for you all. Well, one that comes with Thanksgiving. Laura Lee was in the hospital this week with kidney stones. And if you were at the prayer meeting in the last weeks, you know that my daughter was in the hospital with kidney stones three weeks ago. And in between those two, I had another daughter in the hospital with ankle surgery. So I've been spending a lot of time in the hospital and something in the water. Yes, something. Except The daughter was my married daughter who does not live in our house, nor does she drink the same water. So there we go. Must not be in the water. Anyway, I'm not sure if Loralee will make it this morning, but it was a bit of a long week. She's fine now. She's fine now and back at home and all is well. It was a bit busy. We got stuck in the ER in a, they officially call this a room, a bed in a hallway. It's classified as a room. I learned this when two hours in I asked if we might be transferred to a room that wasn't the main thoroughfare for every ambulance coming into Greenville Memorial Hospital. My expectant wife with kidney stones and a lot of pain on a bed in a hall, And I was told, no, this is a room. This is officially a room. And once you get put in that room, you stay in that room. So we were there for six hours, and I learned that on a Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, you see a lot of interesting things in the ER hallway. Anyway, we did get later transferred to the OB floor, and that was much quieter. So Loralee stayed overnight, and she's home again, and she's doing much better now. Yes, the perils of enforced hospitality. John's picking up on the theme today. Different kind of hospital. Different kind of hospital. There we go. Let's pray together. Lord our God, we offer our thanks to you today for you are worthy to receive our love, our gratitude. In you we place our trust. You are the one who cares for us, body and soul. We remember Elijah fed by the ravens, your people Israel fed in the wilderness. The feeding of the 5,000. Lord, you give food to all your creatures in due season, and you remember us. Lord, you give food to all flesh, your word tells us, for your mercy endures forever. We pray this morning that as we study the topic of Christian hospitality, that there might be some echo in our hearts and lives. of that lavish and generous goodness with which you have shown us and treated us. We might be ready to share of the good things that you have given to us with those around us, or that there would be some echo of your divine love in our love for our neighbor. And we ask that you would help us in these things as you lead us and guide us by your word and spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, I am picking up on the class on friendship and hospitality, and looking at the hospitality commands in scripture. I think we had two classes on one introduction to the course, two classes on Friendship, we might be on week four instead of week five. I think we're on week four, that's right. So the heading is wrong, week five, it's week four. And Mr. Mooney last week talked about the things that can break friendships and how to restore friendships. Before that I talked about the category of friendship in general. And today we're moving to a related topic, but different, and that is the topic of Christian hospitality. One of the clear commands in the scriptures is to show hospitality. We're to show hospitality, Peter says, do it without grumbling. Paul says this to the Thessalonians, that we are to show hospitality. He writes it to the Romans, the writer of the Hebrews writes it to the Jewish believers in the early church. Remember to show hospitality for in so doing, some have entertained strangers unawares. And the Old Testament is filled with examples of the same hospitality. When we hear the word hospitality, what do you maybe think of first? Here's a question to awaken you in the morning. What might you think of first, hospitality? Kindness to visitors, good. In our modern age, what's the first thing you might run to with hospitality? Our American era. Hotels. Hotels and industry. We have a hospitality industry where you can buy food, pay for a roof over your head and a bed to sleep on and that's always been the case. There's always been inns. We generally, I would say, here in America default to, and especially even in the last 50 years, to the hospitality industry. When we think about hospitality, I think about this. I was reading some of the history of the early, the early history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And when presbyteries would meet, families would host elders and pastors. And now we almost exclusively use hotels. It's interesting. General Assembly, Mr. Van Boris, you remember the General Assembly, same thing? