Home Sweet Home - Hospitality
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning. Happy Easter. Thanks for choosing to celebrate Easter with us. We’re really excited about Easter here at TRC. It’s an important date for Christians. It’s when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
If that’s new to you or even weird - that’s okay. I’ll explain it a little bit more later, but for now, I wanted to say “welcome.”
Also, if you’re new here, I want to introduce myself. My name is George - I’m the pastor here at TRC. If you have a moment after service, I’d love to meet you!
And for all you kids, we haven’t forgotten about our Egg Hunt! We’ll get to that soon! Don’t worry, there’s plenty of eggs and candy. Also, don’t forget to take advantage of our Instagram-able Easter-themed photo wall.
Here at TRC, we’re having a lot of fun talking about how to build goodness, peace, and joy into our home. Anyone need that? We’re in a series called “Home Sweet Home.”
And we’ve talked about a lot of things: Rest, Finances, Parenting, Marriage - all important topics in our homes. And during the series, we’ve been pairing the topics with rooms in our homes (living room with rest, parenting with the kitchen, marriage with the bedroom - hold up!). This morning, we’re finishing up the series. Actually, we’ve made our way through the house, but we got one last topic to discuss. Today, we’re gonna talk about hospitality. And we’ve picked the front porch as our matching “room.”
Now, you might be asking yourself, “What does hospitality have to do with building goodness, peace, and joy in our homes?”
I think that’s a great question. I think it’d be a common question in our culture. Let me explain: For better or for worse, our culture is built on independence. America the land of the free! Independence is great! I thank God for the freedom we have in this wonderful country.
But over the years, independence has turned into isolation. This is probably not news to any of us...
Problem:
Problem:
Last year, UCLA did a study that found that 50% of Americans are very lonely. Additionally, when those surveyed were categorized by generations, each generation was lonelier than the previous one. What’s that mean? The problem of loneliness is getting worse.
Here’s what’s strange. We also live in a time when technology is always improving. And with that, so is our “connectedness.” Technology has given us access to information and each other like never before. Distance is no big deal anymore. I can text my friend Jon when he’s in Dubai to find out what songs he’s planning for the upcoming service. My kids can talk face to face with their grandparents anytime they want. All I got to do is pull my phone out of my pocket. If I’m wondering what’s going on in the life of my friend from 3rd grade… I check Facebook or Instagram. There has never been such connectedness in the history of the world!
So, why in the world are we lonely?
To fully answer this would take more time than we have. Plus, the kids are hoping I finish quickly so we can get to the Egg Hunt. But let me submit this to you...
Here at TRC, we believe the Bible is God’s word. That it has the answers we need to live the life He created us for. And in the first book of the Bible (Genesis), it says
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
As human beings, we are created in His image. And God lives in perfect community with Himself. We call that the Trinity: God is 3 persons united as 1 God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know that’s super deep! Therefore, community is super important to God because it is part of who He is. And since we’re made in His image, we are made to live in community too. When that’s not happening, something really important is missing in our life.
Now, here’s where we get to the problem: Technology has connected us, but it’s also disconnected us. Let me share four things to explain:
Technology has made distance no big deal. Before, you worked where you lived, in your community. Now, commuting to work is normal. Working 50 miles from where we live is no big deal. But think about this: If we work full-time, that means we spend most of our week away from the town we live in. Then what happens?
I’m from California - and I know it’s different out here -but I think there’s a shared practice. After driving home from work, we’re tired, right? All we want to do is get home and rest And five days a week, we live out the Jonah and the Whale story. You know that story? If you don’t, same story as Pinocchio. You get the picture. But we get home, our garage door swallows us up. We disappear. And then it spits us out in the morning so we can go back to work. Technology helped with distance, but also created isolation.
Smart phones. They have connected us like never before, but have also lead to deeper isolation. Ain’t nobody trying to make anyone feel guilty - I’m addicted to my phone too. Let me just phrase it this way because I think we’ll all get it: Smart phones isolate us in a crowd and connect us when we’re alone (at least in theory). We can text people miles away and at the same time ignore the person sitting at the same table. Technology creates isolation.
Social Media. One of the things we’re doing on our smart phone is hopping on social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whatever. Through it, we get the sense that we are connected with all our friends and families - even people we don’t know. The problem is - it’s not real community. It’s digital. What’s actually happening when we scroll through our social media feeds is we visit the digital museums of people’s lives - but we’re not actually spending time or really connecting with people. It’s not real community. jIt’s actually creating isolation through a facade of connectedness.
Finally, technology has led to globalization. This is similar to how technology has made distance no big deal. But in a different way, one consequence of being virtually connected to people far away is we lose the need and reward of investing in relationships geographically close to us. We lose the beauty of having a home town and neighbors who know us. Technology leads to isolation.
I know, this has been a super encouraging Easter message so far! I promise - it’ll get better! Let me start with this...
Four years ago, my family moved from San Diego to Glastonbury. Yes, you heard that right. And yes, we CHOSE to do it. It’s true. It’s always 70 degrees and sunny in San Diego, but I love Glastonbury so much more. This is such an amazing town.
