Hospitality Is Not Optional

Hospitality is not just a nice idea… it’s actually a requirement

3 common approaches to interpreting scriptural requirement of hospitality:

1. Hospitality was a reflection of middle-eastern culture of the day therefore not necessarily relevant for other cultures and other times. Hospitality was embedded in the culture, however, we shall wee that the hospitality commands are universal instructions related to Christ-like living  not just an accommodation of Jewish, Semitic, Greek or Roman culture but a part of walking in the way of God.
2. Hospitality was a requirement limited to accommodating traveling ministry in order to further the gospel. On this point I believe we shall see that accommodation of itinerant ministry is part of hospitality but not the full breadth of what God expects in regard to hospitality.
3. Hospitality was (and is) a practical application of brotherly love among the members of the body of Christ. This is the approach we will be taking today looking at the hospitality “commands”: Romans 12:13 àI Peter 4:9 à Hebrews 13:1-2

Hospitality as a requirement for:

1. Position of leadership I Timothy 3:1-2, Titus 1:7-8
2. Receiving church support: I Tim 5:10

The First Hospitality Command Romans 12:13

It’s easy to breeze through this straightforward instruction to “practice” hospitality and consider it a minor point on a checklist of things to do. But let’s zero in on hospitality and see how it fits into the larger context of Romans 12 and provides a practical application of the spiritual principles discussed.

Immediate context read vs. 9-13àdevotion to one another in brotherly love

• Let’s pull this set of verses apart and see what’s packed inside
• Vs. 9 Godly love (agape) has to be for real, not faked
• Vs. 10  the word “devoted” means to have deep affection like parents have towards children, the type of affection found in families…
• Brotherly love is translated from the word “Philadelphia” which in the Greek language was used only to describe the intimate relationships of a family such as brothers or sisters might have. The church took this word and used it to describe love between members of a spiritual brotherhood Hebrews 2:10-15
• Honoring one another… showing preference for one another (loving or preferring the fellow members of the body of Christ over others)… NIV unnecessarily adds “over yourselves” making it about humility which I don’t think is the case (although we do touch on humility in the verses that follow verse 13. Instead, we are talking about holding other members in high esteem knowing who and what they are in the eyes of God
• Vs. 11-12 work hard, don’t be lazy, be fired up. Points out that what we are talking about here takes effort, mental and emotional work to accomplish and we do it as if serving the master Himself… we’ll come back to that concept again later
• Vs. 13 the phrase “practice hospitality” or “given to hospitality” comes across as passive but it shouldn’t. The original word is “doikos” which means to strive for, to vigorously pursue and seek opportunity for.  I Tim 6:11 pursue righteousness! or I Cor 14:1 pursue love!
• Sharing time and breaking bread with others is a real and visible example of affection, brotherly love, and even Godly love and is activity we should strive for.

We Have Joy, hope, patience in trials, faithful in prayer…. But why hospitality? … seems mundane

Broader context read vs. 4-8à hospitality is part of a discussion of spiritual gifts… one of which is to serve. We talk a lot about service, but what does it really mean to serve others, to have the heart of a servant? Isn’t one of the most obvious, practical, boots on the ground examples of serving others to invite them into your home for fellowship and food?

Larger context vs. 1-3 becoming a “living sacrifice” who understands the will & mind of God

 And we all know… hospitality towards others involves personal sacrifice… of your time, of your wallet, of your carpets and furniture, of your personal space and privacy etc. In this larger context, we see hospitality offered as a concrete, tangible example of the deep spiritual principle of sacrificial living. An antidote to the fleshly pulls of selfishness!

Postscript hospitality isn’t just hanging out with friends

Read verses 14-16 godly hospitality involves humility and not being a respecter of persons.

The original word translated hospitality is “philonexia”. It’s made up of two parts 1) Philos meaning love and 2) Xenos meaning alien, stranger or guest. This is why some choose to interpret the scriptural instructions on hospitality to concern the ancient customs of providing lodging for travelling strangers, or traveling ministers… a very literal application of the word. And people did do that back in the day… but I think what we are looking at here based on the context (and as we will see in the second hospitality command) is an expression of love, service and sacrificial living among members of the body of Christ.

Philadelphia – literally meant love between kin, but the church took it and used it to describe the spirit of brotherhood that should exist among the body of Christ.

In that same way philonexia which literally means “love of strangers or aliens” can be interpreted as love toward those who are different from you, alien to you… but who are also brothers in Christ.

My experience in the Church has been one long trip of breaking bread with people who are very different from me, racial, intellectual, class, education, habit, political views… you name it. People I might never have become friends with were it not for the calling of God to be part of His family. It was no different in the beginning where Paul had to constantly remind his congregations that there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, rich nor poor… and yet all these people, so very different, were to learn to love one another, serve one another, and sacrifice for one another.

