INTRODUCTION (A world without kindness to strangers)

 

“I've always depended upon the kindness of strangers.” These are the words of one of the characters in a famous play by Tennessee Williams, as she's led away to an insane asylum at the end of the play. It's a sad story about everyone's longing to be loved and about how that longing, when misdirected, can lead to some pretty harsh, graphic realities. 

 

It's sadder still, because this character with mental illness was actually held at emotional arm's length by the people she met along the way, and rarely shown real love and concern. One of the great tragedies of the play is that what she said as she was led away at the end was not actually true of how others had treated her. She had not been able “always to depend on the kindness of strangers.” Quite the opposite. 

 

Today we're concluding our sermon series on Romans 12.  Three weeks ago Pastor Brian introduced the series by preaching about the Transforming Power of Christ-Centered Community. He spoke about:

•how authentic, Christ-centered community is both a gift and responsibility

•and when we experience it, it has the power to transform our lives

 

Two weeks ago Pastor Brian preached about Life Together: A Community of Grace. It was about:

•how Christ-centered community means unconditional acceptance, unmerited favor

•and when we experience it, it has the power to transform our lives

 

Last week Pastor Megan preached about Life Together: A Community of Truth. She focused on:

•how Christ-centered community means exercising sober judgment to see ourselves and others as God sees us

•and when we experience that, it has the power to transform our lives

 

Today we'll focus on Life Together: A Community of Hospitality. We'll talk about:

•how a Christ-centered community practices missional hospitality

•and when we experience that, it has the power to transform our lives

 

GOD'S MISSION – GOING OUT & TAKING IN

 

In the church we focus a lot on our mission to go out, and rightly so. Because our mission comes from the heart of who God is... and God is a sending God. He sent out his Spirit into the world at Creation 

and he sent out his Son, Jesus Christ, at the incarnation. Then Jesus sent out his disciples before he was taken up to heaven, and he sent the Spirit to be present and empower them as they went. 

 

Listen to this passage from the end of the gospel of Matthew (chapter 28), where Jesus gave his disciples clear direction about their mission in the world. He said:

 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

 

The sending directive that Jesus gave was not just for the 11 disciples who were there with him in that moment, but for all disciples who come after them. We are also sent out on God's mission. We are to get outside our comfort zones. We are go to places and be with people who need to hear the name of Jesus. That's our mission. 

 

But if we were to stop there it would only be half the mission God has given us. Because God is not only a sending-out God... he's also a taking-in God. And so as children of his (who receive our directive from the heart of who he is), our mission is to take in too. Listen for it in this morning's passage. Rom 12, starting at v 9. 

 

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

 

HOSPITALITY – LOVE OF STRANGERS

 

It's fitting that this section which highlights our mission of hospitality in the world is introduced by the words, “Let love be genuine.” That's no mistake. Because the foundation for hospitality is love. The Greek word that we translate “hospitality” literally means having a love for strangers. The word is philoxenia (Phil-LOX-ay-NEE-a) and it's made up of the words,  philos (PHIL-os), meaning friendly love, and xenos (XSEY-nos), meaning a foreigner or stranger. It's interesting, don't you think, that the second part of the word (xenos) is also in a word that our society teaches us about how to deal with other people: xenophobia – fear of Strangers. So hospitality – a love for strangers – is a radical, counter-cultural action! 

 

You can feel the importance of it by taking a closer look at the word we translate “extend” (when the passage says “extend hospitality”). This word is actually much more intense than just putting forward. In the Greek it means something more like“running after, pursuing, seeking after eagerly, or earnestly endeavoring to acquire.” So the second half of verse 13 could actually be translated: “seek after eagerly and earnestly endeavor to have a love for strangers.” 

