Defining Biblical Hospitality
Matthew 25:34-40
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Hospitality is something every Christian should be doing, but what exactly is hospitality? Hospitality can mean different things based on your culture, and upbringing. For some hospitality is what you receive when you stay in a hotel. A clean bed, space to be alone, a lavish breakfast and the ability to have your needs meet 24 hours day, that may be the definition of hospitality. For others, hospitality is someone opening their home for you to stay. Instead of a lavish breakfast, room to yourself, and your needs met 24 hours, you are invited into a home to help prepare the meals and to share rooms with others.
When thinking of hospitality we may think of family and friends gathering together. Hospitality can also mean a time when strangers are gathered together. Depending on your culture, it might be normal or weird to have strangers in your home. When we were a young family in seminary with only 1 child, we invited some other students over to our small apartment to join in Thanksgiving together. We were from different states, nations, and cultures and although we knew each other by name, we were not yet good friends. Despite our differences, because of our connection with Christ, we were able to show hospitality to each other and have a wonderful meal together.
Beyond our cultural perceptions of hospitality, lets see what God has to say about hospitality in His inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word.
First we look at Acts 28:7. Here we are in the middle of a story about Paul and his missionary travels. As he is traveling through a city, he is in need of some where to stay. A Roman official offers him a place to stay for the 3 days that he is in town.
There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. (Acts 28:7)
This is an example of hospitality that was shown to Paul from a Roman official. To be welcomed into a home in ancient world was to be welcomed into safety with food.. These are some cross cultural basics of hospitality, especially in the ancient world when traveling was very dangerous. This Roman official showed hospitality, or φιλοφρόνως - philŏphrŏnōs, which is to be friendly, kind and courteous towards others. This sounds pretty simple enough, to be courteous and welcome a missionary into your home.
As we continue through scripture we read Romans 12:9-13 and see that not only was this kind of hospitality expected, but it was commanded.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:9-13)
This is a command for believers written by Paul the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as a letter to believers in Rome. We can see something of a proverbial bread sandwich in these instructions. One piece of bread is love. The other piece is hospitality. Love both a motive and an action, as hospitality is both a demonstration of love, and an overflow of motive.
Although love and hospitality are 2 different words, and have different definitions, love and hospitality are intertwined. They are the bread of your sandwich. When we look at the Greek here, philoxenia (hospitality) means the love of foreigners, the love of strangers. Now this doesn’t mean that hospitality among friends is wrong, but the hospitality commanded here in Romans is specifically love towards those whom we do not yet know. Love to foreigners.
When you break apart xenophobia you get the words Xeno-strangers and Phobia-fear. Many times in our culture we resist hospitality to strangers because we are fearful. We have fear, worry and anxiety about strangers, about others. But what would happen if we practiced hospitality to the stranger?
We can look back into history and see many examples of when we as humans have had trouble with this kind of hospitality. Separation of individuals based on their skin color, sex, age, or ethnicity are just some examples from history that come to mind. We often have trouble loving the stranger. It is not a natural thing to love the stranger, it is not a natural thing to practice kindness toward someone who is different , someone who is other, someone we do not know. It is actually quite easy and part of our natural and sinful self to show courtesy and kindness to people that we like and people that we know (rather than someone we don’t).
When the Bible speaks about hospitality it is often speaking of Philaxeno. This ancient Greek word breaks apart into Phila-Love and Xeno-Strangers. This command from the Apostle Paul, in Romans 12, to believers is to practice hospitality. To practice philaxeno, the love of strangers. We are to be on watch, to pursue, to be looking, to make it a habit and to be caught practicing love to strangers.
This love of strangers brings to mind the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The person in the story who practiced hospitality was the last man - a Samaritan (not the priest or the Levite). Practicing hospitality came with a cost to the Samaritan. It cost him time to help, it cost him financially to pay for the man’s stay, it cost him relationally and yet this is philoxeno - hospitality. This is Christ-like, biblical hospitality.
Our culture today teaches the phrase “stranger danger”. It is true, it can be very dangerous to love strangers. Jesus loved strangers and it cost Him the cross. And yet, despite all the risk and cost, as we see in Romans 12, we as Christians are to practice hospitality. To define hospitality according to scripture, we could summarize it by saying that Hospitality is to show love to strangers. That is a new covenant command for God’s people in the post-ascension era of Christ’s reign. This is a command for us today.
But how do we practice hospitality in a way that is pleasing to God and that is wise, so that we do not invite unnecessary danger onto ourselves? We will look at some answers to those questions next week. For now, we need to remember that hospitality is the love of strangers.
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