A Vision For Hospitality

From Mark: Trish did a wonderful job casting a vision for hospitality. We thought it might serve the women of the church to have some of the key ideas from her message. We would also love to hear your thoughts on the message and how God is envisioning you for hospitality. Please feel free to respond to this blog with any thoughts you have.

A Vision for Hospitality

Trish Donohue – March 29, 2008

What is hospitality? The Greek word in the Bible means “fondness or affection for strangers, generosity to guests”. The connotation it carries is one of lovingly and cheerfully welcoming people into our lives and our homes. Real hospitality is not another plate to spin. It is not just another offhand topic to fill up a women’s meeting. It’s so much more profound—an outworking of the heart of our gracious Savior—a reflection of him. God loves and demonstrates hospitality more than anyone.

God did something astounding. To secure a permanent place for us in his presence, in a way we couldn’t ruin, He left his courts of glory and stepped into a place now filled with evil, poverty, and death. At incomprehensible cost to himself, he gave his life, and ripped that temple’s “Keep Out” curtain in two, securing for us an open door into his home and into his heart. We see the ultimate fulfillment of this in Revelation 21:3

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

In the most amazing act of hospitality, he opens the door and says, “What’s mine is yours – my home, my righteousness, my riches. Take it. Even my Father shall be your Father. Enter into the joy of my rest. It’s the widest invitation of hospitality we’ll ever see.

Because God has opened his door to us, we are called to open our doors to others. Hospitality is not entertaining – it is a significant way we image God to others. What is the difference between ‘entertaining’ and hospitality? Karen Mains does a good job of presenting this contrast in a book she’s written on hospitality. I’ve summarized her thoughts:

Secular Entertaining	Biblical Hospitality
Is based on pride I want to impress you with my beautiful home, my clever decorating, my gourmet cooking.	Is based on service and ministry This house (or life) isn’t mine. It’s a gift, and as a servant, I use it as God desires.
Puts things before people I’ll have them over when that room is decorated or the dishes upgraded.	Puts people before things If an invitation would serve them, we’ll work with what we have even if it’s not much.
Communicates: this is mine	Communicates: what’s mine is yours
Finds it’s inspiration in magazines	Finds its inspiration in God’s Word

If we embrace a vision of hospitality that is appropriate for our season of life, we will see God move in us and through us in ways we might never imagine. As Alexander Strauch has said in his excellent book “The Hospitality Commands”,

“I don’t think Christians today understand how essential hospitality is to the flames of love and strengthening of the Christian family. Hospitality fleshes out love in a uniquely personal and sacrificial way. Through the ministry of hospitality, we share our most prized possessions. We share our family, home, finances, food, privacy, and time. Indeed, we share our very lives. So hospitality is always costly. Through the ministry of hospitality we provide friendship, acceptance, fellowship, refreshment, comfort, and love in one of the richest and deepest ways possible for humans to understand. Unless we open the doors of our homes to one another, the reality of the local church as a close-knit family of loving brothers and sisters is only a theory.” Alexander Strauch