Gospel Hospitality

In this post I am going to define and describe what Gospel Hospitality is. I will follow this up with a post describing how our community has worked this out in tangible forms.

SO, WHAT IS HOSPITALITY?

In general, hospitality is about treating a stranger as an equal to the host by creating space for him to be protected, provided for and taken care of, all of which is followed by assisting and guiding him on to his next destination.

The Origin of Hospitality

Creation: God’s Hospitable Act
(Genesis 1-2)

How does Creation inform our thinking about Hospitality?

There is a lot of history to consider in understanding the act or art of hospitality, but it all goes back to the beginning…

Consider what God did in Creating the world, the garden and humanity to live in it. He gave them all they needed to enjoy life restfully while doing the work He created them for. He gave them space to be, enjoy creation and each other and to walk in relationship with Him. They were given both the space and the capability to create, work and exercise authority all while being graciously provided for so they had the resources necessary to do it.

Israel: God's Hospitable People

Consider God’s commands to His people regarding strangers: Leviticus 19:9-10, 33-34; Deuteronomy 10:18-19…

Q: How should this inform how we care for those around us?

God through Abraham and Sarah created a new nation to be His People blessed to be a blessing to all nations. He gave them all the resources and capabilities to exercise hospitality to the strangers, orphans and widows. Similar to the Garden, they were to be a people and place of refuge where people could rest and receive all they needed to enable them to do what God had created them for, but now this rest was in the midst of a broken, sinful world.

Israel: A People in Need of Rest

On the flip side, think of the number of occasions where Israel found itself as the strangers among a host people. In some cases they found a hospitable reception (Egypt with Joseph in charge; the spies and Rahab). In other cases they found themselves treated like enemies or slaves (Slavery in Egypt; Babylonian Captivity).

God had called them to be a hospitable people, yet they often failed to do so. Then, He places them in the situation where they are the recipients of Hospitality. Now, they understood the effects of hospitality personally.

God allows us to experience grace as recipients so that we might be distributors of grace to others. Hospitality for Israel is a clear example of God’s gracious gift given to move Israel towards generous hospitality.

They Failed to Enter Rest...

However, Israel failed to enter God's rest because of their unbelief and disobedience (Hebrews 4). So, not only did they not rest in the work of God, but they also failed to be a refuge people for the other nations. They needed one who would come fully resting in God in faith and obedience who would also be for the people a place of refuge and healing...

GOSPEL INFORMED HOSPITALITY

Jesus: Gospel Hospitality

Jesus entered into a culture that was informed by a variety of worldviews (Roman, Hebrew and Greek to name a few). In this culture, the concept of hospitality found its etymological roots from a few different streams:

1. The idea of taking in a hostile stranger or enemy and treating him as you would yourself
2. The Greek practice of hospitality where a stranger passing outside a Greek house would be invited inside the house by the family. The host washed the strangers feet, offered him/her food and wine and only after he/she was feeling at comfortably could be asked to tell his/her name.
3. The above practice of hospitality stemmed from the thought that the gods mingled among men and if you played host to a deity poorly, you would incur the wrath of a god.
4. Another shaping force in the concept of hospitality in Jesus’ day was the Hebrew understanding (as briefly considered in the passages above and demonstrated also in the story of Lot and the angels– Genesis 19)

Jesus comes into this context and calls the weary to himself, feeds the hungry, mends the broken, eats with sinners and tax collectors, washes his disciples' feet...and ultimately gives his life to cleanse us from sin, deal with our unbelief and provide a way and place for us to rest.

He lives, loves, obeys, works, dies and rises again so that we might find a place of rest, renewal and recreation...ultimately so that we might be about God's purposes - saved to be His Hospitable People

The Church: God's Hospitable People

In light of the Gospel, we might define hospitality as the creating of space that allows people to BE themselves (come into the light of Christ), to BECOME renewed (changed by the work of Christ) and then to DO the works God has saved them for (Recreated in Christ for good works)…

TO BE:

Rested…
In a broken world, marred and diseased by the effects of sin, people need the space to rest. This is why Jesus called people who were weary and heavy laden to come to him. He would give them rest for their weary souls. Jesus calls us to rest in his work on our behalf so that we can be a people at rest who provide sanctuaries of rest for others.

Q: How do we create space for rest and restoration?

Our True Selves…
Before the Fall Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. God had created a place and made space for them to be themselves without covering or facades. If we are in Christ we are clothed with His righteousness – we don’t need to cover up or hide. One of the ways we create space for people to experience and come to understand the Gospel is by creating space for people to reveal their true self and see that they are loved regardless of the “wrinkles and scars” of sin.

Q: How do we create space for people to be their true self?

TO BECOME:

Whole…
The Gospel isn’t only about loving and forgiving sinners. It is also about restoring broken and marred people into healed and whole people who grow up to become imitators of Jesus Christ – restored image bearers of God.

Jesus created space for people to be and to become (Think Mary, Peter, Thomas, the woman at the well, the blind man, the paralyzed, etc…). Gospel hospitality implies creating space for people to be known, to be real, to be loved and ultimately to be led with the Holy Spirit’s help to healing and wholeness through the work and person of Jesus Christ.

Q: How do we create space for people to be led toward healing and wholeness?

TO DO:

The works we were created for…
The movement of the gospel goes from who God is and what He has done on our behalf so we can rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ and move forward into the works He created us to do (See Ephesians 2:8-10).

This is the result of Jesus’ Gospel hospitality. He got on the same level with his enemy – becoming human. He became our servant – to the point of death. He spent all that he had in order to clean us up – by becoming our sin and giving us his righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Then He sent us His Spirit to empower us to do good works for his sake so others could be welcomed in to the family. When we engage in gospel hospitality we are regularly asking ourselves this question:


Q: How do we create space for the stranger to be rested, restored, healed and prepared in Jesus Christ for the work God has called them to?


Coming...Soma's experience of Gospel Hospitality...