GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT – GIFT OF HOSPITALITY
DR. JIM DIXON
2 PETER 4:1-11
MARCH 16, 1986
His name is Nicholas Scody. He lives in San Francisco. He’s Italian by descent. He speaks very little English. In the year 1977, he decided to fly from San Francisco to Rome, Italy, to visit his family, his relatives, and his friends. The plane stopped at Kennedy Airport in New York to refuel and to load and unload passengers and unfortunately, Nicholas Scody thought he was in Rome, and he got off the airplane and he was surprised to see that his relative and his family were not there but he decided to go on into the city anyway. He went into what he thought was Rome and he saw the people speaking English with what he would describe as an American accent, but that didn’t surprise him because he knew that American tourists are everywhere. And he also saw signs written in English and he thought it was really nice that the Italian government would be so accommodating to American tourists. Since his family hadn’t come to meet him, he decided he’d just spend a few days touring Rome and so he found a policeman and asked the policeman where the nearest hotel was and he asked the question in Italian and by some strange coincidence, this policeman spoke Italian and gave Nicholas Scody directions to the nearest hotel. Now Nicholas was really surprised that they took American dollars at the hotel. He spent the night there.
The next morning, he decided he would tour Rome and he would see the Colosseum and he would see the place where the Circus Maximus was and the Arch of Constantine and he’d go and see the Pantheon and of course the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. And he got on a bus and began to tour the city, which of course was New York, and he toured it for twelve never saw any of the historic landmarks. He got off the bus and he went up to another policeman and he asked him where the colosseum was and he was really enraged to see that there was a Roman policeman who didn’t speak Italian. Nicholas Scody wound up spending 48 hours in New York City before he realized that he was not in Rome. And when later he was asked about his experience, he simply said, “Travel is sometimes disorienting.” Certainly, it was for him and travel is also sometimes very tiring—what with jetlag and staying in various different hotels night after night. Sometimes travel is frustrating with misconnections and maybe losing travelers checks and credit cards. Travel can even be dangerous if you go to some parts of the world where there are hijackings and terrorist activity. None of these things, however, have kept people from traveling.
Every year on this earth, 200 million people travel to foreign countries, spending $25 billion. But travel is not new. People have traveled through all the centuries and so it was in the first century after Christ, people traveled. But it was more tiring then, because in the first century there were no airplanes, and there were no buses, there were no automobiles. A person traveled by what was called a beast of burden. They traveled on or with a donkey or a horse or a camel, and it was not only tiring, but it was dangerous because they traveled the dusty, dirty roads which crisscrossed Europe and Asia Minor, and many of those roads were laden with robbers and thieves. And there were no Howard Johnsons, there were no Hiltons, there were no Sheratons, there were no Roadway Inns, and what inns there were, were filled with undesirable people. A reputable person would not have stayed at a roadside inn in the first century. Therefore, it became imperative that good people expressed hospitality toward travelers and strangers. That people opened up their homes and received weary pilgrims and made them feel at home and let them spend the night or a number of nights in their home and in the Greek world and in the Roman world and in the Jewish world and in the Christian world in the first century, hospitality was encouraged and it was viewed as critical.
The word hospitality comes from the Latin or Roman word hospice, a word which literally means guest. By the fifth century, Christians had begun to develop guest homes for pilgrims and weary travelers, and they called them hospices. And by the time of the Crusades, these hospices were governed by religious orders. Their accommodations were free. Anyone who was weary and anyone who was traveling, anyone who needed a place to stay or a meal to eat could come and for free, stay in one of the hospices. But after the Crusades, these hospices began to specialize on meeting the needs of the sick and the elderly and those who were diseased or ill, and over time, most of these hospices came to be called hospitals.
There are many hospitals in the world today, but these hospitals that we have today do not express the meaning of the word hospice or the true meaning, the original meaning of the word hospitality. We can be thankful for hospitals; we can be thankful for doctors—they’re wonderful—but they’re not free. Hospitals are expensive. In fact, it’s been said that you only, it’s only when you receive your bill, that you understand why the surgeon was wearing a mask in the operating room. But you see, true hospitality is free. And the original meaning of hospitality or hospice was simply a person opening up his or her home to receive another person and to welcome them as a guest and to make them feel at home and to care for them. And biblically, hospitality is precious to God, and He wants to see hospitality exhibited in some sense in each of our lives.
