Hospitality
November 27, 2007
Dear Friends,
Many years ago, my wife, LeAnn, and I were visiting San Francisco on business. We found out where meeting was on Sunday and showed up unannounced. Several interesting things happened there. First, a couple of sisters invited us out to a lovely lunch where we got to know one another. Second, a young couple invited us to stay with them at their house in lieu of our hotel. The beautiful thing is that these two acts of hospitality formed friendships between us that have grown more and more through the years. As our paths have crossed since that day, we have only grown closer. The seed was sown in these two acts of kindness.
Hospitality is one of the defining acts of discipleship. In Romans 12:13, for example, the Apostle Paul says simply “Practice hospitality.”(NIV) The Apostle didn’t just talk about it, but clearly demonstrated it. “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.” (Acts 28:30 NIV)
I believe that the key to hospitality is to know that all that you have is not really yours anyway, but God’s. If we believe this, it is not hard to share it with others – especially with fellow followers of Christ.
The definitive example of this spirit was in the early first century ecclesia. They shared all things common and lived off a common purse. People were provided for as they had need, not based on social standing, the amount of money they earned or some other arbitrary standard. It would be the ultimate act of hospitality to live this way, but seldom are we asked to go to this extreme any longer. Some of our most common acts of hospitality are as our brethren in San Francisco showed to us – food and lodging. I can’t recount the many times brethren all over the world have received me into their homes with food or lodging. In fact, it is so commonplace that perhaps we are in danger of seeing this as no big deal. It is a big deal, though. How many religions in the world have such a strong belief in hospitality that you can show up at one of their services in a strange city and almost be guaranteed an invitation for food or lodging? I’d be willing to guess there is only one.
The author of the Hebrews wrote: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Heb. 13:2 NASB) I have often wondered how literally to take this verse. The passage refers to men such as Abraham that literally did have angels visit them. Do we have literal angelic beings amongst us that test our willingness to be hospitable? If we take the implication of this verse at face value, we probably do. This is both amazing and a bit unsettling. It sure provides us with an incentive to be complicit in the command to be hospitable.
Another set of verses that bears mentioning on the subject of hospitality is 1 Peter 4:9,10. It reads:
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (NIV)
This verse seems to indicate that we are not to offer hospitality grudgingly, but with a grateful heart. We have the privilege of serving someone. The gifts of hospitality may seem very ordinary such as cooking or making someone feel at home when they are a long way from home, but as Peter says, these things are another way of “faithfully administering God’s grace in it various forms.” This makes these ordinary gifts extraordinary.
I know that I have been very blessed to be both the giver and the receiver of hospitality throughout the years. Some of my dearest friendships started on this basis and have made my life so much richer. It is a blessing that we should not take for granted to both give and receive hospitality.
Have a great week,
