine opportunity to serve one another, to hear each others’ stories, and give out of the abundance given to us in Christ Jesus. Indeed, hospitality is the overflow of God’s love for us. We host because God has hosted us in his house (Ps. 23). I love the way Lauren Winner describes this in her book, “Mudhouse Sabbath:”

“We are not meant simply to invite people into our homes, but also to invite them into our lives. Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests – we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are.”

What I wish to do in this short series is to encourage you to see how practical and pleasing it is to do hospitality. It doesn’t demand the most expensive wine bottle, nor does it demand the most extroverted host; it only demands a willing heart to see the Gospel made known amid unfolded laundry and wildly active children.

Who can host? The family of seven, the newlywed couple, the single young man, and anyone who can spare some change for a noble cause. For many of you who have never practiced this Christian gift, you can begin small and inexpensively, but what you can’t do is leave it up for the right opportunity. The right opportunity comes when you make it. Begin small, and you will see the joy and celebration that overtakes a house known for its hospitality. 

Posted on

The Necessity of Messy Homes

We have had an abundance of children and adults in our house between Saturday and Monday. We probably fed over 40 people combined. Eggs, toast, butter, coffee, whiskey, beer, soups, and none of those things in that exact order. The whole thing was a glorious mess; the kind of mess that makes the kingdom of God glorious. Almost all of them were saints from our congregation who took time out of their holiday weekend to help our family do some heavy lifting, and others were just dear friends who are familiar enough with our tribe to come through our home as they please and others were sweet family members visiting. We loved the entire process, and the process creates a sense of normalcy that is utterly uncomfortable in our culture.

The discomfort stems from a sense of neatness that is unrealistic and also prohibits the world of hospitality that many evangelicals wish they had more of, but does not believe is sustainable if they have a steady number of guests in their home. The reality, however, is that Marie Kondo was made for dinner parties of three (mom, dad, and Tommy), and while practical at some level, it can become easily unhealthy at other levels. Our general policy is that we clean when guests come over, which means we clean often, and with our eager tribe of children, cleaning is much more effective, especially with Sargent Wifey. But the expectation–one I am constantly adjusting to as a Latin man who grew up with impeccable clean homes–that things must be always a certain way and that the home must maintain the correct Asian procedural methods of a certain short lady (how racist of me!) is utterly unrealistic and squashes the culture of hospitality. A home without guests doth not spark joy in the kingdom.

I am not suggesting we forsake those habits of cleanliness, but I do suggest we loosen our commitment to certain habits as pre-requisites for hospitality. How many opportunities have been missed because we assumed that such and such a person would look down on us if they saw our house a certain way, the clothes on the couch, the boys’ room in utter chaos, etc? *And as a sweet little footnote, if dads are not invested in the cleaning, let their steaks burn a thousand deaths.

I remember a time many years ago when I was having a conversation with a young family with two little kids. The conversation was about our church’s focus on hospitality, to which the father replied: “One day we will have time for that.” Now, I was quite a young pastor in those days, and my boldness was low in the Richter scale, but today I would simply say, “If you wait for the right time, when the “right” time comes, it will always feel like the wrong time.” That’s the case because hospitality is built on the foundation of crying babies and broken toys. It’s a gift you learn to give others with plenty of practice.

I was having a conversation with three dads last night in the kitchen while 15 kids ran around us and in the middle of a very “important” point I was trying to make, my littlest one interrupted with an urgent call from nature. I made the passing comment that parents have conversations in fragments in such settings. That should be absolutely normal and expected.

The entire stage and adaptation to such scenarios set the stage for even greater hospitality in the future. You can tell that the families that thrive in the hospitality department didn’t simply start to host when their kids turned 12, but that they have learned the art of hospitality when their kids were 12 days old. They did it and they still do it, and their children will continue to do it. In fact, the glorious thing about the messiness of houses and toy rooms and unfinished house projects is that it reflects the ongoing growth of the kingdom of God filled with messy humans, broken rooms, and unfinished discipleship programs for civilization. But we can’t wait until the eschaton comes in order to begin practicing kingdom habits; we practice them as the very means for kingdom growth.

