It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - At The Entrance (Genesis 18:1-8, 16)

Sing it with me!

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor.

Could you be mine? Would you be mine? Won’t you be my neighbor?

Today we begin a two part sermon series inspired by the life of Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Generations of Americans have been positively impacted by this quiet, gentle, and compassionate man whose simple mission in life was to value people, especially children.

Opening in theaters November 21^st, Tom Hanks will be starring as Fred Rogers in the new film It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood. In an interview about his performance Hanks said, “I was about 11 years old when Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood came on the air. It was a black and white television show with puppets that had mouths that didn’t move. I just didn’t get it.” Hanks wouldn’t be alone in that reaction to the TV show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. There were many who didn’t get it.  But those who did get what Fred Rogers was trying to accomplish were blessed, some were even saved.

Most of us don’t slow down enough to catch the simple and profound treasures that are all around us.  We go about with our faces planted in smartphones or block out the world with music on our headphones. Trapped in our narcissistic bubbles we take a pass on encounters with strangers. Rogers was a remarkable kind of man who valued people above all else. He wanted every person to know that they were special, a unique and priceless occurrence in our world. What would our world be like if we greeted strangers with wonder, knowing them to be priceless?

I’d like to talk about Abraham and the visit of three strangers. I see three important things to keep in mind if you wish to be a good neighbor.

1.    Abraham was ready and eager to serve strangers.

2.    Abraham was generous with his time and resources

3.    Abraham made it easy for an ongoing relationship.

Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day, which is kind of like cooling off in the shade of your front porch. He noticed three strangers approaching. He didn’t let them pass without engaging. He immediately made himself their servant. He bowed low to the ground, humbling himself. Can you imagine thinking of a complete stranger as your master? He offered them rest, shade and food, even water to wash their feet. You may remember that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This act of washing their feet set an example for us. We are to make ourselves servants to others after Christ’s example.

A servant’s heart is one that seeks to please His master. As you go about your day, who are you seeking to please? Your boss? Your customers? Your coworkers? Your parents? Your spouse? Yourself? Abraham seeks to please the strangers. He didn’t know that it was God and a couple angels visiting him. He was simply doing what God’s people do, showing hospitality to strangers.

Abraham was generous with food. Notice that Abraham gives them bread made of choice flour and a young calf, tender and good. Fresh meat was a delicacy in those days. Meat was an infrequent part of their diet and often served dried and salted, like jerky. He gave them 5 star treatment!

And he was generous with his time. He stood nearby as the strangers ate their meal, listening for any needs that might arise from his guests. As long as these strangers were under the watchful care of Abraham, they would want for nothing. In your encounters with people, be ready to serve and be generous with your time, your ears, your resources and most of all your heart.

Fred Rogers knew to listen for that most basic of human needs, love, acceptance and appreciation. He was always listening for what makes you uniquely you! A woman what watched Mr. Rogers growing up shared that she never felt like she belonged, not at home, nor at school. She was terribly lonely, but Mr. Rogers felt like her true and only friend in the world. He helped her through those lonely years. 

Like Abraham to ready to serve, eager to please and be generous with your time and resources and your heart. And finally make it easy to for an ongoing relationship. After the strangers had eaten, Abraham walked with them a way further down the road to see them on their way. This is a sign of continued service, a willingness to be a friend for life. This is radical hospitality, going above and beyond what is customary.

Fred Rogers received a letter from one of his young viewers. She suffered from terrible seizures every day and was soon to undergo brain surgery. The surgery would remove the entire left side of her brain. He gave the little girl a telephone call. She was terrified. Mr. Rogers didn’t stop there. He went to the hospital to visit her with his puppets from the show. He spent hours at her bedside. She confided in him about her fears and how she hoped the kids at school would accept her. Mr. Rogers didn’t stop with the hospital visit. Those two remained friends for over 20 years. They stayed in contact until his death in 2003. He walked down the road with her a ways to see her on her way!

