Hospitality

From a Ladies' Breakfast last spring:

I wanted to take a little time to talk about the gift of hospitality since I believe we as women play a key role in the administration of this gift. To practice hospitality is a command in Scripture, given in both Romans and 1Peter. That’s how important it is.
I think you’ll agree that hospitality is a strength in our church. My purpose is to only encourage that we continue to excel more and more in this gift.
So what exactly is does it mean to practice hospitality?
The command in the original language contains expressions like ‘Strive for, pursue with eagerness or enthusiasm, seek out opportunities to offer generous, cordial reception of guests, offering a pleasant sustaining environment.’
My earliest memory of Christian hospitality occurred during my freshman year at college. I was in the process being drawn to Christ through the love of new friends and was invited to a family’s home for dinner. It was nothing fancy- assembly line style. I don’t recall what we ate but I do remember this joyful, welcoming family, relaxing, and watching a ball game on TV with us. The love displayed in this family captured my heart and inspired me to trust Christ for my future family.
1Peter4:8-10 “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Hospitality opens the door for us to use our gifts to bless others. For example, prayer, encouragement, evangelism, and discipleship are all effectively done when we invite one another into our lives and homes.
Interesting that the command says to offer hospitality without complaining. Why might complaining be a temptation in this context? Could it be because we're called to share our most precious possessions: our family, home, finances, food, privacy and time? Hospitality can be sacrificial and hard work! It is an opportunity to lay down our lives for others. But the rewards are great. Through hospitality we provide friendship, acceptance, fellowship, refreshment, comfort and love in one of the richest and deepest ways possible.
The ministry of hospitality was a prominent feature in the picture of the early church. One of the key factors that helps explain the rapid expansion of Christianity was the love displayed among the first Christians. In an ancient Latin Christian dialogue entitled ‘Octavius’, the pagan Caecilius criticizes the Christians because “hardly have they met when they love each other, indiscriminately they call each other brother and sister."
The first Christians referred to one another as brother or sister-this reference is used 250x in NT! Of all the images used to describe the nature of the church like the body, bride, temple and flock, by far the family is the most frequent. Sadly, by the end of the 3rd century, such endearing terminology began to disappear.
We’re brothers and sisters not because we share similar ideas, interests or circumstances, but because we share the life of Jesus through our spiritual birth. We have the same Father in heaven, the One who loved us so much he sent his Son to save us from our sins! Remember what we were before we knew the Lord: Eph. 2 describes the before and after scenario: we were "separated from Christ, strangers to the covenant promises, having no hope and without God in the world.' (Eph.2:12).
"But now in Christ you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He himself is our peace who has made us one. Through him we have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined and held together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."
Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins and his resurrection has opened for us eternal fellowship with God and with fellow believers! In Christ, we have an unbreakable family bond. No wonder God calls us to practice this gift of hospitality, to build us up in our faith and unity. Our fellowship is a foretaste of what heaven will be like.
The Puritans who settled America brought this understanding of community with them. John Winthrop, first governor of MA Bay Colony wrote, "This love among Christians is absolutely necessary to the well being of the body of Christ, as the sinews and other ligaments of the natural body are to its health...Thus stands the cause between God and us; we are entered into covenant with Him for this work..for this end we must be knit together as one man..we must delight in each other, make one another's condition our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having our eyes on our Commission and Community, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men of succeeding plantations shall say, 'The Lord make it like that of New England.' For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill..." (The Light and Glory).
What a legacy! Sadly New England is far from this picture and influence on the rest of the country. If anything we're known more for our rugged individualism (remember where the revolutionary war began!) . But I believe the vision and prayers have not perished before God and that today there is a quiet revival as more and more churches are being planted and the gospel is spreading.
I love how John Winthrop put it: 'having our eyes on our community and our commission.' We don't want to fall into laziness as we enjoy our community, but must remember there are more people to invite in to the fellowship we share, and ultimately to the ultimate party we will enjoy in heaven!
“Christian perseverance is a community endeavor”, so let’s consider how we can use this gift of hospitality to spur one another on in love and good works. We have many great examples around us to follow.
Rom.16:1-2 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchrae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.”
Phoebe was evidently a new comer who served the church. We have our own Phoebe in Lauren Cranmer. Lauren has left family and friends to serve our church and has been welcomed especially by the Haavisto's where she is living and enfolded into their family. May we embrace her and care for her as well.
I have many experiences on the receiving end of hospitality. Dinner with many of you, either in your homes or out to eat; we've enjoyed deepening friendships. And care group at the Kings' and the other host families. The labor and rewards of hospitality are clearly seen in these contexts!
There's just something about being in someones home that helps deepen our relationships. You see the taste and personality of a family in their home. "Women really do have an instinctive capacity to form relationships and to cultivate a sense of family." (Susan Hunt) And what better place to cultivate friendships than in our homes. Another great quote: "What a queer way we womenkind have of confiding in each other with perfectly reckless disregard of the consequences! It is a mercy that men are, for the most part, more prudent, though not half so delightful!" (Elizabeth Prentiss)

One family that has blown me away with their pursuit of hospitality is the Gennells. They invited our family for dinner soon after they started visiting KGC. We are one of many families who have been blessed by their generous gift of hospitality.
I want to encourage you that this gift can be given on Sunday mornings right here as we greet one another and welcome our guests, which, by the way, you do so well already. We are blessed with this beautiful family home to use for hospitality, with teas, showers, prayer meetings, play groups, and the list of ideas is virtually endless!!
To help spur us on, may I remind you that whatever you do to the least of these, you do to Jesus. This is a helpful reminder for me when I am battling my natural desire to stay in my comfort zone and only engage people who are like me.
The command doesn’t require gourmet meals, meticulous homes, or perfectly godly families. It's not about that. It's about being like our Lord, who invites us to open the door and enjoy fellowship with Him. (Rev. 3:20)
I'm so thankful for that first experience of hospitality I had when I was so young and struggling to understand the Lord. If it hadn't been for this family and the other Christians reaching out and expressing God's heart to me, I do not know where I'd be today.
Some ideas:
Pray for the Lord's direction in our pursuit of this gift and command.
Set goals: specific people to invite over or out, schedule dates.
Don’t forget the widows, students, guests and new members among us.
Be open to inviting new guests to join you for a meal once in a while after church. (this gives us the opportunity to "entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it" Hebrews 13:2) We may not ever get to host angels, but we will do have the privilege of honoring the Lord by loving and serving His precious children.