Lori McCormick
It was July 2003 when the moving truck pulled up in front of our home in Smyrna, TN. I had only been there a year and a half. They boxed our belongings, loaded them up and took off for Shakopee, MN. My goodbyes were brief; having been there only a short time I didn’t have any real close friendships, but even so, I was now going to have to start over.
“Oh, you are a baby Christian.” Words sweetly spoken to me early on in my faith journey. I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what that meant. How was I different, and a baby at that? I had repented of my sin and had come into a relationship with Jesus just as this person had.
As shelter in place lingers on and I have recently been checking in on people, there is a very common thread that is growing. Grief. Loss. Uncertainty. Fear. Depression. Doubt. But in the same conversation I also hear the other side. Hope. Joy. Faith. Trust. Belief. The current COVID-19 realities that we are living is colliding with our faith, and we are trying to make sense of it all. Some days we are on top of the world and know God is at work and we believe He will bring us through this. Other days we want to crawl under the covers and not come out until it is all over. And many more emotions throughout the day.
As we enter the month of December and the Christmas season, I’d like to explore the spirit of giving.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May. The year was 2006. I was at a women’s retreat in the southeastern part of Minnesota. The focus of the retreat was spiritual, physical and mental health. The presenter was talking about depression and suicide.
The word hospitality invokes many different ideas, thoughts and expectations. As you think about this word what comes to your mind? Do you have pictures of being invited to your friends’ home where you are met at the door? Is the home sparkling clean? Is it beautiful? Does it look like it could be featured in Pinterest? Were you served a gourmet meal on fine china? Are you given hugs? Did they take your coat and hang it up? Are you offered something to drink? Are you engaged in meaningful conversation? Are you introduced to the other guests? Do your friends attend to your needs? Do you feel welcomed, accepted, and loved? Were you treated with kindness? Were you cared for? Or do you think along the lines of being greeted by a person inside the doors at Walmart? Or a cashier at Caribou that looks you in the eye and smiles at you. Is it the customer service clerk who pleasantly gives you a refund for a purchase you return? We have many ideas and examples of hospitality in our everyday lives. Throughout the Bible we find stories of giving and receiving hospitality and we find scripture that commands that as Christ followers we are to show hospitality. So, what does that look like? Biblical Hospitality Nancy Leigh Demoss writes, “The word ‘hospitality’ in the New Testament comes from two Greek words. The first word means ‘love’ and the second word means ‘strangers.’ It’s a word that means love of strangers. Does biblical hospitality look like what we imagined above? Maybe. Or is there more? Are there differences? Showing love to a stranger is different and much more than a sparkling clean, beautiful home with Pinterest looking decorations and a gourmet meal. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, biblical hospitality involves our heart and our hands. We reach out to people who may be different than us. We take a risk. We step out of our comfort zone. We step away from what is normal and comfortable. This hospitality can happen many places both inside the church or out in the world. The parable in Luke 10:25-37 is a beautiful example of biblical hospitality. A man is beaten, stripped, robbed and left along the side of the road. A Samaritan man, a total stranger, who would typically not have any contact with the beaten man, stops to help. He truly loves this stranger as he attends to his needs physically. He takes additional time to take him to a place where he can rest and heal. He pays for his care and a place for him to stay. He then promises that he will check back in on him and take care of any additional costs. Think about the biblical hospitality shown by Boaz to Ruth and Naomi in the book of Ruth. The women, Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth, are returning to Naomi’s homeland of Judah. They have lost their husbands and they have nothing. As Ruth goes out to glean in the fields to provide food for the two ladies, Boaz takes notice. He doesn’t know Ruth, she is a foreigner, but he sees her and provides biblical hospitality as he protects her, makes sure she is able to gather grain, invites her to eat with him, and makes sure that food is provided for Naomi. Throughout the New Testament, many provided biblical hospitality for Jesus and his disciples in the form of a place to sleep and food to eat, as they traveled to share the gospel. There are many verses that speak to us today on how we are to provide biblical hospitality. Here are a few for you to look up and consider: Romans 12:13 – Always be eager to practice hospitality. Hebrews 13:2 – Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers. 1 Peter 4:8-10 – Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. There are many possibilities for us to show biblical hospitality. Sunday mornings at church is a great place to start practicing biblical hospitality through small steps: *Greet someone you haven’t yet met. Introduce yourself, get their name. Engage in a short conversation. *Introduce someone you know to someone else. Help to build connections within the church. *Follow-up with someone you met recently. *Thank someone for a job well done. Look around at all those people serving on a Sunday morning. Take time to say thank you for giving of their time, talent, treasure and touch. *Join a Sunday morning serve team. There are many areas that you can serve that will help you to meet “strangers” and give you the opportunity to love them. Take a couple of minutes now to ask God to show you and prompt you how to begin showing biblical hospitality both at church and in your daily life.