Some have suggested that Abraham treated these strangers in this way because he understood them to be divine beings from heaven. I think Abraham did what he did because he enjoyed the blessing of God.

God called Abraham saying “Go to the place I will show you and I will bless you.” God said go and Abraham went and God was with him. Abraham learned that his needs were met with the Lord as his God. God provided and protected.

Abraham became wealthy under God’s blessing, but he had no children. When Abraham and Sarah entertained the three strangers they were 100 and 90 years old, respectively. While they served the strangers, they received a blessing.

The Lord announced that they were going to have a son. Sarah laughed at the ridiculous notion that a woman might birth a child at her age. When the child was born she named him Isaac, which means laughter. By showing hospitality to strangers, Abraham and Sarah were blessed with a miracle.

Jesus said when you have cared for the hungry, the homeless, the sick and imprisoned, you’ve done it also for him. When you’ve clothed people for winter, you’ve done that for Jesus. When you’ve fed the hungry, you’ve done that for Christ. When you welcome the stranger, you are welcoming God.

Fred Rogers recognized that every encounter with another person was a hidden treasure, a miracle of sorts, just waiting to be uncovered. Fred Rogers was looking for the miracle of God’s presence, and the blessing that comes through it.

When you have a true appreciation for people, knowing them to be made in the image of God, you find a hidden treasure.  God is in the person you are encountering, just waiting to bless your life. It’s this way of being with people that changes the world for the better. As the tagline for the film poster states, “We could all use a little kindness.”

Fred Rogers is quoted to have said, “As human beings our life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has—or ever will have—something inside that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to encourage that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression.”

He had a life mission to discover the god-given gift of every person he met, to celebrate it and grow it!  Rogers stayed true to this mission his whole life. And what an impact his life has made. Even 16 years after his death people are still singing his song and inviting neighborly relationships.

One woman was saved by Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. She was a young single mother having a hard time making it. She was so desperate she contemplated driving her car off a bridge to end her life and her baby’s. As she was approaching the bridge she suddenly heard in her mind Mr. Rogers singing It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.  She remembered how special she felt when watching Mr. Rogers. She was reminded that her life had worth and it gave her strength and hope.

When racism was the subject of television news in the late 1960s, there was a segment showing an angry white man at a hotel swimming pool dumping jugs of bleach into the pool as he yelled at African Americans swimming in the pool to get out. He didn’t think blacks and whites ought to share the same pool.  In response Mr. Rogers had an episode where he invited an African American, who played Officer Clemmons, to cool his feet in a kiddie pool with Mr. Rogers. The camera zoomed in on their feet, black and white side by side. As Officer Clemmons got up to leave, Mr. Rogers dried his feet with his own towel. Mr. Rogers offered viewers an alternative to prejudice and hostility. He was offering them Christ, who washed the feet of his disciples and dried them with his own towel. That episode made Clemmons a lifelong friend of Fred Rogers, for he knew the man truly was his neighbor.

Fred Rogers had a life mission to love others with open arms and acceptance. His life is still making a difference. Imagine the impact your life can have with a clear mission to love others, to welcome the stranger, to discover God’s handiwork in your neighbors.

I invite you to experiment this week. Try being a neighbor to every person you meet. It requires you to get out of your own head. Sit at the entrance to your mental tent ready to engage meaningfully with the next person you meet. That means lifting your head from your phone, or newspaper. That means turning off the music or talk radio. It means going about your day with an eagerness to meet and serve another person. It may be a cashier or a waitress. It may be your postal worker, or hairdresser or coworker.

Recognize that you are meeting someone special, a unique soul in the universe. They have a story. They have gifts and abilities that are just waiting to be discovered and celebrated. Welcome the stranger ready to serve. Be generous with yourself. Walk with them a while down the road. Make it easy for an ongoing relationship. You will be blessing their lives and God in them will surely bless you.

Won’t you be that kind of neighbor?