Live.Awake

From Fellowship to Hospitality

// October 30th, 2007 // Church Life, Sunday Recap

Living in community with each other is vital. I’ve talked about this before. But,if all it ever becomes is a inwardly focussed Moose Lodge meeting then we’ve missed half the point. Yes, community is where we digest Truth and mature to be more like Christ. But Jesus spent a lot of time with sinners. An awful lot of time. So much so, that he made everyone around Him uncomfortable.

In scripture we see both the idea of fellowship (Gk. koinonia) and hospitality (Gk. philoxenia). Hospitality is more than being in relationship with other Christians. Being open, vulnerable, relational. Hospitality is fellowship extended to strangers. Hospitality should be a natural outgrowth of fellowship. You simply allow your Christ-centered community to extend beyond the church walls and encompass your neighborhoods, workplaces, and daily encounters with the lost world in which we live.

Jesus has some interesting things to say about this. To me the most notable place where He talks about hospitality is in Matt. 25:31-45. Here He tells us that when we reach out to the lost, poor, disadvantaged, or the stranger it is as though we are ministering to Jesus Himself. When we fail in hospitality, it is as though we have left Jesus Himself out in the cold.

We also see Jesus modeling hospitality. Even when he is invited as a guest, He always seems to turn the tables and become the host. Look at how he called Matthew. He approaches Matthew, a tax collector at the time and calls Him to follow. Next thing you know they are in Matthew’s home having a meal. Matthew’s tax collector buddies show up as well. The Pharisees are offended, and Jesus begins to explain some things about who He has come for. He has come for sinners. Just as it would be silly for a doctor to avoid sick people, it would be ridiculous for Jesus to avoid sinners.

Though Jesus was a guest in Matthew’s home, Jesus takes authority there and becomes the host as well.

You see the same thing at the wedding party where Jesus turned water into wine. He is a guest. They run out of wine. So Jesus uses the containers intended to be used for the ceremonial hand washing, fills them with water and turns it to wine. Real wine. Not grape juice. Not Near Beer. Wine. Really good, fine wine. The wine is served and the host of the party is amazed.

Jesus is invited as a guest. He quickly becomes the host and does a miracle (while at the same time running rough-shod over their religious systems).

Religion is the enemy of hospitality. It will prevent you from ever having someone in your home, or in your life that is unpredictably sinful. This is what these sinners sensed about Jesus. He was able to be among them, and allow them to be confronted by the Truth of who He is. He didn’t call them to become Pharisees. He called them to Himself.

This is our job as Christians. To extend fellowship to sinners just as Jesus did. And in doing so, recognize that it is as though we are doing it to Jesus Himself. And in the process, not only is Jesus the guest of honor He is the host as well. This is hospitality.

[tags]fellowship, hospitality, social justice, homeless, poor, poverty, koinonia, philoxenia, Jesus, the least of these, Matthew[/tags]