Hospitality as Ministry

The Japanese have a word for hospitality … Omotenashi …‘omote’ means public face (the image you wish to present to outsiders) and ‘nashi’ means nothing. Together, it means “comes from the bottom of the heart – honest, no hiding, no pretending.” It involves anticipating the needs of guests before they even ask.

Slide What do you think of when you hear the word, Hospitality!

The Marriot, Southwest Airlines, an Airbnb, greeting and caring for our guests right here at the Fellowship, or maybe opening up your own home to friends and family for a meal or a stay. Hospitality is practiced all over the world in many different ways.

When Gail and I travel at home or abroad our favorite way to experience the place is to stay at an Airbnb. We have experienced hospitality of various countries. One place we stayed was in California, San Juan Capistrano. We stayed with a couple, he was a professor of marine biology and when you walked into their home, there was an amazing collection in class cases along the walls of every kind of shell. We were escorted upstairs to a huge room overlooking the ocean. The next morning, they invited us to have breakfast with them. They were kind, considerate and welcoming.

In Arabic countries hospitality is deeply ingrained in Middle Eastern cultures. Guests are considered a blessing and are treated with great respect.

The bible …

The Greek word Philoxenia translates to "love of strangers."

Slide Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:1–2

In our series Living a Greater Ministry … we have looking at Matthew chapter 8-10 over the last 10 weeks. We watched Jesus respond to the needs of those around him with power and compassion as he healed their hurts and comforted their anxieties. He healed the leper, the blind, the lame, he cast out demons, and raised the dead and more.=

Then he told the disciples that the harvest is before them but the laborers are few … he then sent them as sheep before wolves.

Jesus sends out his twelve disciples, telling them to go from town to town, to travel without any money or supplies, to depend on the kindness, the hospitality of strangers. Instead of offering hospitality, Jesus tells them to go out and receive hospitality.

Slide Accepting hospitality can be risky.

Jesus warns his disciples about the dangers of depending on hospitality, too. He warns them that they won’t always be welcomed—in fact, they may be hated, persecuted, even killed on account of Jesus.

What do you say when the hospitality is lacking. The food’s not great, the bed is uncomfortable, and the host seems a little absent. Yes, relying on the hospitality of others is risky.

If you follow Jesus, if you are a disciple, the world may reject you on his account. But sometimes, the world will welcome you on his account. Anyone who welcomes a disciple welcomes Jesus himself.

Have you ever gone some place for the first time and knew you didn’t know what to do, where to go, you were just looking lost and then someone, a man, a woman of peace had compassion on you and said how can I help? In that moment, you no longer feel vulnerable, alone or uncared for. I was a young soldier in the 82nd and went to church off base to church at Lafayette Baptist church. I’ll never forget the Bryan family who saw me, introduced themselves and took me to lunch. They became a second family to me.

The truth is that we have to also go out, be the ones who are strangers in an unfamiliar place. We have to be willing to risk discomfort, rejection, even danger. We have to be willing to receive hospitality as well as give it.

Slide Offering hospitality can be rewarding.

When Wes was younger, He had a recording studio in our home. On several occasions our house was filled with a hardcore band sleeping everywhere and recording music.

At times hospitality is very much like the true story of a woman who had invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the little girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the mother said. The little girl bowed her head and said, "Dear Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

But … it was so rewarding to get to know these young men and show them the love of Christ through hospitality. Because accepting and receiving the hospitality of others is always reflective.

Slide Accepting and Offering hospitality is always reflective.

Our relationship with God is reflected in our hospitality, both receiving and offering. Going out of our way to demonstrate care, compassion and company to those around us who are in need is an opportunity to reflect the love of the one who has sent us into the world.

In our passage today, Matthew 10:40-42, Jesus gives us some encouragement. Even though what Jesus tells us to go, receive and offer hospitality, and it could go poorly, but along the way never forget that you reflect a higher calling, purpose in this life, one in which we take up our cross and follower Christ, one in which we represent the Kingdom of Heaven to those we meet.

Slide People are to identify you with Jesus and Jesus with you!

Look at the Matthew 10:40 …

Slide Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. Matthew 10:40

This is the idea of representation … who do you represent in this world. We have been keeping the grandkids and their favorite thing to say if they want something … dad says we can have that, watch that, it’s okay with dad. Mom lets me do it. Mom lets me have that …

That is a thought at once glorious and daunting. Jesus once said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Who among us is brave enough to say,

Slide If you receive me, you receive Jesus!

And if you receive me and Jesus … you receive the message as well as the messenger. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and pastor who was hung by Hitler during WWII wrote …

Slide The bearers of Jesus' word receive a final word of promise for their work. They are now Christ's fellow workers and will be like him in all things. Thus, they are to meet those to whom they are sent as if they were Christ himself. When they are welcomed into a house, Christ enters with them. They are bearers of his presence. They bring with them the most precious gift in the world, the gift of Jesus Christ. And with them they bring God the Father, and that means indeed forgiveness and salvation, life and blessing. That is the reward of their toil and suffering. Every service people give them is service provided to Christ himself. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

We bring the gift that we ourselves have received … the hospitality of God in Christ for ….

Slide Christ is the Hospitality of God toward us!

God gives Himself fully to us in His Son Jesus Christ. In fact, He did not spare His own life to show us how much He wants us to be with him for all eternity. But, God doesn’t only give Himself fully to us. He also fully receives us and accepts us as we are. In Christ we experience both sides of the coin of God’s hospitality toward us.

You see, whenever we welcome Christ, Christ is no longer the guest. Christ becomes our host, welcoming us into new life.