The Second Hospitality Command I Peter 4:9

This second “command” regarding hospitality is also part of a larger context that includes the practice of love and use of spiritual gifts… but throws in a several additional thoughts for us to consider.

The close connection to love is established in the preceding verse… read verse 8. In Romans, the exhortation to love one another was supplemented by affection, and honoring one another as a spiritual family. Here love is amplified with the word ektenes which you may find translated fervently in NKJV or deeply in the NIV both of which make us think in terms of intensity. However, ektenes which is similar to words like extensive/extensively make us think in terms breadth or duration (without ceasing/longlasting). So fervent love could be “love without ceasing” or perhaps more to the point… “love without giving up”.

But wait, there’s more! We are told that this kind of persistent, persevering love comes with a blessing in that it “covers a multitude of sins”. Note: not that God allows sin to be hidden, rather it is covered in the sense that sacrificial blood covers over sin. (see also James 5:20 and Proverbs 10:12).

Hospitality’s connection to the spiritual gift of service is found in the following verse… read verse 10

What are the New concepts this verse 9 introduces

1. Hospitality is to be pursued “one to another” which really nails down the idea that hospitality for the church is not lodging travelers or seeking out strangers on the street to invite into our homes.
2. Hospitality is to be pursued without complaining. Refer to the story of Mary & Martha Luke 10:38. Besides the issues of cost, time, privacy there is one other complaint that comes up… “we used to invite others over but we stopped because nobody ever invited us back”… this is not fair I’m doing all the work. Let’s remember the context here is persistent, persevering, extensive love… because love never gives up. John 12:1-3

What does the larger context of Peter’s letter teach us?

The larger context here is suffering and persecution… summed up nicely in the phrase “insulted (reproached) for the name of Christ” found in verse 14. These people were facing bitter trials, humiliation from friends, family, neighbors, employers because of the change they had made in their lives. Fervent love, fellowship, togetherness would help them through the storm. AND the same applies today.

Hospitality that expresses love, service and sacrifice won’t make people stay in the body… nothing takes away freedom of choice… but it certainly helps to strengthen others when they are weakened or weary.

The Third Hospitality Command Hebrews 13:1-2

Here the majority of English translations render the word “philonexia” as entertain strangers even though it is translated hospitality everywhere else (RSV & ASV trans. hospitality). This change in approach is most likely due to the intriguing idea introduced here regarding “entertaining angels”… obviously making reference to the experience of Abraham & Sarah, Lot, Gideon and possibly the parents of Samson who ended up playing host to actual angelic being come in the guise of men.

Is the intent of this admonition that we expect supernatural wonders at any moment from strange passers-by we invite into our home? Certainly, such things could happen, but are there other lessons for us in this idea?

Once again the context provides understanding and clarity. And once again “philonexia” or hospitality is closely associated with or and expression of,  brotherly love. Again hospitality is “among one another”, among those we consider spiritual brothers and sisters. So, if I ask you brother, or you sister over to my home after Sabbath this week should I expect that you are really an angelic being? Or is Hebrews using a well known, dramatic, attention-grabbing, biblical event to get us thinking about a broader principle?

Perhaps the idea presented here is that we appreciation that pursuing hospitality opens up the potential for unexpected blessings and rewards. For example: sharing the wisdom of others, encouragement, new perspectives, humor, fellowship etc. Consider the example of Jesus who was often a guest or recipient of hospitality and was a blessing to those He visited with… Mary, Martha, Matthias etc.

We don’t pursue hospitality for immediate reward in the flesh (quid pro quo)… “I’m going to invite someone over so something good happens to me”… but they can happen. But most certainly we should pursue hospitality for the spiritual rewards.

Matt 25:34-40 – Jesus taught that hospitality shown toward “the least of these brothers of mine you have done it to me”

A few helpful hints regarding hospitality

1. Have a plan, spur of the moment is good but often times things will work out better if you prepare in advance… especially if you are doing something Sabbath afternoon or evening
2. Have some goals, make a list… look at the church directory, think about who might benefit or be uplifted by time spend fellowshipping
3. Become interested in people’s lives, ask interesting questions about life, faith, experience etc.
4. Pray that God will help you to overcome whatever it is that hinders you, money, pride, shyness
5. Don’t try to be Martha Stewart, hospitality is different from “entertaining”. It’s not about showing off your home, your fine food or your awesome decorating skills… it's about sharing yourself with others in love, service and sacrificial living. Go For It!

Recap of Main points:

• We are told to pursue (seek opportunity for) hospitality (one to another) among the body of Christ
• Hospitality is an expression of Godly love (agape)
• Hospitality is an expression of Brotherly love (Phildelphia)
• Hospitality is an expression of the spiritual gift of service
• The sacrifices involved in hospitality are part of being a living sacrifice
• Hospitality gains us spiritual rewards