We’re continuing in our series entitled “Living Beyond Self’… where we have considered the very nature of who we are and how we find ourselves. We’ve noted…
Our truest self lies not in autonomy but in relationship with God and others…. and finds itself when given to these.
So the ‘self’ grows through relationship… not becoming lost in others… but in relationship to others.
The internal working is that of compassion… the power to see the need and potential of all… identify with it… and extend what we have to serve it.
Compassion is that which expands us… as it makes room to take in others in our inner being.
When we become self-absorbed… we become small… but the compassionate person is truly the bigger person.
Compassion is the essence of living beyond self… the sustenance of the soul that allows us to become bigger… to grow into the fullness of our God-given nature.
This past week… following the historic inauguration of Barak Obama to the presidency of the United States… a National Prayer service was held as the start of his first day. There the pastor spoke quite pointedly to the new president… and drew upon the words of the prophet Isaiah…
Isaiah 58:6-8 (NIV)
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice …to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear…”
This is the biblical way. It is also the American way—to believe in something bigger than ourselves, to reach out to neighbor to build communities of possibility, of liberty and justice for all. This is the center we can find again whenever we are pulled at and pawed at by the vengeful wolf, when we are tempted by the self-interested fast.
America’s true character, the source of our national wisdom and strength, is rooted in a generous and hopeful spirit.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, . . .
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
Emma Lazarus’ poetry is spelled out further by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,: “As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I have a billion dollars. As long as diseases are rampant and millions of people in this world cannot expect to live more than twenty-eight or thirty years, I can never be totally healthy . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the way our world is made.”
(Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins message at National Prayer Service January 21, 2009)
These words bring home what God has been speaking to us.. and where we continue today. From seeing that we are connected to developing the inner state of compassion that moves us to extend ourselves… and now this morning I want to take up what that action takes up. HOSPITALITY
> To join life in God is to join in HOSPITALITY.
I realize that hospitality may not sound like the highest expression of spiritual life.
When we use the word hospitality… what are the first ideas and images that come to mind? Perhaps we think of warm meals around a finely decorated table… to which Martha Stewart is the queen.
> I want to help us transform both our understanding of what hospitality means… but also the significance in our lives… in living the life of Jesus… of living beyond ourselves.
I believe that no word may have become as misused as the word ‘hospitality.’
When we consider the life of Jesus… the centrality of gatherings… many of which were meals.
What was more powerful and prophetic in the way Jesus lives and shared life… the menu or the guest list? (What was really significant in the way Jesus joined with others… the menu or the guest list?)
As we engage his choices… and the reactions… it becomes profound how significant was his choice of who was being joined together like family. > It is this that is at the root of hospitality.
The power of hospitality lies in the significance of INCLUSION.
Hospitality is an expression of inclusion… including others in the kind of care that reflects a common bond.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines hospitality as “welcoming guests with warmth and generosity…and well disposed toward strangers.”
The Latin root of the word hospitality is hospes, which refers to a guest, visitor, host or stranger. Our word hospital is derived from this same root word… and the word hostility from it’s opposite. (hostis: stranger, foreigner or enemy.)
The Greek word for hospitality, "philoxenia" is a Greek compound word.
• Philo means love, like Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love."
• Philoxenia means the love of xenos - stranger; the love of a stranger.
• Hospitality literally is the love of a stranger.
It is here that Jesus’ model formed the thinking of the early church.
• For Jesus, the distinctive of hospitality was that you not only opened up your home and your life to friends, those you already know, those you already have relationship with, but you open up your home and life to the stranger, to people you don’t know.
• You live in an ever increasingly large circle.
• Hospitality was the criterion for choosing elders. It was a commandment given to all Christians. And hospitality is a standard by which you and I will be judged eternally.
• Christ even pointed to the practice of hospitality as evidence that we have come to know him as Savior, and a lack of hospitality as evidence that we haven’t.
Jesus pressed the point of inclusion in all that he did… it was his greatest offense. One night while having dinner at one of the religious leaders homes…
Luke 14:12-14 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Jesus is saying something pretty strong here… it can read like there is no place for friends. That isn’t the intent.
What Jesus says in v. 12 literally should read, "Then Jesus said to his host, ’When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not always keep inviting your friends.’"
It shouldn’t read "do not invite your friends" as if it is totally wrong to get together with friends or family members.
Jesus is not saying don’t ever get together with friends. But literally he says, "Don’t always keep inviting friends." In other words, don’t exclusively restrict your invitation list to those who you already know and like and who are friends with you or family members.
Jesus is always, always open to someone new.
We also begin to see that hospitality is prophetic because it points to eternal reality.
He went on to describe God’s invitation as that of an invitation to a grand banquet…
Luke 14:15-24 (NIV)
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ’Come, for everything is now ready.’ "But they all alike began to make excuses. …The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ’Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ "’Sir,’ the servant said, ’what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ "Then the master told his servant, ’Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.
Central here is an indictment upon those who failed to respond… but the whole scene declares who God is and what He is doing… eternal reality is reflected in a banquet… and inviting… and inclusion. The living God… of all compassion… desires to fill His house.
