Series: "One Another" Living: Our Desperate Need for Community

Title: Offer Hospitality to One Another

Text: Luke 14:7-14

I. No Room at the Inn

When a woman is very pregnant:

She does not want to leave town.

She wants her husband to leave his cell phone on...all the time.

She has her bag packed and is ready to head to the delivery room at a moment’s notice.

The last thing she would want to do is move to another city.

 

Two thousand years ago Joseph and Mary were forced by the Romans to move during her ninth month of pregnancy.

They had to travel 70 miles on rough rocky roads from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Most movies, paintings, and Christmas cards show Mary "great with child" on the back of a burro.

But being from poor families, it’s much more likely they had no burro.

If they did have a burro, they would have piled all their earthly possessions on the burro, to keep from carrying them.

Most likely, Joseph and Mary walked all the way to Bethlehem, carrying all their possessions.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, both Joseph and Mary were exhausted.

The birth pangs began, but there was no room for them in the inn (Luke 2).

Throughout history, I think no one has more criticized for his lack of hospitality than the Innkeeper of Bethlehem.

Of course, the same could be said of all the residents of Bethlehem. Sadly, no one opened their home to Mary on that chilly night.

In our reading from Genesis chapter 18, we find the exact opposite. We find one of the greatest examples of hospitality anywhere.

During the heat of the day, Abraham was resting under the shade of his tent.

He saw three men approaching him. They must have been sweaty, smelly, dusty, and exhausted.

Instead of ignoring these strangers, instead of hoping they would move along, instead of hoping they would not impose upon him:

Immediately, Abraham ventured out into the scorching sun and humbled himself by bowed down before them.

He declared himself their servant.

He implored them to allow him to offer them hospitality.

He brought water to wash their dusty feet.

He encouraged them to rest in a shady place under his tree.

 

Abraham had a feast hurriedly prepared in their honor:

He had a calf from his herd slaughtered.

Milk for their parched palate was brought.

The smell of fresh baked bread filled the air.

Mouth watering butter and honey was brought for their bread (Holman Bible Dictionary).

Abraham considered it is his duty and privilege to provide hospitality to strangers.

Please notice:

He did not ask Sarah, "Sarah, what’s your calendar look like?"

He didn’t worry about the cost.

He didn’t wonder if these strangers could repay his hospitality.

He saw a need and he met it.

The question each and every one of us needs to ask this morning is this,

"Am I more like the Innkeeper or am I more like Abraham?"

 

In our fast-paced materialistic world, unfortunately hospitality has become a forgotten virtue.

On a bitter cold Sunday morning, the church parking was filling up quickly.

The parishioners were rushing in to get out of the cold.

As they hurried, most noticed a homeless man leaning up against the wall.

He wore a tattered trench coat, holey shoes, and a knit hat was pulled down snug over his ears.

This beaten down man didn’t even raise his eyes to those who were entering the church building.

Many of the church members stared and whispered.

As they entered the toasty warm building, they enjoyed a time of warm fellowship over hot coffee and donuts.

It never crossed their minds to invite the homeless man in, either for warmth, food, or to attend church.

When the church service started, the homeless man wandered in. Instead of sitting in the back, he marched down to the front, went up to the pulpit and took off his tattered clothes.

The homeless man suddenly become their pastor and preacher.

One man later said, "My heart sank." He realized he had failed the test.

I’m sure the passage from Hebrews chapter 13 came to mind:

1Keep on loving each other as brothers. ²Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:1-2 (NIV)

Throughout history, the church has been in the middle of the hospitality movement.

The church developed many of the first hospitals (places of hospitality).

"Originally, hospital meant a place where strangers or visitors were received; in the course of time, its use was restricted to institutions for the care of the sick."

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07480a.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4004/is_200310/ai_n9330658/pg_4

Practicing hospitality has become a forgotten virtue, a virtue God would have us remember, a virtue God would have you and me to practice.

Please turn to our reading from 1 Peter chapter four.

