From the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2:7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
A few years ago when I was in seminary I embarked on a cross-cultural trip with several other students to the Texas/Mexico border to study immigration and the culture that existed in the “borderlands.” The “borderlands” is the land on the USA side of the United States and Mexico, at least in the Southern part of Texas. It is a very liminal area; that is, it is a land “between the worlds.” The culture was a synthesis of Anglo and Hispanic culture and language. While there our cadre of mostly Methodist students stayed at pilgrimage housing at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de Valle. I thought this was ironic that a group of would-be Protestant pastors were living as pilgrims at a shrine dedicated to the Mother of God.
I learned several things while on that trip to Southern Texas. We were down there for several days and each morning I would walk down to a corner gas station and get an absolutely wonderful breakfast burrito and a newspaper from a man who always stood in the median of the road and sold papers to people in their cars. He always greeted me with a smile. Looking into his eyes I didn’t see oppressive poverty. I saw a man with dignity and pride doing his best in this land between the worlds.
We had the opportunity to meet several local Hispanic families. Our group of seminary students took a group of local kids to Wal-Mart and bought them some clothes, and then their parents cooked for us. The meal was absolutely wonderful. I had the privilege of pressing dough with a press to make tortillas, and we had a sort of taco like meal. There was red and green salsa on the tables. Some from our group thought that if the children were eating the green salsa then that must have been the mild ‘stuff.’ It turned out that the red salsa was very hot, and the green was extremely hot. I love hot food, but many of the seminarians on the trip learned not to judge a salsa by its color.
In Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity there is much reverence, honor, and respect shown to Mary, as the Mother of God. In Protestant Christianity the role of Mary is like life in the borderlands; she is often left to the margins. Her mystery is removed; her status as “Mother of God” affirmed by early Church council is brushed under the theological rug. She becomes a footnote within Protestant Christianity; mostly forgotten – except perhaps on Christmas. In Protestant Christianity there really is no room for her “in the Inn.”
In the majority of the United States the liminal community that exists in the borderlands doesn’t exist. The borderland people are people who live “between the worlds,” between two cultures, a syncretism of both. Like the Mother of God in Protestant Christianity there is no room for them “in the Inn.”
We can make room for all marginalized people in our Inn for we affirm the message of the Gospel. To make disciples of all people requires us to love all people. As we find room for marginalized people due to economic and cultural situations we also find room for people “in our Inn” who are marginalized spiritually.
While on the trip I thought of the irony of staying at a shrine dedicated to the Mother of God studying marginalized people and thinking how Protestantism has marginalized Mary from our religious culture. I’m not advocating Marian “devotion,” but perhaps an increase in respect and love that one might have for one’s own mother. Mary is the mother of our Lord, and if he loved her so shall I.
Prayer:
Gracious and Loving Father, everyone is welcome at the Inn that is your loving embrace, help us to make room for people within our own inn. Help us to know and embrace the ancient custom of hospitality that renews and ignites our souls. Help us to love, and grant us the peace that only you can provide. In the name of Jesus do we pray. Amen.
David Kling
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