July25 final from The Bridge Church on Vimeo.
Recap from SHARING- Tell me what comes to mind when I mention the word “hospitality.” the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers
Recap The City and look at how when people talk about hospitality they talk about home
Difference between fellowship and hospitality-Hebrews 13:2
Why don’t people practice hospitality/entertain strangers?-looking for practical answers
- Scared of People-TV, Craigslist, garage sales
- Too busy-work, kids, church
- Too wrapped up in their own lives to care about others
- Don’t care about others Don’t know God
- Don’t want people in their home
- Fear of the unknown- Phobias and fears-bugs, heights, drowning, being pinned down-FEAR OF UNKNOWN
- Why are we scared of the unknown? Strange, unfamiliar, don’t know what to expect, think about the bad that could happen
- What are some things that you did for the first time that you were scared or nervous about? First time you kissed a girl, rode a motorcycle, got married, had a baby, shared your faith, kids in crowds, driving in a new part of town, waiting on test results.
- Scared of what we don’t know-Pictures of people who look like us, talk like us, act like us. Muslims, Asians.
Words for alien-another family, race, alien, barbarian and even enemy
These words produce a reciprocal tension between the two parties. The man from without is strange, hard to fathom, surprising and unsettling. But to the stranger his odd and different environment is also disturbing and threatening. There thus arises mutual fear, especially of the magical powers of what is foreign. This idea existed in earlier cultures as it does today.
Who is the stranger today? Neighbor, friend, relative, co-worker, non-Xn, person you don’t know in this church
Taking all of the above into consideration, when is the last time you had a stranger(neighbor) in your house and why did you have them there?
What Does Hospitality Have to Do with God?
If it doesn’t have to do with God, it is simply of no interest in a church that aims to be God-centered and God-saturated. The mark of a God-centered Christian is that you always answer the question why you do something by referring to God as we know him in Jesus Christ. We should strongly resist the temptation to justify any action, including hospitality, just because it is part of the so called “Judeo-Christian ethic.”
Rooted in the Old Testament
The God-centered motivation for hospitality begins in the Old Testament. Perhaps the clearest text is Leviticus 19:33-34: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Deut. 10:18-19-He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
What is the motivation for hospitality here?
“I Am the Lord Your God”
Love strangers “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Why should a person love strangers just because he has been a stranger? Perhaps he shouldn’t. But that’s not the point. The point is that they were strangers in Egypt, but aren’t any more! Why? Because: “I am the Lord your God.”
The words “I am the Lord your God,” are packed with meaning because they are the very first words of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:2. Any good Israelite could finish the sentence: “I am the Lord your God WHO BROUGHT YOU UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE.” “I am the Lord your God” (which occurs a dozen times in Leviticus 19) is shorthand for: I am Yahweh who came to you when you were oppressed aliens in Egypt and saved you.
For the people of God in the Old Testament the duty of hospitality came right from the center of who God was. I am the Lord your God who made a home for you and brought you there with all my might and all my soul. Therefore, you shall love the stranger as yourself. You shall be holy as I am holy (Leviticus 19:1). Your values shall mirror my values.
Rooted in the teachings and life of Jesus
Examples-neighbor as foreigner (Luke 10:25-37-our neighbors are just as beaten as the Samaritan but just in different ways), Matthew 25-how Jesus says we should treat the outsider because it signifies where we will end up (remember that Jesus is the stranger) in the Great Judgment Jesus makes hospitality to strangers a supreme commandment
The Real Reason Why (Go Back to Original Question)
- Not living out of a transformed heart-NOT SATURATED WITH CHRIST
- Don’t know the Bible tells them they have to
- Don’t know how to share the Gospel
Where can you entertain strangers?
- Work, ballgame, neighborhood, park, camping, church
- Hospitality is not limited to the home
- To entertain strangers you have to meet strangers!
What is the purpose of hospitality?
- To Be Like God
- To show the love of Christ
- To Build Bridges-Hospitality turns mutual fear into mutual trust.
- End Game is to share the Gospel-St. Francis
What Happens When We Practice Hospitality
Therefore when we practice hospitality, here’s what happens: we experience the refreshing joy of becoming conduits of God’s hospitality rather than being self-decaying cul-de-sacs. The joy of receiving God’s hospitality decays and dies if it doesn’t flourish in our own hospitality to others.
Or here is another way to put it: when we practice hospitality, we experience the thrill of feeling God’s power conquer our fears and our stinginess and all the psychological gravity of our self-centeredness. And there are few joys, if any, greater than the joy of experiencing the liberating power of God’s hospitality making us a new and radically different kind of people, who love to reflect the glory of his grace as we extend it to others in all kinds of hospitality.