The Zone Gathering

This is Part 5 of our Spring Leadership Lesson Series: Radical Hospitality. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. Hospitality is on the front lines of such an advance.

Today, we will explore the example that Jesus gives us through his teaching and life.

I have a challenge to small groups: Is there a group who would invest two days’ pay into a mission of hospitality? More on that in a second…

The teachings of Jesus often touch on the topic of hospitality. As we’ve discussed over the past few weeks, God plays many different roles in hospitality stories. In the book Making Room, author Christine Pohl comments on these various roles, “This intermingling of guest and host roles in the person of Jesus is part of what makes the story of hospitality so compelling for Christians. Jesus welcomes and needs welcome; Jesus requires that followers depend on and provide hospitality. The practice of Christian hospitality is always located within the larger picture of Jesus’ sacrificial welcome to all who come to him.”

Jesus as Guest

The Rule of St. Benedict, which Benedictine monastic traditions follow, states, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.’”

We see the guest role of Jesus most clearly in his teaching in Matthew 25, when he once again declared that hospitality was the path to salvation: “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”

We provide hospitality because we encounter Jesus in that service.

Jesus as Host

One of my favorite hospitality stories from the life of Jesus is the water into wine miracle. If I had been God, I’m not sure I would have picked that for the first miracle. Raising someone from the dead- that’s a great way to blast onto the cultural scene. Healing a blind man with your own hands- that would establish your authority. Restoring a woman caught in the act of adultery- that would lay a new theological framework. But turning water into wine at a wedding of a friend who was too idiotic to make appropriate plans? That doesn’t make sense, but that’s Jesus and hospitality at its best.

We see teachings on hospitality elsewhere. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In John 14:12, he says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” The Sermon on the Mount challenges us to love our enemies and to give gifts in secret.

We provide hospitality because we grow in Christ-likeness as we follow his example.

A Tale of Two Hosts

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we see all the marks of hospitality- the Samaritan enters uncertainty, welcomes the stranger, and invests his personal resources. In return, God brings power, provision, and protection to the Jewish man and Jesus teaches us that hospitality like this is the road to living eternally in the presence of God.

Compare this story to the one that follows it in the Biblical narrative. Immediately after the Samaritan story, Luke records that Jesus visited Mary and Martha. If there’s ever been a hospitality guru of the teacups and doilies (entertainment) variety, it was Martha. She was running around cleaning the house, preparing dinner, and ensuring that her guests were comfortable. Nothing wrong in that. But it wasn’t the hospitality that Jesus desired.

Luke 10 gives us an odd juxtaposition of hospitality stories. One is the kind that demands risk and uncertainty and often isn’t considered in our entertainment versions of hospitality today, and Jesus loves it. The other shows us the original Martha Stewart in action, and Jesus makes it known that it’s not what he’s most interested in.

The Hospitality Challenge

So back to the two days’ pay challenge. In the story of the Good Samaritan, we are told that the Samaritan paid the innkeeper two silver coins, two danarii, or two pence, depending on the translation you are using. A denarius was the equivalent of one day’s pay in the first century, so the innkeeper was able to pull two days’ pay out of his pocket and plop it down for the care of a stranger. What a challenge to us! How many of us could scrape together two days’ pay for a mission of hospitality?

So that’s my challenge to small groups. Invest two days pay into a mission of hospitality. Be creative. Think outside the box. Consider your community. And send your story.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Leadership Lessons, Radical Hospitality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.