June 10, 2002

HOSPITALITY

Hospitality is that generosity of spirit that causes a person to reach beyond concerns for individual survival and security, even beyond caring for family and friends. Hospitality has long arms, extending to people outside our circle of nearness.

The New Testament holds hospitality in high esteem. Without it, the ministry of Jesus and his band of itinerant disciples would have been impossible; as Jesus said, he had "no place to lay his head." So it's not surprising that the earliest believers considered hospitality essential to the fulfilment of their life together and their evangelistic mission. It's listed as an important quality for church leaders to demonstrate (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8). And all church members should be hospitable toward one another, even when it's inconvenient (1 Peter 4:9).

But New Testament hospitality goes far beyond that. Paul encouraged believers to "extend hospitality to strangers." (Romans 12:13). Peter expanded on this with a reference to an Old Testament example:

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it."
(Hebrews 13:2, probably referring to
Genesis 18:1-8, 19:1-3)

As a matter of fact, the very idea of hospitality includes some "strangeness" in the person being embraced. The Greek word is a combination of two words: "love of strangers" (philoxenia). If drawing near to this person were completely natural, if we had many shared experiences and memories, if we felt perfectly safe with the other person, that would not qualify as hospitality. The root meaning of the Greek word implies that hospitality will always be a stretch and never completely comfortable.

Actually, the Greek word xenos is quite strong. It often goes beyond our idea of a stranger and is used to describe a foreigner, an alien. The word comes over into English in our word xenophobia, which means "hatred or distrust of foreigners." As Christians, we are expected to turn this around and actually show love to people who make us feel very uncomfortable because their looks, language, habits and culture are so different from ours.

In the list of behaviors Jesus described in Matthew 25, by which he will separate the sheep from the goats, we find this included:
      "I was a stranger (xenos) and you welcomed me."   (Matthew 25:35)
One of the radical things he calls his disciples to do is reverse the selfish human tendency to relate only to those people who are most like us, and instead reach out to people who are very unlike us.

If you have a bunch of fellow sports fans over to watch the Laker game, that's not hospitality, no matter how much great snacking food you provide. Hospitality happens when you invite over that strange new family in the neighborhood, where the father wears a turban and the mother has a red dot on her forehead. What kind of food can they eat? What will we talk about, since I can hardly understand them through their accent? Should we say grace over the food, or will that offend them? Will this evening be a fiasco that reinforces their picture of "the ugly American" and reminds them of some Christian missionary in their country who always acted condescending toward them?

Uncomfortable. Risky. Now, that's hospitality

–Pastor George Van Alstine