Think back to the story about Easter evening. Two disciples are walking home from Jerusalem, confused and disappointed in the way things have turned out. It’s been a long and difficult weekend. A stranger joins them, and as this stranger explains how the scriptures teach Messiah must suffer and die, their hearts burn in their chests.

They want to hear more, so when they reach their home in Emmaus, they invite the stranger into their home. They welcome him to a meal. And the most astounding thing happens. This guest, this stranger, takes on the role of host and breaks the bread for them. They suddenly recognize Jesus, and he vanishes. (Luke 24:13-35)

We bring Christ before others in our homes, in the church, in school, at work, at play, in the whole world. What would happen if, every day, we were always conscious of this truth and did our best to put it into practice? When we offer and receive hospitality Jesus is made present. This truly is the most precious gift we could give to anyone! And it works both ways …

Slide We see Christ in the world through the hospitality of others.

The way we are cared for, met at the moment of our need …

Slide The world sees Christ in us through our hospitality to them.

This weekend our church family cared for the hurting family and friends of the Villa family. Amazing hospitality reflecting the amazing love, presence and hospitality of Christ.

Few people will ever be willing to receive Jesus’ presence into their lives if they are not willing to receive those who represent that same Jesus.

Several other passages reflect this same truth …

Slide The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. Luke 10:16

Paul wrote to the church at Galatia …

Slide and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. Galatians 4:14

Here, Paul was in need and people weren’t put out.

But rather you hear the words of Hebrews 13:1–2 echo in this passage … Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. …

When we refuse to be hospitable we refuse God …

Slide Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 1 Thessalonians 4:8

If we want to know where to see Christ in the world, we should look in the face of a stranger. And if the world needs to know where to see Christ, Christ is found in us.

This is the two sides of hospitality—the calling to provide hospitality to the stranger, and the challenge of accepting hospitality from the world. The reason “the kindness of strangers” receives such a high profile in Matthew 10 is because Jesus is not talking about a message to be heard … but about the reception of a person, namely himself as he dwells inside the disciples.

We also see that …

Slide Hospitality has benefits and blessings!

In the last two verse there is this triad that has been debated as to what Paul might mean. Prophet, Righteous Person and Little Ones.

Slide The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. Matthew 10:41

There are other places where this prophet righteous man duo appear such as in Matthew 13:17

Slide For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:17

And Matthew 23:29

Slide Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, Matthew 23:29

Both of these passages would indicate that prophets and righteous (or good, godly, law keeping people) were present in the culture.

Jesus says that welcoming (receiving) the Son is the equivalent of welcoming the Son—and welcoming the prophet earns the host a prophet’s reward. This is the Jewish concept of shaliah, which regards the king’s emissary as if he were the king. The principle is still practiced today. Governments consider an affront to an ambassador as an affront to the nation.

In this context, it suggests that those who show kindness, support, and hospitality to prophets or righteous individuals are promised to share in the blessings or spiritual benefits associated with their work. It's often interpreted as an encouragement to show respect and support to individuals who are dedicated to spreading spiritual teachings and moral guidance.

But that’s not the point, and if you think it is, you will probably miss the real scandal of this text. It’s not so important to decode just who Jesus may (or may not) have had in mind in listing those three groups. The main thing to see is that whatever group you happen to be in, the message is the same: people are to identify you with Jesus and Jesus with you!

For Incredibly, Jesus, who is both THE Prophet (in the likeness of Moses) and THE Righteous Man (the “Son of Man”), tells us that if we receive Him, by accepting His message and living as He lived, then we will also partake and receive His rewards.

That makes hospitality a way of life for the follower of Jesus.

Slide Hospitality is a way of life with a reward at the end!

Verse 42 says …

Slide And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Matthew 10:42

Mark says pretty much the same thing …

Slide For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. Mark 9:41

Here the point is not what you do but why you do it. It is a way of life for those who belong to Christ.

John writes …

Slide Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” John 13:20

Slide There is a reward that comes from faithfully representing Christ to others in our hospitality!

That reward is reflected in the words of Jesus …

Slide His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Matthew 25:23

Further down in that same chapter we see that Jesus is talking about our reward for faithfulness …

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 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? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ Matthew 25:34–45

Remember that when you give and receive hospitality in the name of Christ, God Himself is present there. So, what do we need to do this morning …

Practicing Hospitality in our Lives

1. Slide Open your heart and home to others as a way to offer Jesus.

2. Slide Receive the hospitality of others as a way of receiving the presence of Jesus. Instead of being the one who stays in your own space and provides hospitality to others, try to see where God is calling you out—out of your comfort zone, out of your space, out of the familiar things you can control.

3. Slide Pay attention to giving hospitality with no agenda other than to care for others in need in the name of Jesus.

As we continue to open our hearts and our lives to others let us not be concerned about appearances. Rather, as an expression of our worship and gratitude to God let’s say, “I am a gift of my Master Jesus Christ to those people he sends my way. And, on the other hand, Hebrews 13:1-2 reminds us that we could be entertaining angels or maybe Christ himself.

Remember that the essence of biblical hospitality is a heart of love and service. It's not just about the physical act of hosting; it's about the attitude and intention behind your actions. By practicing biblical hospitality, you can create an atmosphere of love, kindness, and connection, reflecting the teachings and values found in the Bible. Just omotenashi - heart felt, honest, no hiding or pretending. Just a kind act done with loving care and consideration for those in need.

To quote Mother Theresa, “in this life, we cannot do great things. We can do small things with great love.”

Pray

Song simple kingdom …