Hospitality

The summer after my freshman year in college, I traveled from Michigan to New Orleans with six other guys from our college to sell dictionaries door-to-door. What a life-changing adventure that was!

Looking back, one of the things that I remember vividly was my first exposure to “Southern Hospitality.” The seven of us would show up at a different church each Sunday and I can’t remember a time when we weren’t invited to somebody’s house for supper after the service.

On numerous occasions, the Bible exhorts us to show hospitality to others. Following are some examples:

· “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:13)

· “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (I Peter 4:8-9)

· “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable.” (I Timothy 3:2)

It’s interesting that the word “hospitality” comes from a Greek word that means a “lover of strangers,” and the Bible reminds us of the importance of showing hospitality toward strangers when it says; “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)

In another place, we are reminded that God especially expects us to freely express hospitality toward two very special groups when the Bible declares that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

And speaking of widows, when a church tries to determine which of the widows in its midst qualifies for some special support, one of the things to be considered is whether the individual under consideration has in fact shown hospitality to others, as stated in the following, “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over 60, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.” (I Timothy 5:9-10)

Sam Foss, in “The House by the Side of the Road,” tells of the day he was hiking through a rural part of England and spotted a very humble unpainted house on the top of the hill. By the road there was a rustic sign with a finger pointing to a well-worn path with this written on it:

“Come in and have a drink of water and an apple.” It was obvious that the people in the house didn’t have much to give to strangers apart from a spring with cold water and an apple tree, yet what they did have they kindly shared with all who walked by. That’s hospitality. Generously sharing what you have with others. It’s been said that the bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others.

One of the most beautiful compensations of life is that none of us can sincerely try to help others without in some way bringing joy to ourselves. The Bible reminds us of this when it says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)