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, come stay with us. Yeah. So our General Assemblies and our presbytery meetings, you wouldn't think they'd spend all that money on hotels. Families in the church would simply host, whichever local church was hosting the presbytery meeting, would host those presbyteries. In the early history of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, One of the reasons was because everyone had just lost everything and there was no money available. There was one church planter who for a while was living in a tent, literally church planting out of a tent. Lost his manse, lost church building, lost everything and had to start over from nothing. Our era, we've gotten used to an industry that takes care of all these things. We have whole cities that basically live off this industry. You think of places like Orlando or Las Vegas where it's just food, food and housing and entertainment on top of that, entertainment cities. And we think of that as hospitality. The hospitality industry, they'll take care of them. Hospitality, however, is a pattern that we see through the scriptures and what we've done in our Western world, in American culture, I think, is lost something profound and profoundly helpful for the fellowship of the church and for the witness of the church. I remember Pastor Zacarias telling me that if a baby was born in Eritrea, the entire street would have a feast. And interestingly, that street would include Christians, Evangelical Christians, Orthodox, and even Muslims would come to the feast. And there was a sense in which if you lived in that town or on that street, in that city, and you were close enough and had some acquaintance, that that closeness meant that you would be in each other's homes and that you would share in some way in the common life of the nation or of the city. This is perhaps very much closer to the Old Testament pattern of hospitality, the Middle Eastern pattern of hospitality, which is very open and very much interested in sharing the good gifts that have been given. Hospitality, how might we define it? Go here quickly, a general view, I just went on your outline a little bit about the Western view, we can just call this, yeah, the Western view is now I mean, people don't have people in their homes. It's almost a lost art. Your home is a private place that you do not share. And this was never the case, certainly was not the case for the early church. It was never the case, for example, for Abraham. We'll get to that in a moment. What is hospitality more generally? It is the pursuit of showing kindness, especially by opening one's home. and to strangers in particular. The Oxford Dictionary says it's the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests or strangers. Friendly and generous reception and entertainment, and that idea of entertaining does not mean putting on a movie, that's another fine way of ruining any sort of communion. It means to provide a pleasant experience or evening. It could just mean to entertain, mean to generously converse with your guests. You are providing for them and you are entertaining them. A stranger. Who's a stranger? That would be someone who's not hostile but maybe new. Guests or strangers but someone outside your local community, perhaps someone new to your locality or your church and that is particularly, let me get into this a little while, in a few moments, particularly helpful for the life of the church and our witness and our outreach and our including new members into the fellowship. In the New Testament, we have examples, for example, in 3 John, where there were families who were willing to take in, households who were willing to take in traveling pastors. And they were not to take in false teachers, but they were to help those who were preaching the truth. You think of Lydia, the seller in purple, who helped Paul on his missionary journey. You might have distant relatives come over. You might have had people staying over for Thanksgiving. That would be hospitality. In a church, you might have somebody who's new over to your house for dinner, or you might have someone that you don't know that well in the body. This idea of hospitality does not mean an unwise opening of your home to every criminal and vagrant coming by or avowed enemies of God's people. But even then, we are to bless our enemies and not curse them. The idea of hospitality is the generous opening of one's home and sharing of one's goods with often people you don't know well or to encourage other guests. The biblical norm, a few places I want to go in the scriptures that begin to lay a foundation for this practice in the life of the faithful. Abraham, the father of the faithful, Genesis 18, I'll turn there first. We have Abraham, and I'm going to read a few verses from Genesis 18. He lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him. And when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the ground and said, Lord, if I have now found favor in your sight, do not pass on by your servant. Please let a little water be brought. Wash your feet. Rest yourselves under the tree, and I will bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh your hearts. After that, you may pass by as much as you have come to your servant, they said. Do as you have said. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal. Knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd, took a young, tender, and good calf, and gave it to a young man. And he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree as they ate." Now, this is very interesting. very telling passage. It just simply shows the instinct of perhaps Abraham's culture. You couldn't let strangers go by without an invitation. If you read the language of Father Abraham, he ran from the tent door to meet them, bowed himself to the ground. He couldn't let them go by without killing the fatted calf, inviting them in, baking, bread and milk and butter and water, washing their feet, and making sure that these strangers were taken care of. Lot, in Genesis 19, does the same thing. These are these angelic visitors, the Lord and two angels. Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, here now, my lords, please turn into your servants' house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise early and go on your way. And they said, no, but we will spend our night in the open square. But he insisted strongly, so they turned into him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate." This is interesting biblical patterns and biblical language for the opening of the home. It is this language, if you might think, well, Peter, that's just an Old Testament example, and that's descriptive, not prescriptive. It is Hebrews 13 two, one and two, let brotherly love continue, do not forget to entertain strangers, for in so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Seems to be a direct reference to both Abraham and Lot's reception of the angelic visitors. And I'm gonna say this in the sermon this morning to another command in the scriptures, but it's interesting how when we read do not kill, or do not commit adultery, we say, well, that makes sense, that's a command. Obvious, it's important to obey that. But when the scriptures say, do not forget to show hospitality, it is easier in some way for us, it seems, to retreat into our sinful cultural patterns and not obey. But they're of equally divine origin. And that's important to think about. A few more commands, Leviticus 19.34. The stranger who resides with you shall be as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you are aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 10.18, the Lord executes justice for the orphan and the widow, shows his love for the alien, listen to this phrase, by giving him food and clothing. The Lord shows his love for the alien in Israel by giving him food and clothing. and you think of Ruth gleaning and the gleaning laws in Israel, being a very practical example of how the Lord looked on this Moabite woman and in his hospitality and generosity opened up the bounty of Israel for her. And this is the pattern of the scriptures. And again, I want to jump to the New Testament. I'm going to keep doing this to give you some sense of the unified witness of the scriptures. The end of Matthew chapter 25, when Jesus speaks of his holy judgment, he says this, 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. And then the righteous answered and they said, 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? And in verse 42, Jesus said, rather, he said, assuredly, inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. And he's saying that if you've done it to somebody else, you did it to me, Christ, one of mine. And then skipping down to where I was about to read, the opposite is true for those who are not Christ's. Verse 42, 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 take me in. And then they will answer, the unrighteous, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick and in prison and did not minister to you? And as much as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away to everlasting punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. And there Jesus is saying very simply, in a poignant way, which highlights the weight of these commands, is that if you don't do this, It could be a sign of unbelief, and that is particularly weighty. Christ there was the stranger. Again, 3 John, I mentioned this earlier. Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, especially when they are strangers. Job was defending his righteousness, and the alien has never lodged outside, for I have opened my doors to the traveler. One of the things Job could say is that my home has been open. And if you summarize this, these commands are rooted in the gospel. To receive strangers, according to the Lord himself, is to emulate his own remembering of his people when they were strangers in the land of Egypt. to remember his people, the proselytes who came into Israel, who he remembered and gave food and clothing to, and to receive strangers is to obey the New Testament commands, to show hospitality, and particularly, Christ says that there is direct service to him, the Lord and head of the church, when you share food and drink with the hungry and with the thirsty in the name of Christ. Simply to receive strangers is to obey the call of Christ to his church. And this is very simple biblical testimony. I would say it runs counter, profoundly counter to our cultural moment where we have big backyards and small front porches and closed blinds and empty tables. And what I mean by that is very often it's just for us or even just, and I would warn a little bit against this, even just for my immediate family or my relatives. Vernon and I were talking about this the other week about that the idea of everybody going to grandma's house after morning worship for Sunday lunch is a fine tradition except when that's all you ever do, and you don't ever reach out to anyone else in the body of Christ. You might do it once a month, it might be a good idea, but if the only people you ever spend time with are those people that you are directly related to, perhaps you have not yet opened your home to strangers, unless you believe that your relatives are strangers. It does not seem that this would be the case. Instead of the fear of strangers, anyone know what the fear of strangers, what phobia is that? Xenophobia, yes. We have the concept in the New Testament of philo-xenia, the love of strangers. Xenophobia is the fear of strangers. And again and again, we have the idea of the open home connected to the propagation of the gospel. And maybe you might say, again, this was just cultural, but remember that these are commands rooted all the way, that align all the way to the final judgment, that Christ, the Son of Man judges the nations. These are commands of the Lord Jesus, and you'll see how these cultural patterns, the best of cultural patterns, were