Posted on

A Letter to Someone on Hospitality

Dear friend,

You told me that you would love to host people in your home this summer, but you feel you don’t have the cooking skills to have people in your abode. That’s too bad because I was expecting some gourmet sushi made with precise Japanese ingredients like home-made wasabi and escolar fish when I visit your home next week.

Seriously, if the Apostle Paul had said: “Practice hospitality but only if you are qualified to make my favorite Roman dish,” I suspect hospitality would be a quasi lost art. But Paul simply states the imperative, “Practice hospitality.” No qualification. No culinary skills. You don’t even have to read Robert Capon (though I strongly encourage you to do so).

I treasure my wife’s cooking, but when we have people over and I notice she is not fully prepared or energetic to make a difficult dish, we order some pizza and have as many people as we can fit in our place. At other times, we have people over at night at that magical time when the kids go to bed and we open up a bottle of wine and some store-bought dessert. Laughter. Jokes. And even music proceeds from these occasions.

Practice hospitality. Start simple. You want a trial family? Just have me and my tribe over. I guarantee you we will have a blast, but more than that, have people over. Don’t wait to manifest this wonderful gift that unites, creates healthy communities, and fills children’s bellies.

Sincerely,
Pastor Uriesou Brito

Posted on

Husbands and Headship: The Art of Dying

We live in a culture that views headship as abusive. In the Bible, however, headship is central to the stability of the home. Protestant and evangelical men need to see this headship in the context of the great covenant responsibilities that come with that role. The man who views his headship cavalierly views his role in the home with un-biblical eyes.

I have met many men who come to see the need for headship in the home and have made the necessary changes to their husbandry. Some of these men came to these convictions late in life, and therefore, the changes occurred too quickly; especially for their families. They went from rarely reading the Bible themselves to requiring family devotions with a 45-minute sermon. Dad went from barely feeding his family spiritually to stuffing his family. Children grow up dreading the evening “services”, and the wife, on the one hand, gives thanks to God for the change in her husband, while on the other, wondering if God misunderstood her prayers.

God knew all things, of course. The problem is sinners have made an art of over-reacting. Pastors need to watch out for these types and bring their enthusiasm to a proper balance.

But the Church is not suffering because of over-zealous husbands/ fathers; she is suffering for the lack of any zeal in husbands/fathers.

In particular, husbands are called to meet the needs of their wives. He is the provider, sustainer, and the one called by God to make his wife lovely. The wife is lovely when the husband beautifies her. Jesus is the head of the Church and part of his ascension task is to make his bride beautiful (Eph. 5). He comforts her with words of affirmation. He protects her from physical and spiritual abuse. He is her Boaz and David; a redeemer and king. The home serves as the castle. Pastors usually know when he enters a home whether it is being beautified or whether it has lost its beauty. I am not referring to neatness and tidiness; I am referring to the grace of a home. When that pastor leaves, he may have just left a pretty tomb with dead man’s bones. Grace makes a home, and the husband is the grace-giver. How he speaks, how he communicates, how he rebukes, how he seeks forgiveness; all these things demonstrate and encapsulate the type of headship he is embodying.

The husband is a resident theologian. He may not be a vocational theologian, but his actions and speech are the word and deed that his family will hear most often. When the husband lives a life of constant hypocrisy, his lectures will become dull and lose meaning. When his life demonstrates humility and the virtue of repentance, then his lectures, even the boring ones, will sink deeply into the fabric of the home.

The evangelical husband is a lover of truth. Truth keeps him from abusing his headship; truth keeps him from prioritizing his friends over his own family; truth keeps him from isolating himself from the Christian body; truth keeps him from turning headship into abuse. He must be, as Douglas Wilson once observed, “a small pebble that somehow by the grace of God pictures the Rock that is Christ.”[1]

The responsibility of being the head of the home is the responsibility of many, but the practice of some. Headship implies dying for your wife, and many prefer to see their spouse die than themselves. So men, let’s die together for our wives, and let’s show the world that death brings life.