This became the very heart of what those who embraced his life would in turn embraced.
The apostle Paul….
Romans 12:13 (NRSV)
“Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
1 Peter 4:9 (GW)
“Welcome each other as guests without complaining.”
Some principles for joining in the prophetic power of hospitality…
1. Hospitality flows from God… through our own experience of profound inclusion.
The whole Bible is the story of Divine hospitality... because it is the story of God’s invitation defined by inclusion.
The Bible reflects the understanding that truth is exclusive… but love is not.
Our tendency is to think in terms of what must simply emanate from us… and as such… that we must create a hospitable inclusive world. But such a world already exists…it is the very life that Jesus extends to us… invites us to enter. In telling us this story… Jesus makes clear that it is GOD who is the grand host.
Ephesians 2:12-13, 19 (NIV)
“Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise… But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. …Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”
While the world is intensifying over the nature of relationship towards ‘foreigners and aliens’… the Biblical storyline reminds us that we all have been such in relationship to God and His eternal kingdom. If we receive Jesus… we enter the household… and can in turn extend the household to others.
The whole Bible is the story of Divine hospitality... because it is the story of God’s invitation defined by inclusion.
The Bible reflects the understanding that truth is exclusive… but love is not.
1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
2. Hospitality includes but is not limited by our homes or places of living.
The nature of hospitality sees huge significance in our homes… becomes our homes are the most notable expression of being a family… of being included. The meals that are served there express this in the most essential way.
My parents home… I am blessed to have seen this quality of life in my parents. When I was in Jr. High School… with older sisters in high school… we had a foreign student become a part of our family for a year... and to this day she is like family. In the years that followed… they were presented with situations that led to several years of back to back women who became like family… and sisters in my life. Few of you may know, that before I ever became a part of this church, I was living abroad for two years… attended a Vineyard conference and knew that when I returned to attend seminary I would likely make the Vineyard my new church home. Meanwhile my parents wrote to tell me that they had taken in a young woman in full time missional ministry at the Vineyard. I arrived home with a Westside Vineyardites gathering in my parents home.
I know the power of our homes.
We must ask… does our home… our place of living… express inclusion to others?
But while that is a question I believe we must ask… I think it is vital to not reduce hospitality to our homes… or even the need to have a home.
I see the true power of hospitality expressed in so many ways…
• Hosting team who welcome us
Sometimes the simple welcome coming through the door, “Good morning, we’re glad to see you!” is a pull to the cross. It’s a small step of demonstrating that the alienation has been thrown away and a cosmic reconciliation has begun.
• Those who prepare a great opportunity for us to enjoy time to connect out in the courtyard…. With special food and all.
• Some who have invited those without family to gather during the holidays or special occasions… often in apartments
• Some living in the inner city to help empower those who face life with less… it’s truly hospitality.
• Our Thanksgiving Dinner for the homeless and low income
• Meals to new parents and special times
• Foster adoption that some are considering
• Simply choosing to include a person at work that others haven’t
3. Hospitality appreciates the significance of offering what is ‘special’ but is centered in the simple.
Jesus tells us of banquets… but also of basics… even a cold cup of water.
Entertaining people in Martha Stewart fashion can be about impressing others… whereas hospitality is about blessing
In her book Open Heart, Open Home, Karen Mains writes,
Entertaining says, “I want to impress you with my beautiful home, my clever decorating, my gourmet cooking.” Hospitality, however, seeks to minister. It says, “This home is not mine. It is truly a gift from my master. I am His servant and I use it as He desires. Hospitality does not seek to impress, but to serve.”
She explains one particularly enlightening day…
“One morning I decided to read a novel instead of doing the house work, of course a person from church stopped by - the place was a mess - dishes in the sink, toys every where, last night’s newspaper all over the floor.
She swallowed her pride and let the person from church in. After they came in and got sat down her friend says "I used to think you were perfect, now I think we can be friends!"
4. Hospitality is to be shared in by all
Jesus directs his words to all people….not just a particular type.
The more we understand the prophetic power of inclusion… the more we understand hospitality isn’t about what women or the domestically inclined do. It’s not simply for the gifted (although I thank God some have special gifting.) It’s for ALL of us. (In the New Testament practicing hospitality is a required spiritual discipline if you want to be a leader in the church.)
5. Hospitality involves initiative
What Jesus describes is all about intention and initiative. It’ s about a conscious choice of who you invite. And the whole description of God as the master of the household speaks of being SENT… with very clear mandate.
Paul wrote to the Roman church urging them to “practice hospitality” (Romans 12:13). Commenting on this verse, Alexander Strauch in his Hospitality Commands, notes that the word practice here is the Greek word
“dioko”, which is better rendered “strive for” or “pursue” ... Thus we are to actively
pursue, promote, and aspire to hospitality. We are to think about it, plan for it, pre-
pare for it, pray about it, and seek opportunities to do it.