even very much part of the ministry of Christ and how it expanded and traveled. One of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's home and reclined at table. and that instinct to hospitality that was in the Jewish nation became the occasion for Jesus to preach in the Pharisees' home. Now as they were traveling along, he entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Imagine if she was not hospitable. She would have never had that friendship that Mary and Martha and Lazarus had with Jesus. And immediately, Mark chapter 1, after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Into the house. While he was at Mark 14, while he was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of most costly perfume of Purnard. She broke the vial and poured it over his head. And the ministry of Jesus was very often propelled forward by open invitations to homes. And when he, for example, the man was lowered through the roof of the house, that was a costly hospitality day for that family, to invite Jesus to come to preach. But he was in a home, and he was doing his work in a home. And those homes, in every case, propelled his ministry onward. We see the same with the missionaries of the New Testament. Gaius, host to me, and the whole church greets to you. Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you, and Quartus, the brother. Host to me and to the whole church. This idea of the early missionaries. Third John is an example, but they're being propelled forward by the open homes. So in Acts 10, we read, Peter's ministry. In Acts chapter 10 we have two examples of hospitality. Chapter 10 in verse 6, Cornelius is looking for Peter and how is he going to find him? He is lodging with Simon a tanner whose house is by the sea. And again the same pattern is there. He's in a home of somebody who has opened his home for ministry. And then in chapter 10 in verse 23, when he was summoned to Caesarea, he was invited in and they lodged there. Next day, Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. And Peter was, again, welcomed into home after home of those who were hungry to hear the gospel. Acts 21, 16, some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Nason of Cyprus, a disciple of longstanding with whom we were to lodge. Philemon 22 at the same time also, here's Paul's letter, inspired letter, prepare me also a lodging where I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you. Patterns of gospel propagation went through the homes of many believers. The hospitality is such an important trait in the New Testament that if someone was to be in a leadership position in the church, this is a faithful saying, 1 Timothy 3, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be, lots of qualifications get to later in the list, hospitable. Must be. So the list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter one for elders and deacons is not just for other people, it is a picture of Christian character. And Paul's saying, if you're gonna be a leader in Christ Church, there needs to be some maturity in Christian character. And part of this is opening the home. And again, Titus 1 says the same thing, hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled. For a widow to receive the help of the church, She is required, listen to this, required to have a reputation for good works if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the state's feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. And that perhaps is a great verse for anyone, not just a widow to meditate on, But there is a line here of outward-facing servant generosity that is to flow from this woman, which is a sign of a changed heart. Some commands. Luke 19, 34, when they're preparing for the upper room meal, the disciples are sent ahead of the Lord Jesus. Christ, again, advances his kingdom by seeking, even in this case, commanding hospitality. They were to go into the city, and they were to find the upper room. That upper room was given to them, and they received the hospitality when they needed help. Luke 19.34, this is not quite hospitality, this example, but, Jesus sent the disciples ahead to find a coal tied up for his triumphal entry. And you remember the little phrase that he said, when they ask you what you're doing, you say, the Lord has need of it. So they went and they said, the Lord has need of it. And everything you have belongs to Christ, everything in the universe belongs to Christ, and we are to use it for him. for him. Examples Christ gave. Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, friend, lend me three loaves. This idea of sharing hospitality was built into Christ's teaching and the culture. Jesus said in Luke 14, said to the one who had invited him, when you give a luncheon or a dinner and do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they do not invite, rather, your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors. Otherwise, they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. Jesus is saying throw a feast for the stranger. Not for social advancement, not to show off what you have, but to serve. I already read Hebrews 13 to Galatians 6 10. So then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who are of the household of faith. And you just see the commands, the patterns, piling on. Now let me challenge you a little bit. A few things that, the intention of this class is to ask you to compare your life, and particularly your home and family life, with the call of the scriptures. And to ask yourself, why have I been given a home, and food, and drink, and time? And if you think