[1] Wilson, Douglas. Reforming Marriage, 39.

 

Posted on

Hospitality as Gift

Over the years I have surrounded myself with people who are masters at hospitality. I have learned so much from them. They have refreshed my family and me. They have gone out of their way to make a family with four little ones feel comfortable and satisfied. It is hard to express the level of gratitude I have for the hundreds of meals prepared out of love and devotion. But I am grieved by how the apostles’ imperatives (Heb. 13:2; I Pet. 4:9) are so often overlooked in the evangelical community. We miss a genuine opportunity to serve one another, to hear each others’ stories, and give out of the abundance given to us in Christ Jesus. I love the way Lauren Winner describes this in her book Mudhouse Sabbath: “We are not meant simply to invite people into our homes, but also to invite them into our lives. Having guests and visitors, if we do it right, is not an imposition, because we are not meant to rearrange our lives for our guests – we are meant to invite our guests to enter into our lives as they are.”
For many of you who have never practiced this Christian gift, you can begin small. Begin by inviting a couple over for coffee and dessert or something similar. Be intentional about scheduling such things. Don’t leave it up for the right opportunity. The right opportunity comes when you make it. Begin small and you will see the joy and celebration that overtakes a house that is known for her hospitality.
Posted on

The Ascension of our Lord: A Brief Introduction

The Church celebrates the Ascension of our Lord this Thursday. Since most churches are not able to have Thursday services, traditionally many of them celebrate Ascension on Sunday.

The Ascension of Jesus is barely mentioned in the evangelical vocabulary. We make room for his birth, death, and resurrection, but we tend to put a period where God puts a comma.

If the resurrection was the beginning of Jesus’ enthronement, then the ascension is the establishment of his enthronement. The Ascension activates Christ’s victory in history. The Great Commission is only relevant because of the Ascension. Without the Ascension the call to baptize and disciple would be meaningless. It is on the basis of Jesus’ enthronement at the right-hand of the Father, that we image-bearers can de-throne rulers through the power and authority of our Great Ruler, Jesus Christ.

The Ascension then is a joyful event, because it is the genesis of the Church’s triumph over the world. Further, it defines us as a people of glory and power, not of weakness and shame. As Jesus is ascended, we too enter into his ascension glory (Col. 3:1) This glory exhorts us to embrace full joy. As Alexander Schmemann once wrote:

“The Church was victorious over the world through joy…and she will lose the world when she loses its joy… Of all accusations against Christians, the most terrible one was uttered by Nietzsche when he said that Christians had no joy.”[1]

But this joy is given to us by a bodily Lord.

We know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. He is ruling and reigning from his heavenly throne. He has given the Father the kingdom, and now he is preserving, progressing, and perfecting his kingdom. He is bringing all things under subjection.

We know that when he was raised from the dead, Jesus was raised bodily. But Gnostic thinking would have us assume that since Jesus is in heaven he longer needs a physical body. But the same Father who raised Jesus physically, also has his Son sitting beside him in a physical body.  As one author observed:

Jesus has gone before us in a way we may follow through the Holy Spirit whom he has sent, because the way is in his flesh, in his humanity.[1]

Our Lord is in his incarnation body at the right hand of the Father. This has all sorts of implications for us in worship. We are worshipping a God/Man; one who descended in human flesh and who ascended in human flesh. He is not a disembodied spirit. He is truly God and truly man.

As we consider and celebrate the Ascension of our blessed Lord, remember that you are worshiping the One who understands your needs, because he has a body just like you; he understands your joy because he has a body just like you.

[1] Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World. Paraphrased

[2] Gerrit Dawson, see http://apologus.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/ascension-and-jesus-humanity/