“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:1
The New Testament is full of commands to “practice hospitality” so Krista and I have been striving to meet and show hospitality to our neighbors. God has given us opportunities to have four of our eight surrounding neighbors over for a meal in the past year. At Christmas time, one of our neighbors (who we had over for dinner a year ago), gave us a gift and card. In the card they wrote, “Merry Christmas to our best neighbors ever!” I was simultaneously encouraged and saddened by that. I was encouraged that they appreciated our hospitality so much. But, then I thought, “We just had you over for dinner once!”. We’ve talked to our neighbors when we have seen them outside, but “best neighbor ever”?! The hospitality bar is indeed low, but God can use us, Church.
It is so easy to make excuses for why we don’t practice hospitality. I found this quote by author Alex Strauch. It is very convicting because I have thought every one of these things myself. Alex wrote this:
“At our heart, we are all selfish and selfishness is the single greatest enemy of hospitality. We do not want to be inconvenienced. We don’t want to share our privacy or time with others. We are consumed with our personal comforts. We want to be free to go about our business without interference or concern for other people’s needs. We don’t want the responsibility and work that hospitality entails. We are greedy and don’t want to share our food, home or money. We are afraid that we will be used or that our property will sustain damage.”
Let’s forget the excuses and practice hospitality!
With you,
Josh
Posted in A Word from the Pastor