I never heard a sermon on hospitality. I have heard and offered sermons on friendship and fellowship which are the larger themes related to hospitality. But, hospitality deserves its own treatment because of its biblical status, and the results favoring God and Christian life-forming that hospitality brings. In advising the Roman Christians, the Apostle Paul included a number of attitudes and conducts relating to the application of Christian principles to daily life in relationships with others, both with those in faith and those without. One of these is hospitality. The Apostle was taken with the preparation of others he felt gifted for ministry, as he was with Timothy and Titus. He groomed them both, even repeating that he wrote to one he also wrote to the other in lists of attitudes (thought life leading to readiness for action) and conduct (deliberate actions) that included hospitality as means for ministry. The Apostle Peter seems to have acknowledged that following hospitality one would feel used, in that it took some effort and/or that others were not so engaged, not returning the hospitality they were given. Both the Second and Third Epistles of John have reference to hospitality – in the Second to a lady, her children, and to all they that have known the truth – who apparently wanted to practice the gift of hospitality, and the Third to Gaius to whom he compliments the hospitable ways in which he advances Christian contexts. He also faults Diotrephes for lacking hospitality, which he will address to Diotrephes if the opportunity arises. He accents hospitality to the point of beings personal enough to know one another by name. We might begin the discussion by asking our people how many of the members of the congregation do they know by name.
We might also begin the discussion by understanding that among the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Gift of Helps. Among the factors in the Gift of Helps is the Gift of Hospitality. It also is a major subdivision of Christian ministry for both laity and clergy. It is practical, possible, effective and affirmative. It can be seen or interpreted as sometimes laborious, unfairly distributed, misapplied, and distracting – so to be competitive, gossipy, political, costly, and inconvenient. It is up to the hosts to make sure the purpose is protected and carried through – to comfort, build up, share, and fellowship with others, especially those of the household of faith, but also with those not offended by the spiritual purpose of it all. There is lasting meaning and value to those who offer it and those who receive it. Values are raised above the measures of wealth, status, education, or any other differential that is commonly applied to society.
During the period in which the New Testament writings were being first distributed the business of hospitality would be welcome both in the paucity of entertainment found in everyday life especially for the poor, and the reliance of personal relationships so to sense the meaning of mutuality to each other and to the interests of God in human exchange. Despite the ease in which hospitality might currently be carried through, it is largely omitted. We have so much available to us. Our work is defined by the hours it demands. Our preoccupation with things, with travel, with technology, with private habits, with costs, and the like make us private and reserved. We miss the relationships that make us more human, not only in our thoughts but in our actions. Even secularists, including city governments, are seeking ways to develop community so to bring people together – a form of hospitality. Our town sponsors concerts in the park during the summer months, and means for citizens to get together. There are marathons for runners and bikers, a meeting of enthusiasts for restored cars of early vintage, gardening for city sites, and the story can be extended. All this recommends the universal benefit of hospitality – the fellowship of human beings. It can be shown in many ways. A college friend of mine made her interest in tennis a cause for hospitality to others. My family gets together on holidays. Some of us have breakfast together on Sundays, before or after church services. We try to make sure to make our visitors sense that their fellowship is special with us. We also make sure there is some spiritual reference made to the visit relative to the church, prayer, activity or some interest that relates to Jesus Christ as a natural part of our lives. From literature I have read, an item never forgotten is of the traveler who stayed a night in the home of Jonathan Edwards, and the affirmation of the man to the Edwards hospitality, and its impression of spiritual greatness on him. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020