Let’s be real. If there is a town that can afford the best technology, it’s Glastonbury. But the residents of our wonderful town also get that “community” is important.
Our town is growing, but we still value the “small town” feel. We host the Riverfront Music Festival during the summer because we value community. We love to spend time with each other. Running, which is a very community-orientated sport, is very popular in this town. Actually, the manager of our local SoundRunner said Glastonbury is the 7th most running town in the nation! Why? Because we love community. This is a great town.
But we’re not immune to technology’s ability to build isolation, and ultimately loneliness, into our town and lives.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a anti-technology sermon! I love technology. I’m an Apple guy - I love my technology toys! I’m obsessed with my Apple watch! But I want us to look honestly at the big picture. Our cultural-norm is loneliness and isolation.
How do we fix the isolation and loneliness problem? Especially in our homes? Because it happens there too, right? Before, the home was the place where the family gathered, talked, and spent time together. But today, it’s not uncommon for everyone to be in their own room, using their personal technological devices for entertainment.
Hospitality as a solution.
Hospitality as a solution.
How do we build goodness, peace, and joy into our homes in an isolation culture? I believe one important way is through practicing hospitality.
Hospitality is the art of inviting people into your life. Hospitality builds community. Hospitality helps us live the way God designed us to. Therefore, God loves hospitality.
Bigger Problem:
Bigger Problem:
He even tells us to practice it His Word:
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
Jesus prayed for unity.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
The Scriptures tell us to be
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Since hospitality builds community. And when we live in genuine community, goodness, and joy is built in our homes.
Hospitality builds goodness because it is good for us to live the way God designed us to live - in community.
Hospitality builds peace because we invest time getting to know and love our neighbors as family. Relationships of peace develop in our homes. Not only because we become friends with our neighbors (at peace with them), but also because it creates peace in our hearts as the disease of isolation is destroyed in our home.
And in the same way, hospitality builds joy because living the way God designed us to brings joy. We were designed for community with one another.
So, if you want a home filled with goodness, peace, and joy, start practicing hospitality. Invite your neighbors over for a meal, even if you don’t really know them. Because really, thats the definition of “hospitality.” The Greek word means to “love strangers as family.” And you don’t have to limit it to being in your home. You can invite people to go to the park with your family for a picnic. I know this sounds weird, and there is the fear of rejection, but believe me - it’s worth it.
Most of us are pretty lonely and “wishing” someone would invite us to do something. Most of us would love to have dinner at your house. We’d love to get our families together for a picnic. Why? Because God designed us for community. And if you’re like most Americans, that’s probably not happening very often.
Bigger Problem:
Bigger Problem:
When we start inviting people into our homes, we start filling that void in our lives. Hospitality doesn’t have to be in your home. The greek word means to love strangers as family. You can do that anywhere. GBA? Why did they agree. I believe it’s because our culture is craving it and getting together in community fills the void. Why do thousands of people gather at Riverfront Park? We crave community. Why is Glastonbury a running town? We crave community. We instinctively know having friends, living in community, sharing our burdens is what we were made for. We are drawn to it. And hospitality facilitates that, but our culture has taught us to value independence over community and it’s led to isolation.
But there’s a bigger problem. Even if we do the community-thing perfectly, for some of us, we will still feel an overwhelming sense of isolation. That’s because the isolation problem with one another is only a symptom of a greater isolation disease.
Bigger Problem: That’s great. But what does this have to do with Easter? The isolation problem is only pointing to a bigger problem. Sin has isolated us with God. The One who were made to be in community with.
You see, in the book of Genesis, we read God created Adam and Eve (the first humans) and everything was perfect. Perfect everything: life, love, and especially community (with God and each other). But then they sinned. And because God is holy (perfectly perfect), He can’t have relationship with sin or evil or wickedness. So, God kicked them out of the Garden of Eden - the place where He lived in community with them.
And that’s when the real disease began - the disease of sin. It led to the greatest isolation ever. Isolation from God. Sin separates us from God. And from that time, we’ve been living in spiritual isolation from God, even if we’ve done a good job living in local community. And that’s why wonderful towns like Glastonbury, which do a great job at local community, still suffer from isolation and loneliness. It’s not that we don’t have community with people (although that’s part of it), but it’s because we are ultimately isolated from God. And until that is fixed, there is always going to be a HUGE spiritual loneliness in our soul.
So, how in the world do we fix that? Because it doesn’t seem like inviting my neighbor over for a BBQ is going to help me with the separation our sin has created between us and God. Well, now’s when we finally bring in Easter!
Easter is the Solution.
Easter is the Solution.
You see, the Easter story is all about the cross and resurrection. When God became man (Jesus), lived in community with us, died for us, and rose from the dead. Why? So our relationship with God could be fixed. So the greatest isolation problem could be solved.
