Hospitality is an ancient practice, a cultural attitude, which honors any guest as extraordinary, and within the church, this idea even extends into the belief that any stranger represents Christ Himself. In other words, there are no strangers. Secular Western culture postures itself strenuously against this idea, instead celebrating independence, encouraging self-sufficiency, guarding privacy and breeding an atmosphere of fear, where the stranger becomes somehow untrustworthy, likely a criminal, simply because they are unknown. Sadly, often times we have largely abandoned the practice and theology of hospitality, and churches are no longer homes were friends can be made, meals can be shared, rest is offered, defenses can drop and the door is always unlocked. If anything is obvious it is that the Kingdom of God contradicts the world, and in a culture that spends so much energy drawing boundaries between what is yours and mine, anyone who refuses to, is obviously a citizen of that contradictory kingdom. Under a tough veneer of cynicism and determined hedonism, our world is actually aching with loneliness and fear. Delivering the antidote is difficult, preaching and even the most impassioned evangelism has little effect, but to offer unfeigned welcome into the vulnerable heart of community or home and to extend love which does not judge, is to practice extreme, revolutionary hospitality. Christ Himself knocks, will our own fear and preoccupations bar Him, or will He find the latch open, and behind it, the soup already simmering, the laughter already loud and the welcome almost overwhelming?

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in it’s various forms.” 1 Peter 4:8-10