that it is just to amass things to yourself, then you are missing the biblical commands that what you've been given, you've been given in order that you might serve Christ and others. Now, different households, you're gonna be able to do this in different ways. I understand that. But the broad overarching principle is very clear. And I think a healthy Christian church is gonna be counter-cultural in this regard, where your home will be open, your food will be shared, and you will end up in people's homes and sharing food. And I'll get more into that in the next week, but this basic pattern seems to be inviolably etched across the pages of the Old and New Testament. Now, how often you can do that's another question, but it would be part of the Christian life to be sharing in the good things that you've been given, and there's a lot of different ways that could be done, but it's definitely a command. I'll keep going. 1 Peter 4, 9, be hospitable to one another without complaining. The command, just roll off my tongue as you just read from passage after passage. So show your love for the alien, Deuteronomy 10, for you are aliens in the land of Egypt. 1 Peter 4, 10, the next verse, as each one has received a special gift, employed in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. This is an interesting phrase because the manifold, that means the boundless, the generous grace of God is given to you and your stewardship, the previous verse is hospitality without complaining. It's a heavenly exercise. We read from Matthew 25, Hebrews chapter 13, the little phrase that I want to put in your mind from those, Jesus said, you're serving me, which is what Abraham did, and some have entertained angels unawares. That's actually a profound phrase. And how many of you think about angels? I actually do think about angels a good bit. You should. They are real beings. They are part of God's original creation. They are powerful. God gives his angels charge over you. And you are to live your life conscious of the gaze of a holy God and his holy angels. And they know what's happening in this world. We know that from the book of Daniel, for example. They're aware of spiritual conflicts and they are dispatched as holy messengers in the spiritual warfare of the ages. We don't know exactly how that is. There's a veil before us, but they're real. And they are a motivation in Hebrews 13 to show hospitality, that there's a heavenly correspondence to this earthly activity. That should be motivating. something happening in another realm, and then to support the work of the church. And Jesus said to his disciples when he sent them out, whatever house you enter, first say peace be to this house. And that pattern was followed by the apostles and the very earliest pastors. I read a lot of verses about this already. These are basic reasons for hospitality. Overall, it is to show the love of Christ that you've been shown, when you are a stranger to other people, and especially so by opening your home and the gifts the Lord has given you, his manifold grace, food and drink, and the shelter he's given you, and using some of that space and time and gifts to give to others as God has given to you. To be a living sacrifice. Romans chapter 12. has the great, therefore, hinge point in the Book of Romans where we've talked about chapters one through three, the sinfulness of humanity, and then justification by faith treated broadly in chapters four through six. And then we have a sweeping and rising description of God's plan of salvation, running through seven all the way to 11, all the way to that ultimate for all the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. And the glories of Christ, the mysteries of election, the gift of the Holy Spirit, Paul's just been expanding this grand view of the saving work of God and the mystery of His power in the ages. And then chapter 12 is, what then do we do with these things? I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Give yourselves over to the right response to the grace of God. Present your bodies as living sacrifices. Don't be conformed to the world. If the world is a culture that closes its doors and shuts off its life from anyone else, the church is the opposite. We open our doors and we share the life that God has given us in Christ and we proclaim it. The working out of a transformed life. Look at verse 10 in Romans chapter 12. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love and honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, diaconal giving, mercy ministry, and giving to hospitality. Sacrifice, not conformed to this world, hospitality. This should be part of your life. The idea there is pursuing hospitality. Literally, the verb given to hospitality is chase it down like a hunter hunting its prey. You're going to pursue it. Not wait for it to happen, but you're gonna look for opportunities to share. You're gonna strive with intense effort. It's the word here, striving, like a hunt, or as in going after an enemy. The idea here of finding is very strong, of tracking it down, track down hospitality. You can't be passive about it, what the text is saying. You must be attacked. You need to commit to it. Set it as a goal. Make provisions for it. You're never going to exercise hospitality if you don't think ahead. No one goes hunting without ammunition and equipment. You're going to initiate. You're going to make it clear that your home is open and ready. You're going to extend the invitation. You're going to share what you've been given. And this idea of pursuing and then being joyful in it, 1 Peter 