This morning I have two simple teachings and the first teaching is this. For some Christians, hospitality is a gift. The Bible says, “Practice hospitality ungrudgingly towards one another.” And the Bible says this in the context of the Gifts of the Spirit. The Bible says, “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” Not every Christian is equally gifted in hospitality.
On a cold winter night in the year 1840, a woman named Mrs. Lilly woke from a sound sleep. She heard a noise in her house. Her room was dark, but she sensed that someone was in her house. She lit a lamp. She looked around. No one was in her room, but she heard a noise outside of her room and she went to the door. She opened it. She looked out into the hall and she saw the door to Victoria’s room moving just a little bit. But Victoria was out of town and so, with her heart racing, she went to that door that moved. She opened it and she looked in and Victoria’s room was dark. She couldn’t see. So, Mrs. Lilly went, and she lit a lamp. She looked around and saw nothing, but she sensed a presence and she’d had this same feeling many times in the weeks and months passed. She stood there for a while and suddenly she saw the bedspread on Victoria’s bed move just a little bit. She looked under the bed and she saw a young boy and his name was Eddie Jones. She came to find out, and this is absolutely true, that Eddie Jones had lived in her house for more than a year, raiding the refrigerators by night and hiding by day. Now the house did not really belong to Mrs. Lilly. It was Victoria’s house and Victoria was the Queen of England and the house was Buckingham Palace. From the beginning of 1839 to the end of 1942, during that 4-year period, this young boy, Eddie Jones, lived in Buckingham Palace without anyone knowing it for more than two years—26 months. Whenever they would find him, they would kick him out but he would sneak back in until finally, at the close of 1842, Queen Victoria had had enough and she said she was tired of having her home invaded by an uninvited guest and she tightened security in Buckingham Palace and Eddie Jones had to find some other place to live until he grew a little older and enrolled in British Military Service. But the truth was that Queen Victoria didn’t like people staying at Buckingham Palace even when they were invited. She didn’t like anyone staying at Buckingham Palace for more than a few days. She liked her privacy. For her, her residence was a place apart, and particularly after the death of her husband in 1861, she loved her privacy. When she moved north to Balmoral in Scotland, the only person that she would receive as a guest was Benjamin Disraeli, her close friend and Prime Minister. She didn’t have the Gift of Hospitality.
It seems to me that there are a lot of Christians, perhaps many in this room, who are somewhat like Queen Victoria. It’s not that you don’t love people. It’s just that your home is kind of a recluse. It’s kind of a place apart, a retreat, a sanctuary, a place where you can be away from a busy world, and when people come and spend more than a few days with you, you begin to feel invaded, and you wish you could tighten the security. You’re tired of sharing your refrigerator and your bathrooms and your bedrooms, and you want that sense of privacy again. I know that there are many Christians who are like that because I’m one of them and Barb and I, for us our home is very much a retreat, a place where we can get away from all the stresses of life and the hustle and the bustle of a very busy life in a busy world. At first, I felt kind of guilty about that thinking that I ought to be more hospitable, but I’ve come to conclude that I just don’t have the Gift of Hospitality.
When Barb and I came to Colorado twelve years ago, we found that a lot of people wanted to visit us so they could tour Colorado and use our home as their homebase. And we would have Barb’s sisters and their families come and my brothers and their families come, and Barb’s parents and my parents and our nephews and nieces my college buddies and Barb’s old college friends and then lot of people we didn’t even know were friends would come and stay at our house and sometimes we’d have two and three families at a time staying at our house for far too long it seemed to me. And all with their little nephews and nieces and for a long time it seemed like these nephews and nieces had one purpose in life and that was to seek out and destroy. That feeling was so common of going around the corner in the house and seeing some little guy standing on the dining room table, standing if we were lucky—maybe jumping on the dining room table—you get used to the feeling that you need to shout to be heard, waiting for the bathroom, standing in line for a shower. We have one brother-in-law who likes to take three to five showers a day. If cleanliness is next to godliness, he is borderline deity there’s no doubt about it! Now we love our family. We really do. We love our relatives. We love them a lot and it’s not that they’re hard to live with. They’re not. It’s just that after a few days, we become hard to live with, and after a few days, Barb and I find ourselves longing for that sense of privacy again. That our house might once again be a kind of retreat.
