BROADCASTS.com

Love must be sincere\u2026Share with the Lord\u2019s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:9a, 13)

Let\u2019s continue our conversation about Christian hospitality. If you\u2019re tuning if for the first time or have missed a few, you can find two earlier editions of Wilderness Wanderings that deal with hospitality. My intention with these reflections is to help us discern the difference between our common understand of hospitality and what I am calling \u2018Christian hospitality.\u2019 Please understand that common hospitality is not bad, or something Christians ought not to do. Rather, when Paul instructs us to practice hospitality, he means more than just opening our homes to people.

I have attempted to root this idea of Christian hospitality in God\u2019s own character and behaviour. Today, I want to reflect further on that, returning to the idea of Jesus incarnation (that is, his coming to this world as an infant). There are two things I want to mention.

First, Jesus came to earth. When we think of hospitality, we often think about inviting people into our spaces. When we do that, we remain in a comfortable place, and to a large extent, in control of the situation. We can expect people to play by our rules when they enter our space. But Jesus came to earth. He turns the concept of hospitality on its head. He comes into our space. And he sends us out, he says \u2018Go\u2019. Go into other people\u2019s spaces. Part of Christian hospitality then, is to let go of the control that comes from being in our own spaces and learning how to live and move in some else\u2019s.

Let\u2019s pause for a moment. Are there places we don\u2019t want to go? Are there places that make us uncomfortable and therefore we stay away or leave as quickly as possible? I think the honest answer is yes. As a pastor, I have been invited into quite a few spaces that were very unfamiliar, in which I really did not know how to behave. I\u2019m sure that I made a mess of some situations. But in such spaces, I have learned to ask a simple question, why did you invite me here, or what would you like me to do since I\u2019m here anyways. I\u2019ve found that asking such a question empowers people; it lets them set the agenda. It also reminds me that there is lots I don\u2019t know and that people might not need anything from me but my being present.

This leads to a second point about the incarnation: because Jesus has lived as a human, he can sympathize with us. The book of Hebrews makes a big deal about this. How long did Jesus live here? About 33 years. This ought to give us pause. How can we sympathize with people if we don\u2019t invest time in walking with them?

An essential component of Christian hospitality is the ability to sympathize with other people. This can not be rushed. So, hospitality invites us in for the long haul. It calls us to pay attention to people, to set aside our own agendas, especially our answers to their problems and just to listen. We have a tendency to see people as projects that we get to fix. Once, fixed, we move on to the next. People are not projects. They are people. Each human is as much an image bearer of God as you and I am.

We haven\u2019t spent much time in other people\u2019s homes over the past months. Many of us will not feel comfortable doing so for a long time. As such, we have not been able to practice common hospitality. But we can still practice Christian hospitality. It doesn\u2019t require going into people\u2019s homes or inviting them into ours (even though that makes it easier). We can still pay close attention to people. We can still ask questions that empower people. We can still walk along side of them. And we can still learn to sympathize with them.

Does this understanding of hospitality unnerve you? Does it seem more difficult than just inviting someone over? Of course, it does. But remember this, after Jesus returned to the Father, he sent his Spirit. God\u2019s Holy Spirit now makes his home in us. He empowers us to be hospitable. He helps us love like God loves.

\xa0