Over the week of Vacation Bible School we had the opportunity to see an area of hospitality put into action. That area was putting a sizable quantity of food out for hungry young children and keeping everything running.

We call that hospitality a lot of times and so I began to evaluate hospitality from a biblical perspective.

Early scripture in Leviticus pointed to this “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with 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.” In the ancient world the practice of hospitality meant graciously receiving an alienated person into one’s land, home, or community and providing directly for that person’s needs.

Peter said in 4:9 says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Symbolically Jesus came as an alien figure to “tabernacle” in a world that did not recognize or receive him

A lot of my study indicated this thought process, that the host give until the guest is satisfied and then and only then receive. (It is funny as I set out on my quest about “immaturity” I found one of the symptoms of immaturity was an inability to receive blessing or kindness.) In a “give me”, “what about me” culture, I believe we are seeing the revival of hospitality. Christians now understand more and serve as co-hosts with Christ to a world consisting of those who are “excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise”

One of the signs of a church “carrying” the message will be their ability to take on the alien. My wife and I went through a season, be it a long one, where we took in a lot of people. It was hard. They were not family, had traits and habits that were contrary to ours. But God provided sufficient grace in our lives. We had a home, an opportunity and we took it. That may seem like an “extreme” example of hospitality, but it is in keeping with the scriptures, though I might not have been able to articulate it at the time.

Hospitality is more than a gift or a talent, though it seems God better equips some. It seems to be part of the understanding and operation of grace. I do not think you can reveal grace without revealing hospitality. I do not think you can embrace grace without understanding this character of God.

Here is to open houses, open hearts and open minds.