John Piper says:
The physical force of gravity pulls everything to the center of the earth. In order to break free from earth-centered life, thousands and thousands of pounds of energy have to push the space shuttle away from the center. There is also a psychological force of gravity that constantly pulls our thoughts and affections and physical actions inward toward the center of our own selves and our own homes.
Therefore the most natural thing in the world is to neglect hospitality. It is the path of least resistance. All we have to do is yield to the natural gravity of our self-centered life, and the result will be a life so full of self that there is no room for hospitality. We will forget about it. And we will neglect it. So the Bible bluntly says. Stop that! Build a launching pad. Fill up your boosters. And blast out of your self-oriented routine. Stop neglecting hospitality. Practice hospitality.
6. Hospitality must rise above the offense which our inclusion of others may bring to our world’s system of social status.
The story Jesus told was deeply offensive. His entire life of including those deemed unfit… was threatening to those who found themselves in their exclusion.
He wasn’t just called a “friend of sinners” … he was accused of it.
While we may not have any such deep set religious or social lines today… we still have a deeply developed sense of unregulated class distinction.
Many seek to serve the poor and those in need… but including them in relationship is often a more challenging issue.
Includes how we as a community include the diversity of lives God created and loves… how we transcend the comfortable and common affinity that we will otherwise shape life by.
Jesus even says we are to love and show hospitality… inclusion to our ‘enemies…’… whether you feel antagonist toward those of another racial background… political background… or any other type of background.
I want to close with a challenge for all of us. Hospitality isn’t easy for many of us. The greater value we place on privacy, the less likely we are to practice hospitality. We may think it will steal away the little bit we have in life.
> I ask you to stop and look face to face into that feeling… because it belies the greater truth… that our lives become bigger when they are expanded by compassion and hospitality. Not more comfortable… but more rich… more satisfying.
There is a lot that could be said for having appropriate boundaries and balance in our lives… but I don’t want us to miss the vital challenge that most of us need to engage. This isn’t easy… but it’s essential.
So let me close with two sets of more practical question to consider.
When was the last time you invited someone who may have felt outside your sphere to your home for a meal… or out for a meal? Are there people in our neighborhood, workplace, or other circles of life who we could extend the simple love of a meal with?
Leah and I have recognized that hospitality… whether extended from us or entered as it’s extended to us…is quality of life that pokes at us. It’s a quality of life that always proves to be rich and rewarding. I recall the year before we had children in which we invited everyone to our home for dinner over the course of a year of small groups on a weekly basis. It was a remarkable year. Now we have to work with the reality of four young children…and recognize that it’s a quality that requires making a priority that we protect. Just recently we discussed how important it is that it shouldn’t be a project.. but it should be intentional.
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)
“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”
When someone comes to our local gathering of Christ’s ‘Living Body” (church)…get to know God… to worship God… are they welcomed and included by us in a way that reflects what we know to be true of the God we gather around? Are there ways our patterns could allow us to invite and include in a meal or activity someone else trying to know Christ?
Story of billboards - A few months back we were approached by the neighbor of this property in conjunction with the billboard company that owns the billboard which sits just over our property on Venice Blvd. They wanted to change it to one of the new electronic LCD billboards…. but needed access through our property to do so. Since there was obviously significant revenue for them we asked for them to rebuild the wall better when done… trim trees… and since they mentioned perhaps free week of use… we agreed we’d love that. A rather casual agreement noted being extended a free week of being in rotation the week prior to Christmas and Easter. As Christmas approached, we realized we should pursue it. I sent an email around to several people with ideas and we settled on a simple statement… “You Matter to God” The artwork was done up and we sent something to the company… excited… but expecting we’d have to do a little reminding about our deal. The next day… at 5:30 am… it was up in the rotation… pronouncing to lives that they matter to God. What became more exciting… is that we discovered that it is a network giant electronic boards on major thoroughfares. It was launched on nine boards across the Westside and Hollywood…every minute… 24 hours a day. I really felt God’s heart more than anything. A week later… it didn’t stop. Another week went buy. It continued to declare God’s heart around the city. Another week went by… then another. As of today, five weeks later… it is still declaring every minute that each and every person matters to God..
But with every day… I have to ask… if the sign is bigger than my heart? Will I bring my heart into the larger reality that lies within Jesus… how he lives and lives… that people really do matter to God… all PEOPLE.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the hospitality that flows from you.
For the hospitality that flows through us.. and among us… we thank you.. and ask that you would bless it.
Many of us know that we have become small… we’ve allowed our meaning to become disconnected… our tables have become small. Show us where our privacy has become a detriment… where our boundaries have become our bondage. Teach us about your party… and how to be a part of it.
Communion – Jesus served his followers as his last meal. That night the bread and the wine became the symbols of the sacrificial nature of divine hospitality (Luke 22:7-19). It was to be their new vocation… rooted in both what Jesus had done and what is to come.
‘ I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom." - Matthew 26:29 (NIV)
Our lives will be welcomed to a banquet… we are a preview community… and the bread and juice of the vine is a preview meal.
