CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY!

CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY!

Rom 12:10-13

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

1 Tim 3:2

2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

           The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenia and literally means “love of strangers.” The writer of Hebrews urges us to “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” Heb 13:2. This, for the believer, seems to be a prime motivator since angels walk about cleverly disguised.

           There was a Shunammite woman who prepared a resting place for the prophet Elisha. Later that act of hospitality would pay huge dividends.

2 Kings 4:8-11

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

           The parable of the Good Samaritan urges us to care for others when it is within our power to do so. In it we are reminded that hospitality is inconvenient and costly but praiseworthy. It is just what Jesus would have done!

Lord, although it may be inconvenient and costly, let me be a blessing to someone today. AMEN