First Peter 4:8-10:

8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:8-10 (NIV)

Instead of grumbling like the Innkeeper, instead of mumbling like those warm parishioners, love on another enough to "offer hospitality to one another."

Instead of hoarding what you have, "use whatever gift [you have received from God] to serve others."

Sometimes children practice hospitality more passionately than us adults do.

Once there was a server drought.

That year the creeks were down to a trickle.

The ponds were dried up.

The grass had turned brown.

The cows had quit giving milk.

If it didn’t rain soon, the cows would die and the farmers would go bankrupt.

Rose Marie was in the kitchen of their farm-house making lunch, when she saw her six year old son Billy sneaking into the woods.

He wasn’t skipping or crawling in the dirt as usual. He was taking slow serious deliberate steps.

A few minutes later he came running back from the woods toward the house.

She thought nothing of it, until she again saw him taking those strange slow serious deliberate steps into the woods.

Rose Marie was beginning to worry. She decided to secretly observe her son to find out what was going on.

She watched Billy carefully cup his hands under the spigot to collect water.

She quietly followed him as he carefully carried his water deep into the woods.

Finally she saw Billy taking the water to several deer, who amazingly did not run from him, but eagerly lapped up his precious gift of water.

A smile spread across Rose Marie’s face and tears rolled off her cheeks.

If children can offer hospitality to wild animals, how much more should you and l practice hospitality to one another.

How can you and I learn to practice the virtue of hospitality?

1. You must be proactive.

2. You must not worry about the cost.

3. You must value "one another" living.

Abraham is a model for the practice of hospitality.

1. Abraham was proactive:

He did not wait until his three visitors asked for assistance, he proactively went into the blistering sun to serve them.

When it appeared that his three guests intended to "pass" by, Abraham insisted that they stay.

2. Abraham did not worry about the cost:

Abraham didn’t heat up some leftovers.

He didn’t just give them water and yesterday’s bread.

He baked fresh bread.

He slaughtered a whole cow, enough food for 100 people!

3. Abraham valued "one another" living:

He didn’t ignore the three strangers, Abraham interrupted his own agenda, he interrupted his own plans, he interrupted his wife’s plans.

He invited them into his home.

He spent time with them.

Why? Abraham valued relationship – one another living – more than his personal wants and desires.

 

This last Sunday a family invited us to lunch in their home. Due to my schedule, we couldn’t get there until 1:30.

Most people would grumble if they had to wait until 1:30 for Sunday lunch. Not them, they made it seem like a privilege to have guests in their home.

1. They were proactive:

Before Sunday school, they asked both Mary and I if we could join them for lunch and a time of relaxed fellowship.

2. They did not worry about the cost:

They laid out a feast before us – a mound of meat, bread, vegetables, and dessert.

They didn’t ask us to bring anything. They didn’t ask us to chip in to cover the cost.

They didn’t expect to be invited back. They didn’t expect reciprocity. As Jesus said in today’s reading from Luke chapter 14,

"and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Luke 14:14 (NIV)

3. They value "one another" living:

The TV and radio remained off.

There was no rushing here and there.

They created an environment for us to enjoy time together talking, laughing, relaxing.

There was no hidden agenda.

 

I’ve heard reports that this family regularly invites people home with them for lunch on Sunday afternoons.

This family is a modern day Abraham and Sarah, they are practicing the virtue of hospitality.

As our reading from 1 Peter 4:8-9 reminds us:

8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
1 Peter 4:8-9 (NIV)

How might you follow in these godly footsteps?

How might you learn to practice the virtue of hospitality?

1. Proactively, invite an acquaintance – or better yet – a stranger to lunch or supper or fishing...

Lavish or simple. It doesn’t matter.

2. Don’t worry about the cost:

Jesus said, "Give and it will be given to you."

God will provide.

3. Value "one another" living:

Place building relationships above your personal agendas.

 

Finally, expect nothing in return, except:

To grow in "one another" living.

To build friendships.

 

In the past, have you been more like the Innkeeper of Bethlehem or like Abraham?

Will you make a commitment to grow in the virtue of hospitality?

Will you, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling"?