Did you know that the best example of hospitality is the Gospel?! In fact, the Gospel is radical hospitality. It is an invitation open to everyone; all can enjoy the advantages of “full membership” with no barriers to entry. Had you ever thought of it like that? True hospitality is sharing the gospel; it is not friendship or community, we’ll talk about that more in a minute. It is loving the stranger and being a friend to the stranger; treating the outsider as an insider and extending the privileges of membership to anyone. In the Kingdom of God, there has never been such a thing as an outsider. And we are to show that same level of hospitality. As Leviticus 19:34 says:
“You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. I, the LORD, am your God.” In practicing this type of hospitality, we are being hospitable to God himself! When we offer hospitality, we can learn a lot from Abraham’s example in Genesis 18:2-8.
It is urgent – do it now! One of our greatest road blocks to practicing hospitality is hesitation.
We must be humble.
It is a call to offer abundant provision. Give blessings, not the bare minimum.
We aren’t only to offer hospitality, but we also receive it; and have received it in abundance from the Lord.
We were strangers.
God invited us to be his daughters, full members of his grace and abundance.
Because we’ve experienced this, we now outpour it to others.
And, as Christ instructed in Luke 10:1-12, we are to rely on hospitality from others.
In hospitality, there is a total dependence on the giver, which brings with it vulnerability with each other.
In this practice, peace is essential. The first thing to be offered should be peace – a genuine welcome.
We continue to experience God’s peace thru the hospitality of others.
While it is good to serve, hospitality takes it a step further by welcoming in those who otherwise might not be, or at least might not feel, welcome. And this “welcome in” is the design of how God wants his people to move in the world. Ultimately, it’s how we show Him to the world!
Community and friendship are also very important, but different from hospitality. Jessica also provided great insight into the tremendous need in our post-pandemic world for creating community and finding real friendship. Did you know your friendships matter to God?! And, as a community, we are to reflect God to each other and to the world. But how do we accomplish this in our increasingly busy world and schedules? Jessica provided guidance for that as well.
Want to learn more? Be sure to click the video link below to listen to “Hospitality in a Fragmented World” in its entirety. We know you’ll be blessed by all that Jessica shared as well as by a new understanding to help you practice hospitality along with us this month.