Response:
Response:
Sin separates us from God - the One were created to be in community with in the most intimate way! And when Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t to pay for any crimes or sins He committed. He was perfect! But He sacrificed His perfect life for us. He took the penalty of sin upon Himself in our place. And in that moment, He became isolated from God.
On the cross, Jesus cried out:
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Our sin placed upon Jesus mysteriously separated Him from God. Then, look at this. The apostle Paul teaches us that...
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
The penalty of sin is death. That’s why all of us die. We all have a sin problem and we eventually have to face the consequence. And when Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross, He took our sin upon Himself and faced the penalty of death.
Paul summarized it this way:
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
But before He died, Jesus’ final words were:
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
What did He mean by that? Well, we get the answer three days later… Remember, the wages of sin is death. But look what happens...
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
It says Jesus rose from the dead! When He said “It is finished,” He was declaring the debt for our sin was fully paid. And because it was, Jesus rose from the dead! Death could not hold Him in the grave any longer!
Here’s the joy of Easter. Here’s the gospel - the good news! God promises us that when we turn away from our sinful lifestyle and place our faith (our trust) in Jesus, He forgives us for our sins and give us power to live the life we were created for! A life in community with God! No longer separated. No longer isolated. In fact, when we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit - the 3rd person of the Trinity - lives inside of us. God promises He will never leave us. You hear that? From that moment, we are never truly isolated again. God is always with us - forever.
We actually see all of this happen during the Easter story. After Jesus is condemned to die on the cross, we read:
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
Luke goes onto write:
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Lk 23:
There were two thieves on crosses next to Jesus. Both life-long sinners. Criminals. And they were literally facing death because of their sins. But at the last moment, one of the thieves says to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Luke 23:
Let me put it a different way. Here’s a stranger asking Jesus, “When you get home, can I come in?”
And Jesus offers him the greatest act of hospitality. He says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” He says, “Come in friend. Come into my family. You’re welcome in My home.”
What happened at the cross was the criminal realized he was living the wrong type of life. And he realized he was about to enter a whole new level of isolation - eternal separation from God - which the bible calls Hell. And so he turns to Jesus, the Savior, and asks Jesus to save him. He puts his trust in Jesus. And Jesus, knowing He was paying the price for sin could confidently say, “Today, you’ll be saved. You’ll be in community with Me in paradise forever.”
And here’s the good news for us, 2000 yrs later, God’s door is still open. He’s still offering hospitality to strangers. He’s still inviting people to come home through faith in Jesus Christ.
Response:
Response:
So, as we wrap up this morning. I’m going to invite the worship team up.
And to the Christians in the building, I want to encourage you to practice hospitality. Show love to strangers. We were made for community, not isolation. Don’t fall into the trap. We’re better together. Hospitality builds goodness, peace, and joy in our homes. This week, be hospitable. Think about who you’d like to invite over to your home. Then, do it.
And when you do, remember, you’re not simply entertaining people in your home. You’re building community. More importantly, you’re living out the gospel message. You’re loving “strangers” as family. You’re showing people they are welcome in your home, because God has welcomed you into His home.
And maybe you’re here today and you’re not a Christian. Maybe you’ve never been to church or maybe it’s been a long time. Let me first say - I’m glad you’re here. I hope you feel welcome and that you’ll hang out with us more. I hope we’ve been able to show you hospitality as our guest here at TRC.
And I’d like to share one last thing about hospitality. In the biblical times, hospitality wasn’t only inviting people in, but also sending them off well. Hospitality was important to travelers back then. You invited travelers in when they needed a place to stay, and then you sent them off fully prepared for their journey.
And I believe we need to practice that full picture of hospitality today. We believe there are no accidents. No coincidences. That you are here this Easter for a reason. And the main reason is God wants you to invite you home. Maybe you don’t know Him. Maybe you feel like you’re a stranger or a sinner and that God would never love you. But remember, God loves hospitality. He loves strangers as family.
And as we send you off, we want to make sure your fully prepared. And the best way we can do that is by giving you an opportunity to accept God’s offer of hospitality. God loves you so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die for you sins. He did that because your sins isolated you but God isn’t cool with that. He loves you. He wants to be in community with you forever. And He promises that if you put your faith (believe and trust) in Him and turn away from your old life, and follow Him, He will save you. That means He will forgive you for your sins, give you the a new life, with a new spiritual heart, and will give you eternal life. Death will no longer have power over your life. And although our physical bodies may die one day, we will rise from the grave just like Jesus did that first Easter, to forever be in paradise - in community with God - the way its supposed to be.
In just a moment, I’m going to pray. And we’re all going to bow our heads and close our eyes. We’re going to have a private moment with God, just like the thief on the cross did. And if you’re like the thief, and today you’d like to ask Jesus if you can come home, go ahead and do that. Tell Him you’re sorry for your sins and the life you lived. That you’ve ignored Him. And tell Him you believe He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead. And that you want to follow Him now - you want to be in community with Him and live the life you were created for.
And God promises, if you will do that - He will save you. He will invite you back home to be with Him forever.
Let’s pray.