4, the end of all things is near, therefore be of sound judgment, sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. And the fervency of love, that's where that next phrase comes, be hospitable to one another without complaint. Now, this is interesting, because some of you might say, but you don't know what kind of trouble I'm going through. Do you know what kind of trouble the church in 1 Peter was going through? They were dying for the sake of the gospel. They were being, to use Paul's language, led like sheep to the slaughter all day long. It's the same letter where Peter has to say, don't be surprised if this fiery trial comes upon you. In other words, the Apostle Peter, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes to a church whose hearts are breaking because they're being persecuted for the faith, remember, Be hospitable to one another and don't complain about it. I know in our family, there've been periods of time, there's been seasons where it's been hard for us to open our home. After little Naomi was born, she didn't nurse well, and then she ended up having a sickness, which meant that when we started feeding her regular food, she was getting sick all the time. We probably had a 12 or 18 month period where Laura Lee was just worn out, just trying to take care of one child. And that happens. And in that period, we didn't do very much hospitality. And it was hard to get back into it. Once you get out of a habit, it was hard to get back into it. It's hard to give. And the Lord knows that sometimes we get stretched. But the idea of giving here is not an option. It's just a command. Be hospitable to one another without complaint, joyfully. Even if those we've served have not been gracious in the reception of service, we don't complain. We continue on because we're doing it for Christ. Let the love of brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. For by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Here there's another connection between love and this hospitality they've been talking about. And the writer of the Hebrews, jumping to Hebrews 13, makes a lot of connections from this brotherly love continue. There's a whole series of phrases that flow out of it. Remember prisoners as if chained with them, since you yourselves are in the body also, honor marriage, don't love money. The top of the list is show hospitality. Let brotherly love continue, remember to show hospitality. The motivation that angels are watching and that in history, in time and space, some people thought they were entertaining strangers and they were really angels is just mysteriously beautiful and powerfully motivating. From the love of the brethren flows these graces. Heavenly messengers, who knows, it's hard to know, rather, what exactly is being referred to. The idea angel here means messenger. Think of Rahab and Jericho, took in the spies. The widow at Zarephath took in Elijah. Abraham took in the heavenly angels. Messengers from God. And this is powerfully motivating when you think of the whole structure of how the gospel spread in the New Testament, the support of Paul's ministry and Peter's ministry and the other apostles, heavenly messengers. And we entertain for the sake of Christ as a spiritual act, we show hospitality as a spiritual act of devotion to God. So, There's a little bit on hospitality in general. Next week, I'm gonna talk a little bit more on the practical nature of hospitality. I have a few more things, but any questions so far? The weight of this lesson is simply this. There's an abiding moral command running through the scriptures, which indicates that the things that you have been given are not just for you. They are to be shared, Other believers for the advance of the gospel might be in a ministry of encouragement, might be helping traveling missionary for a night to stay, stay overnight. I know some of you posted Ian Hamilton when he was here last year. We have missionaries on occasion that come through. That might be another way to show hospitality. Or another needy person who simply needs friendship and encouragement may be in this body. Maybe a new member or a visitor. The question is, are you opening your homes? It seems to me that the biblical definition of hospitality in some way places a moral imperative on our lives to take the goods we have, the practical goods, time and money and space, and to share them with others. Questions? You're talking about when Martha was serving and Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet. And is that the narrative you're talking about? Jesus said to Mary, to Martha, that Mary had chosen the better part, that they were ending up with the blessing of the presence and ministry of Christ in their home. Yeah, there was a greater blessing even. Though at that point Martha was supposed to be listening, but she wasn't. She was serving very graciously. Questions on this principle. I want you to feel the weight of it and maybe ask this week what needs to change in your life. Mr. Van Boris. I think we need to realize that the whole idea of hospitality in America is more than just a Christian thing. It's a cultural thing. I grew up in a small farm community in upstate New York and we knew everybody. And when it was time to thresh oats or corn, several families would all gather together at one farm, and we'd do it together. And everybody would eat their meal. And I can still remember what happy times those were. But I don't think any of those people were evangelical Christians. It was a change of our culture. It's just changed so much with everybody now living in