Above is a pic of my youngest daughter and me.
My Husband, My brother in Christ
Whatever Happened to Hospitality?
Edith Schaeffer asks: What are the ingredients of hospitality? How can love and community come out of the realm of theory and become a part of our moment-by-moment lives? How can we in these areas begin to be "doers of the Word and not hearers only"?
Through the use of Scripture, Schaeffer also answers what Biblical hospitality is in her article "Hospitality: Optional or Commanded?"
This article does not show that your house has to be perfectly clean, that you have to look like you just got ready for church, that your kids have to be spotless and any food you may serve has to be gourmet. That is impossible in our home of 6 children. Hospitality is about keeping your heart and home available... keeping your doors open and expecting the unexpected, even when you are at your busiest...
God really does not give us more than we can bear and if a person comes in your home when it seems a mess, my prayer is that they walk away remembering that you opened your doors anyway, that you wept with them when they wept, rejoiced with them when they rejoiced, that you nourished their body with food for the glory of God with what you had.
Hospitality is not just in our homes... We are to share our homes, our tents, our shady place under a tree, our food, our clothing, our time, our prayer, with others -- those of our own family, the family of the church, brothers and sisters in Christ, strangers.
May we be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.
...for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’--MT 25:35-40
Comments
Now, if I can just remember to do hospitality with the right heart! Not begrudgingly. Sometimes I must admit that I resent company...
Posted by: ukrainiac | September 17, 2007 09:40 AM