 

GOD'S HOSPITALITY TO US 

 

We know that our mission to go out comes from the heart of a sending God. That's clear. But our mission to take in also comes from the heart of God... more specifically, our mission to eagerly love strangers by bringing them into our midst. God does that! He sends out in order to bring in. We know it because he did it for us. Hear this word from Ephesians 2:12-13,19-20: 

 

12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ....... 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

 

God loves to embrace – to bring in close – those who were once far off. He extended hospitality when he brought strangers into his household through Christ and made us part of the family. One sign of that reality is the Lord's Supper, in which we who were once separated from God and each other, are brought together as siblings at the family table. At the table we are like grain gathered from many fields into one loaf and grapes from many hills into one cup, and we are transformed into a diversely sacred community with Christ at the center. That passage from Ephesians 2 goes on to tell us how Christ has united those who were estranged. It says:

 

14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.

 

So if hospitality is a love for strangers, then the Lord's Supper is a table of the ultimate hospitality. Strangers become family. And the food we receive at that table prepares us for all other acts of hospitality in the world. We go out, as Romans 15 tells us, to welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.

 

OUR HOSPITALITY TO OTHERS

 

The mission we receive from God's heart when we go out from this place is to take in those who are strange and different, alienated, or foreign to us. Just as God did for us. We are to embrace the people who are held at arm's length by our society, who feel lonely, isolated, or different. For thousands of years God has been instructing his people to remember that we once felt like that ourselves (all of us did at some point). And for that reason we are to offer full hospitality to those who feel like that now. 

 

Leviticus 19:33,34 (The Message Version) "When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don't take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God.”

 

And the amazing thing is that when we take outsiders into our lives, we not only bless them but we are also often deeply blessed by them, sometimes in surprising ways. Hebrews 13 says,

 

1 Let mutual love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

 

Of course we know that every person – no matter how strange to us – is made in the image of God and their life is a sacred gift.  But what we don't always think about is that they could also be a messenger from God with some blessing or insight that we might have missed if we hadn't invited them into our lives. And that goes both ways. It's reciprocal. We can't help but be transformed by the strangers we take in: we are made new – enriched by the differentness – of those who become part of us. And vice versa. Paul says, watch and listen carefully when you show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 

 

So what does hospitality look like for us? Sometimes it does mean actually inviting people into our homes. That can be very powerful. And sometimes it has a broader sense of just inviting people into our every day lives. Maybe just seeing people who are held at arm's length and giving them some simple form of love and welcome. 

 

•It's Prime Timers who invite someone new to Thursday morning breakfast 

•It's the Stephens ministers, who learn not only to give grace, but to receive it. 

•It's Gems and Cadets who bring a friend to Wednesday night meetings 

•or congregation members who bring someone on Sunday mornings. 

•It's people who bake cookies for the new neighbors, maybe even offer to show them around town. 

•It's the woman who continually opens up her small group to new members. 

•It's the hundreds of people who lavished love and generosity on their new Canadian pastor. 

•It's the Hand2Hand program and soup kitchen ministries that share meals and a common table with those who lack food or friendship. 

•It's the amazing suppers prepared for our Wednesday night community dinners. 

•It's the volunteer basketball coach who shares his relational time with at-risk youth. 

 

It is anyone who invites an outsider into their heart and life... AND who allows outsiders to invite them in too. When we extend hospitality to others – in any form – we are inviting strangers into God's household. In fact, God is inviting people into his household through us, to be brothers and sisters with us at the table. 

 

OUR HOSPITALITY TO GOD

 

And when we extend hospitality to others we are also giving hospitality to God. I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't always recognize God until after the fact (after he's done something or been some place). Sometimes I feel like one of the disciples on the road to Emmaus who didn't know they were speaking to Jesus until they invited him home for dinner. They actually extended hospitality – love for strangers – to Jesus. We do too, every time we invite outsiders into our lives. Matthew 25 tells us clearly:

 

31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33a nd he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 

 

34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 

35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 

 

37 Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 

 

40 And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

 

CONCLUSION (a world that includes love & welcome for strangers)

 

“I've always depended upon the kindness of strangers.” That statement wasn't true when it was claimed by one of the sad characters in Tennessee Williams' play. But it can be true. 

 

 

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – Amen.