big cities. And as of, I think it was 1900, there was an overwhelming number of people in this country who were farmers and not city dwellers, but that's changed so greatly. And I remember one year when my father had a stroke, so we couldn't get our haying done. I was the only male, my brother was in the army, and I was like 12 years old, came and, okay, we're gonna do it for you. And they did all our haying in two days. And they were Catholics, I think. But I mean, just the whole concept has changed, not only among Christians, but culturally on a wider spread. It's true. It's funny you mentioned cities. I'm listening to an audio book right now called Metropolis, which is the history of cities and the movement of people. And that is a very big cultural change. And now it's global. And it's on a scale never before in history where people are packed into cities. And it's interesting that in agrarian cultures, in agrarian settings, people often know their neighbors better, even though they might be a mile away. It's a strange thing in our cities, the way our architecture works. I mean, if you were going to an apartment building, how in the world would you ever get to know your neighbor? I mean, you go up this elevator and you go down a hall that has no windows and you go into a door and all the balconies face outside and they're all walled off from each other. If you say hello to someone in the hall, you may be regarded as some sort of strange freak, which there's not no reason for people to, not without reason that you might be considered a freak, because there's a good number of those in the world now. But cities have not, interestingly, packed us closer together, but they have not helped us. I do think that, anyway, a couple things. Think about and pray about the next week. How do I view other believers in this body and do I know them? Have I opened my home? Is there any pattern of people crossing my threshold? There's a lot of different ways that you can do that. That's a good question. People who are new to the church, am I reaching out that way? I think this should be part of our church life. And then in your neighborhood, we have tried to have neighbors over for meals. It's not always easy to do, but a thoughtful Christian is ready to share and serve. There's simple ways that we can show the love of Christ. Mr. Van Boren. Just one other brief point, but I think we have to keep in mind the size of the church, too. I mean, so many churches today are hundreds, thousands, even. family to be able to reach out to everybody. Maybe geographically or culturally, whatever the sphere of influence, but I just don't want to lay too much guilt on everybody to feel like they have to know everyone personally in great detail. We can't know everybody, but surely One of the things, one of the things that is not complicated is the willingness to share the good gifts that the Lord has given. Within a providential sphere, I think we'd have to say. Mr. Ellis. I was just going to remark that the benefits are mutual, not only to the one who's receiving, but the giving. I remember 600 member church, mother would ask strangers home, Water to the soup, she said. We would find a way to provide. Often students. But we were encouraged, much as they were encouraged. The family that was receiving the stranger. No, there's a great ministry of mutual encouragement. Faith even between believers. Mutual faith, both of you and me, Paul says. Or you think of Malachi. Malki chapter three, those who spoke to each other, the Lord heard them, and he was pleased in their fellowship. And Loralee and I have had the joy on both ends, receiving warm hospitality, and also being able to have all kinds of interesting people around the table. Melanie? I guess the question about balancing the church people literal neighbors. Like, we were really blessed to come to this church and have a ton of people invite us over. So that inspired us to invite others. And on a Sunday, it's really easy to say, hey, come over now. It's a little easy in this culture at our church. But we haven't quite figured out a way to do that with our neighbors. Like, you know, by the time you get home on a Sunday, like, everybody else is eating. And meetings are busy. And we don't really have much in common with them. And when it gets really weird, they'll go over and say, like, come to our house. Yes. That is the default position in our age, isn't it? We promise we will not harm you. It's very sad actually. It's an indication of a massive cultural breakdown because I can imagine Mr. Van Voorhis' story from the farm. That thought would never cross your mind in your little town that someone was going to harm you. You would have an expectation of goodwill both ways. We've lost that expectation of goodwill in our culture, and it's very sad. It's part of the, I think, significant breakdown of our culture, God's judgment on America. But what we do is we, and we're not doing this very often, and we know how busy life is, we do try to simply reach out to neighbors. I make it a point to stop on my street all the time to talk to neighbors who are walking by. Matter of fact, they know me. And we have regular conversations for kids, dog sit for neighbors. All kinds of little ways that we try to serve them. And then some of them are lonely and live alone, and we have them over. However, they're busy, and we're busy, and it's hard to do. You can't have everybody over. But we try to reach out. It doesn't work on a Sunday usually. Unless we invited him to church, then we would say, come to our house afterwards and we've done