Hospitality that Hurts
I would define hospitality as providing what is needed without expecting anything back.
In Luke 3 we read about John the Baptist baptizing the people who came to him in the Jordan river, in response to his cry for them to repent.
In verse 8 John challenged them: ”Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” John wanted them to realize that repentance and baptism are life-altering events.
In verse 9 he compares their dependence on the fact that they are Abraham’s descendants, to trees that bear no fruit and he warns them: “Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
Did they understand the seriousness of fruitless lives after repentance and baptism? Who knows...
This sharing of food and clothes is very personal: It is noticing my fellow man with only one “holey” shirt and literally giving him the “shirt off my back”
Different groups then started to ask him what they should do. My paraphrase is: “Now that we have left everything behind and were baptized as a sign that our sins are forgiven, how must our everyday lives reflect what had happened in our hearts? What must change for God to deem us fruitful?”
John’s answer in verse 11 is: “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
Was this only about the many poor and hungry ones they might encounter? Was this only about food and clothes? I believe it was and still is about our neighbor – the one whom I encounter in everyday life, the one whom I recognize who has a need of any kind, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual, the one who is in need of my hospitality.
John’s answer to the tax collectors and soldiers gave the clear indication that it was about living a totally changed, new, grace-filled, society-changing life - a life of giving what is needed without expecting something back.
We know from so many Biblical encounters that the Jewish people were a very hospitable people. Lot’s refusal to allow the two angels to spend the night in the open square (Gen 19) is one such example. And yet John felt that this was an area of their lives which should bear witness of their repentance.
This sharing of food and clothes is very personal: It is noticing my fellow man with only one “holey” shirt and literally giving him the “shirt off my back” – rendering me poor with only one shirt to wear. Or seeing my neighbor with no food and the hungry look in his eyes and sharing my meal with him or her – rendering me without food for tomorrow.
Am I prepared to be so hospitable until it hurts me?
Lord, help me be the sharing, hospitable person you desire!