Hospitality on Mission

Welcome and Introduction 

Good afternoon Restoration church! Happy Sunday. Good to see you all. Welcome to our online crew. We are glad you’re with us and look forward to having you in person soon.  

We’re going to jump right into it since we have some food to jump into right after the service. I don’t want to delay that for too long.  

Today. We're going to be talking about hospitality on mission in Matthew 10:40-42. 

So far in our series we’ve talked about being sent on mission, opposition on mission, fearless on mission, and making decisions on mission.  

When you think of the word hospitality what comes to mind? Throw out some words.  

Using the words you threw out, when was the last time you showed hospitality? No need to share just think about it.  

We’re going to read the scripture in a second, but before we do I want you to think about this statement: what if your hospitality has the potential to change the world? That’s a big statement isn’t it? 

But it’s not unrealistic. Every person that you impact who then goes out into the world and does something different because of your impact is you changing the world.  

Hospitality is simply welcoming others, especially strangers, by providing care, warmth, and presence. It is accepting others into our private space with the intent of making them feel at home. 

In ancient Jewish culture and in many non-western cultures today, hospitality is held in high esteem.  

The challenge though with hospitality in many of these cultures is that it is often done to make ourselves look good and it is often done only to those whom we think highly of or in the words of Jesus, to those who can pay us back.  

Jesus takes these two things and turns them on their heads in his instructions to the disciples.  

I want to show us two things that Jesus wants to know about hospitality. 1) Hospitality honors God, 2) Hospitality holds a reward.  

The big takeaway for today is that Hospitality on mission is a rewarding experience for the disciples of Jesus. 

Let’s read then we’ll pray.  

Hospitality Honors God 

In these three verses, Jesus does something interesting. He gives unique teachings in 10:40 and 42. Stuffed in between as a bridge in 10:41, he uses cultural tradition that’s informed by the Old Testament to bolster his point.  

In 10:40, Jesus tells his disciples that hospitality actually honors God. 

Rather than think of hospitality as something that makes us look good, it should be thought of as something that honors God. 

When the disciples are welcomed by those whom they do not know, when the disciples are accepted because they belong to Jesus, when the disciples are shown hospitality because of the one they represent, the person showing them the hospitality is also showing hospitality to the Triune God.  

Jesus is sending a significant message to his disciples that when hospitality is done to Christians and it is done by Christians, God is honored. We can even be bold and say God participates.  

As Christians we should see hospitality in a radically different way.  

This is what the writers of Hebrews was communicating when he wrote in Hebrews 13:2, “Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.” 

This is not foreign to the bible. Abraham had this exact experience in Genesis 18 when he welcomed three men who end up being angelic beings.  

We don’t show hospitality simply because we want to serve angels but because God is honored when we do. No one who is hospitable to angels according to the writer of Hebrews would even know it.  

But we do so because God is honored, because God participates, particularly when it is done to a fellow believer.  

When I‘m hospitable to you, I’m also being hospitable to God, when you’re hospitable to me, you are also being hospitable to God. 

Isn’t that a radical view of hospitality? It’s not different from when Jesus said elsewhere that whatever you do to the least of these you do to me as well.  

Hospitality honors God.  

Hospitality Holds a Reward 

Here’s the second thing we learn about hospitality, it holds a reward. Rather than Jesus just simply saying be hospital because there is a reward, he first draws on established cultural norms.  

He draws on the cultural norm of showing hospitality to prophets and those who are righteous in 10:41. Those are not two groups of people but one and the same when used together.  

An example is Matthew 13:27 when Jesus said, “For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.” 

It is an established cultural norm that when you honor a prophet of God, there will be associated blessing or reward with that honor.  

It’s a cultural norm that finds its roots in the Old Testament. A quick example. In 1 Kings 17, Prophet Elijah requested food from a widow who was also poor. She told him, all I have is one more meal for my son and me. Our plan is to eat and die. Elijah insisted and she obliged. Because she honored the prophet, her food never ran out and when her son died, Elijah was there to bring him back to life.  

The disciples would agree with the statement that a prophet brings with him a prophet’s reward. But here is where Jesus flips the script in 10:42. 

He says, “And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.” 

There is a reward from Jesus for showing hospitality. It’s not an earthly reward but a reward that resides where thieves do not break in and moths do not eat destroy. It’s a reward in the heavenly place.  

But check this out, if the prophet has a reward to give, how much more the God of the prophet. But even more than that, Jesus’ reward is not merely for those who honor the significant prophet but also for those who honor the insignificant disciple.  

The same honor that the prophet gets is the same honor every disciple should get.  

The same hospitality that a man of high honor would get, is the same that every other disciple regardless of status should get.  

In the words of Jesus, “you believe prophets should be shown hospitality, great, I'm saying every disciple of mine should also be shown hospitality.” 

Pastors should be honored, so should the person who sets up the signs, who cleans the building, who sets up the coffee, who sings in the music team.  

Are you willing to show hospitality to your brothers and sisters even if they have nothing to offer you? 

Hospitality is not something extravagant. It is doing what you can when someone comes into your private space. Jesus says it’s as simple as offering a cup of cold water to one who is thirsty.  

It’s as simple as offering your ride to someone who can’t get to church (which you all do a great job with), it’s as simple as inviting a brother or sister over to have dinner with you. It as simple as calling a brother and sister and offering to spend time with them on a walk.  

When we do, Jesus sees it and stacks our reward for the day when we see him face to face. 

Conclusion 

As we wrap up, being on the mission field of life for Jesus calls for us to be hospitable. We are hospitable because it honors God, and because it holds a reward.  

Every type of person should be a recipient of our hospitality. 

I believe as an expression of the gospel, our community needs genuine hospitality. People are crazy busy but yet they long to be known and to find mutually encouraging community and there is no place for that to happen than at the dinner table.  

What if we intentionally create margins in our schedule to show hospitality. What if we intentionally create margins in our life to invite Christians and non-Christians to our dinner table?  

The dinner table is where we open up our hearts. It’s where you get to share what you value and get to hear what others value.  

I want that to be a culture that we embody in our church.  

If you are willing to go on this journey with us, I want to help you.  

If you are willing to invite a non-Christian friend who has bever been to your home, for dinner, the church will pay for it.  

If you are willing to invite a church member whom you do not know that well to your home for dinner, the church will pay for it.  

I’m that serious about us embodying this culture of hospitality. And it starts at the dinner table. Being willing to bring people into our private space.  

Jesus is also serious about it so much that he says there is a reward for those who show hospitality to the least of his disciples.  

Jesus is so serious about hospitality that he welcomes into his family those who are strangers and he washes them, makes them new, he forgives them, and gives them life.  

The gospel is a gospel of hospitality. Someone once said, the gospel comes with a house key.  

We serve a savior who serves us by giving up his life so that we can serve and welcome others.