that. That's an angel. But a lot of work, it's a lot of money. It's a lot of investment, it's painful. You're more tired when you're done than when you started. But remember that it is part of the pattern of, it's always been the pattern of believing life is to open our arms. So if you haven't been doing it, go home and pray about why you haven't been. And again, there's seasons in life, it would make sense. But if you've fallen off, repent. If you've never started, come back next week. I'll give you some practical tips on how it might, what it might look like to be hospitable, again, from the scriptures. Especially, centrally, the gift of food. and how the sharing of food and the breaking of bread has been a pattern all through the scriptures. Melchizedek and Abraham, all the way to Acts chapter two. The Feast of Israel, and then the, which are of course fulfilled in the Lord's Supper, but some pattern of the sharing of good gifts is definitely part of fellowship life in the church. So we'll see more of that next week. Jillian. One more question. You mentioned, I think it was Paul, asking for a lot of things to be prepared. And that was probably one out of 20 or so verses where it said, practice hospitality. Is that only church leaders or missionaries who can ask for hospitality, can ask for help in a time of need? No, I can't imagine it would not, anybody could ask for help at a time of need. Paul, of course, is doing that. I think it's Philemon, if I remember correctly. Gotta look up the, I think it's Philemon. My brain says verse 22, but I can't remember. I'll have to look it up. I'm not sure if I would interpret that as Paul's apostolic prerogative to just command someone to make him a bed. But he surely was asking and writing, I don't know how to, Mr. Van Boris is smiling here. Yeah, it is an extreme situation. Yeah, he obviously already has a relationship with them, Philemon and Onesimus, he knows the parties involved. He is definitely expecting them to participate in the ministry of the gospel by showing hospitality. The general command is clear enough. I would say that anyone should be willing to ask for help. And all of us should be willing to give that help. Maybe that doesn't answer your question. I don't know if it does. Does it, Joe? You'll probably find this amusing, but we had this request, a student come to stay with us for a couple of weeks. And he came and stayed with us more Well, I don't know what to say. But all I can tell you now is he's retired. He still emails me occasionally and tells me how thankful he was. At the time, he kind of took us for granted. But anyway, when we look back at it now, we kind of laugh and say, how did we ever get into that? But it was OK. It worked out in the end. Yes. I think that would be under the show hospitality without grumbling. Sometimes we can get fried. We can get tested, can't we? But the Lord still has something good in it for us to serve others. I'll share a story. When I was seven, my parents had us. My father said he was hungry. The pursuer showed up on the doorstep, giving him a place to stay. We invited him to go there on his motorcycle, and we hosted him for nine months until they married. They've been lifelong friends, greatly involved in their marriage history. Their parents were, I've lived with them at a time back in Seattle when I was out there, and I'm friends with their children. So it's been a wonderful blessing. Yeah, it can definitely be a wonderful blessing. I think the joy of it, Laura Lee likes to keep a guest book, and we like to read over it, and lots of good memories, and lots of joy in it. Rebecca, and then we're gonna. Just a thought about inviting neighbors, especially if you don't really know them very well. My goal is to one day do that to others too, is on a good weather season, to invite all these close neighbors at the same time to an outdoor meal. So there's less pressure on them. They kind of come and go. It's maybe a little easier for someone to say yes to. These are all good things to do. Next week, bring that one up again, Rebecca, next week, if I don't remember. Next, we're gonna talk a little bit more about food and hospitality and that one particular gift that is universally shared in the exercise of this grace. Okay, we're gonna pray. Think all week, pray about it. Bring your questions next week. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you that you are the one who When we were strangers, as Israel was in Egypt, you with your grace and mercy, you found us in our need. And you have fed us with the heavenly bread, our Lord Jesus Christ. You've given us a seat at your table. Lord Jesus, we remember that you said, in your Father's house are many mansions. And you have gone to prepare a place for us in the heavenly house. We pray that in real practical ways that you would grant us the grace this week of thoughtful contemplation of your word, repentance where repentance is needed. That we in some small way, with the time and treasure that you've given us, that we would be willing to hold to it loosely and to offer it to others in the name of Christ. We pray that this would bring the building up of the saints in love, that would bring the advance of the gospel, that it would cement and deepen our relationships with one another in the body, and Lord, that that bright light in a lonely and isolated culture would even be used of you to bring sinners to hear the preaching of the gospel and to hear and to believe. And we ask for these blessings and fruits on our hospitality. Give us grace to obey out of love for you. And we ask in Jesus name.