The Chimes - June and July

THE THEOLOGY OF HOSPITALITY
4
JOHN STEPHENS
SENIOR PASTOR
1 Peter 4:9-10 says, "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."
Hospitality is one of the largest themes in scripture. It is
more than just a social thing; it is a theological issue. Christian
hospitality refers to the active desire to invite, welcome, receive,
and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual
home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life
in Christ. Hospitality has an outward focus and is motivated by a
love that compels us to be open and adaptable. Hospitality does
several things: it practices the gracious love of Christ, respects the
dignity of others, and expresses God’s invitation to others (not our
own invitation toward others).
At every church I’ve served, I started with neighborhood chats.
When I visited people’s homes, they met me at the door and did
everything within their power to care for me and make me at
ease. As they welcomed me, they practiced Christ’s words from
Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to
serve.” This is what we are called to do in our church! When we
practice hospitality, we invite others to become a part of God’s
invitation to new life.
In the Old Testament, hospitality was central. For the Israelites,
welcoming the stranger was central to their identity because, as
God reminded them in Deuteronomy 10:19, “You were strangers
in the land of Egypt.” Theologically speaking, the purpose of
hospitality was to prepare a welcoming space for encounters with
God’s word.
In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah welcome several men into
their camp who are passing by. They show hospitality by offering
food, water, comfort, and rest. We find out the strangers are
indeed God and his angels. The hospitality that Abraham offers
sets the table for the Word of God to be shared: “Abraham, you will
have a son.”
It’s not that God’s word cannot be heard in barren or
inhospitable places and circumstances. God is not so limited, but
we are. God can speak in any situation, but we cannot always
hear. The Bible witnesses to the struggle of the Hebrews in the
wilderness where they were so preoccupied with the lack of
worldly comforts that they constantly complained against God
and Moses. To keep their attention, to keep them moving, to keep
them faithful, God often prepared dinners of manna and quail.
Only then, when fed, could they hear the word. So it is with us.
Let’s be honest. We draw boundaries. We say,
“I don’t like greeting people.”
“I don’t like meeting people.”
“It makes me feel uncomfortable.”
“I don’t want to embarrass myself introducing myself to a
person who’s been a long time member.”
I understand that more than you know.
As a pastor, I have to be ON . . . ALL the time. I used to see it as a
burden, but I don’t anymore. However, there are more than a few
Sundays a year when I don’t really want to come to church and be
cheery, open, greeting, and invitational. A preacher is a person
too. I draw boundaries around me just like everyone else. There
are days when I walk in and pray, “Lord, you’re going to have to
help me today. I’m not in a people mood!”
We all draw boundaries around ourselves. The disciples did it.
They were always drawing boundaries and distinctions that tried
to keep people a distance from Jesus. Whether it was the children
in Matthew’s gospel or the woman at the well in John’s gospel,
they didn’t really think those people needed to be around Jesus
bothering him. But, in every instance where the disciples put up
barriers, Jesus pushed through the boundaries and invited people
in. When Jesus tried to sneak away from the crowds for a little
quiet time, they tracked him down. What did he do? Not what I
would have done. He had compassion on them, healed their sick,
and then fed all 5,000 plus of them.
Hospitality compels us to see people as Jesus does. Hospitality
also calls us to see Jesus in the people God brings before us.
Hospitality sets the table for God’s word to be heard. That is why
true welcoming is more interested in the needs of the guest than
the preferences of the host. That’s why we think more about
visitors’ needs in the church than about members’ comforts.
Members may say, “Well, I pay the bills, visitors don’t!
What about me?” My response, “What are we . . . the
Church or a country club?” Let’s answer that question
honestly first, then talk about whose needs we focus
on.
A theology of hospitality calls us to create
a welcome environment where the word
of God is more easily heard and
understood. It also compels us to
be attentive to what people
need so that their eyes,
ears, hearts, and
minds are open
to the Spirit
of God.