Hospitality can be such a daunting word, especially if the woman in Proverbs 31 seems like some unreachable Superwoman! People who love hospitality and entertain are perfect, right? No, they are not; on the contrary, they are people who are imperfect and live imperfect lives.
Of course, hospitality may be more natural for some and more learned for others. For you, it may seem like the perfect storm reminding you of your inadequacies. For us to see what hospitality really is, we need to see where it comes from and Who the Source is…. What matters is the Source, not if you are an introvert, needing a lot of alone time, or an extrovert, needing a lot of people around you. Hospitality is not need-based, it is obedience-based or value-based. The values we live by are sourced from Father God.
When God created man, He said that it is not good for him to be alone. Even though God Himself fellowshipped with the first man, Adam, He saw that Adam became alone and needed one of his own kind. God then made Eve – a wonderful counterpart for Adam. That is the first indication God made of the value of connection and fellowship. He was willing to create something or someone to make sure that Adam got what his soul needed – connection. Connection with God is always first in value, but God Himself created a counterpart for Adam because He saw that He needed it. Now you might think that I am blogging on marriage today, but I am not. I am only laying the foundation of where hospitality comes in.
Fast forward a bit to the New Testament where hospitality is mentioned quite a few times. Have you ever thought that Jesus and his disciples (we know of the 12 but there are others mentioned as well) plus the women that served Him, plus those that followed Him out of curiosity, needed to eat and sleep somewhere? Someone had to feed them! Someone had to make sure they were looked after. Even though Jesus mentioned to Zaccheus that He had no place to sleep, that did not mean that He never slept in someone else’s house. He (and probably His entourage, too) actually slept over at Zaccheus’ house that night. One thing we know for sure is that the last supper was in someone else’s house. Just thinking of feeding and looking after Jesus’ entourage may give you heart palpitations, but people, people who aren’t even mentioned by name, opened their homes to look after the most important Person that ever walked the earth! Do you think they realized it when they fed Him? I am not so sure they did…
Jesus specifically said that we need to be hospitable because some of us unwittingly entertain angels! How exciting is that, not knowing if your next guest is an angel! I would certainly like to have an angel in my house!
Hebrews 13:1-2 (NKJV)
Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
We get so stuck on the food, decor, etc. that we actually miss the point. If an angel does come for dinner, I am fairly certain that if he has to give feedback in Heaven, he will not give feedback on the food, but on the hearts that fed him! We focus on what we don’t have, cannot do and what we lack – but if we look at the Word, that is not what counts. He asks us to give what we have – even if it is only a glass of water!
Matthew 10:42 (NKJV)
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.
We are all disciples, therefore whatever we give, He promises that He sees and will reward us.
Hospitality is living the open arms of Jesus - inviting, enveloping and encouraging others. Hospitality is not about the food, decor or settings. God wants us to be a generous people and that means sharing what we have – even if it is preciously little. In Romans 12, it is one of the things listed as love and a Christian lifestyle.
Love is….
…distributing to the needs of the saints, given (to pursue or seek after) to hospitality. (Romans 12:13 – NKJV)
My own story is that I love to be hospitable, I am a bit of a foodie and being hospitable is a nice outlet to try new things. I was trained on how to be hospitable by an incredible mother! She always said yes to whomever needed food or a place to stay. I cannot remember her ever showing someone away – our friends and my father’s colleagues were always welcome. At school, hospitality was one of my subjects and I excelled in it. Why do I share this? Certainly not to let anyone feel intimidated. I am sharing this because I lost the heart of it along the way somewhere. It became a chore of excellence with no heart in it. I would rather dish up incredible food than connect with the guests. I would rather shout at my family and create a tense atmosphere to have everything perfect, than lowering my standards and having a space of peace for the whole family to enjoy. I had to repent…. I had to realise that fellowship around bought pizza was better than strife with a meal a king could feast on! I had to return to the heart of fellowship, connection and the real heart of hospitality that God intended.
Over the years, many people have come over to my house unexpectedly, and I am always amazed that there is enough food! Many times I knew that what I cooked was just not enough…. But it always became enough. Some people have laughed at me and said that’s ridiculous, but I have seen miracles in my house of food that wasn’t supposed to be enough but was. God loves hospitality and He partners with it, no matter what we dish up!
Another one of my favourite testimonies is when, a few years ago, my husband and I were blessed with some birthday money. We went to the store together to look at bean-to-cup coffee machines. The prices were very high by our standards, but we had most of the money already. I really struggled to justify paying so much money for a coffeemaker and asked my husband to please pray about it and make sure that we were doing the right thing. When my husband asked God, God replied by asking a question back. He asked my husband how much of the furniture in our house was bought by us. My husband thought and honesty replied: ‘Well, nearly nothing, Lord.’ (Most of our furniture were gifts, and beautiful gifts at that). God answered and said ‘Siegfried, I love hospitality; buy the coffeemaker.’ God reminded us that He is, after all, the source of everything we have and it glorifies Him if we use it for entertaining others.
That coffeemaker has made thousands of cups of coffee in the years we have had it. As it stands in a prominent place in the kitchen, it is always a stark reminder that our God loves hospitality and that He will always partner to make it possible - even if we just come with five loaves and two fishes.
Be brave and pursue hospitality and see how God does miracles in your house today.
Love, Liesl
Liesl Mare is a regular contributor at Women of Reverence.
Read full bio here