Hospitality
I want to begin my exhortation this morning with an encouragement. As one of your pastors it brings me great joy as I see and hear about all the ways that you are showing hospitality to one another. Everything from having others in your home, sharing meals together, meeting for discipleship, being diligent in prayer for one another, desiring to hear each other’s stories of God’s redemptive work in your lives, and maintaining a bond of unity by seeking out those whom you have not had the opportunity to get to know as well yet.
One of the lines from our membership covenant reads “We will show hospitality to all, while showing partiality to none”. Members of Emmaus, how well do you feel you are personally doing in this area? My exhortation to us this morning church, is to continue to abound more and more in showing hospitality to one another. In Galatians 6 Paul encourages the church “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith”. Hospitality can take on a myriad of forms, but at its heart is a desire to engage others with the love of God by opening our lives to being known and knowing those we have covenanted together with as a means to celebrate the Gospel.
So, whether you are inviting others into your home for a meal, scheduling times to meet for coffee, creating margin in your schedule to be able to say yes to that discipleship opportunity, or simply being vulnerable and open to initiating a Gospel centered conversation and pray for someone who you don’t know as well this morning or later this week.
Christian hospitality also avoids the temptation towards partiality and preferentially treating others based on worldly values or similarities. Because in Christ, our greatest commonality is not our profession, hobbies, age demographic, being married or single, having kids or not, our socioeconomic status, race, or upbringing, but by God’s grace as adopted sons and daughters through the blood of Christ. In James 2, he gives a warning against the dangers and hypocrisy of partiality in the church when he says “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory”. Prior to giving some practical examples to avoid this behavior, he anchors the instruction in the Lordship of Christ, because in Christ all of our earthly distinctions pale in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Him and recognizing the extravagant grace we have been given.
Church, allow that recognition of the grace and love that has been shown toward you in Christ, to then overflow in love and hospitality toward others for our joy and His glory.