And you know the Lord Jesus, Himself, had times He needed to get away and that’s why He’d slip away to the Garden of Gethsemane or why He’d get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake—to be away from the multitudes the Bible says.
I’ve learned, over the course of time, that there are some very special people who don’t seem to have this need. At least not to the degree that I do. There are some very special people who seem to be able to have people stay in their home for long extended periods of time and they just love it And in the Bible, Priscilla and Achilla were just like that. They were husband and wife, sometimes called Priska and Achilla. They were a Jewish-Christian couple. Achilla had grown up in the Province of Pontas in Asia Minor. We don’t know where Priscilla was born. But when they were married, they went to live in Rome and in 49 A.D., they were kicked out of Rome by the edict of Claudius, the Roman Emperor, who banished all Jews from the city and Priscilla and Achilla went to live in Corinth. And there in Corinth they made their home and it’s evident that they had already become Christians by the time they were at Corinth. So, when the Apostle Paul came to Corinth, south of Athens, they invited him to come and live at their home and the Apostle Paul came and he stayed a little while—18 months—he stayed with them in their home. And when a church began to be formed in Corinth, Priscilla and Achilla invited the church to come and meet in their home, and many of the people in the church lived in their home.
There’s evidence of that, and when visitors came to visit the church and the flock and the congregation, they would stay at their home. And then later, when Priscilla and Achilla moved to Ephesus in what is modern-day Turkey, again they established their home there and again the Apostle Paul came and this time he stayed with them for two years, living in their house. And when the church was formed in Ephesus, the church again met in the home of Priscilla and Achilla and again all the visitors that would come and visit that flock, that parish, that congregation would stay with them. Later they moved to Rome, but the same thing happened. It didn’t matter where they lived. They would just start inviting people to come and live in their home, and all throughout the Christian world, Priscilla and Achilla became famous for their hospitality—a special gift—a beautiful gift—but not every Christian has it.
Secondly and finally, I have another teaching. While it is true that only some Christians have the Gift of Hospitality, it is also true that all Christians are called to be hospitable. Every one of us are called in some sense to use our homes for hospitality. The Romans had a messenger of the gods and they called him Mercury. The Greeks referred to him as Hermes. For the Romans, he was the Son of Jupiter and for the Greeks he was the Son of Zeus, but he could take a message very, very rapidly. He was faster than a speeding bullet, quicker than Western Union, a lot quicker than the United States Postal Service. He had a winged helmet called a potassis and Mercury had winged sandals called tulari and he had a winged staff called a caducius which had snakes wrapped around it in order to protect him on his journeys, but he didn’t need protection because he was a child of the gods. And the Greeks and the Romans believed that he was indeed a protector for he was called the God of Travel and he protected travelers, and he brought judgement upon the homes of those who would not show hospitality to travelers. And it’s a historical fact that in the first and second centuries, sometimes Greek and Roman citizens, on their travels, would wear a potassis and they would carry a caduceus, a winged staff and when they walked in the door, they would make sure that the host saw these things to remind them that they were commanded to show hospitality and to warn them of the judgement of the gods.
There are very few people, perhaps no people in the world today who give any heed to Mercury or Hermes or even Jupiter or Zeus, but as Christians, we acknowledge there is one true God. The Bible calls Him Yahweh Elohim, the Lord God. The Bible calls Him El Shadi the Mighty God. He is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He has given a command to the church and that commandment given to the church is that we would be a hospitable people. In the 13th chapter of Hebrews, God says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” and He says this to the whole of Christendom. In the 12th chapter of Romans, God says, “Practice hospitality.” In the 4th chapter of I Peter God says, “Practice hospitality” and the Greek word is in the imperative voice which means it is a command. From God’s perspective, we do not have a choice. Now the highest commandment given to us in the Bible is the commandment that we should love one another, and Jesus Christ said, “All the commandments are summed up in this—that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind and we love our neighbor as ourself.”
Hospitality is simply an expression of love. And the Greek word for hospitality is the word philozenos from phileo meaning to love and zenos meaning a stranger—to love a stranger, to welcome a stranger, a pilgrim, a traveler into your home. That was hospitality. And in the early Christian world, the Christians had a very beautiful concept regarding hospitality, and it’s expressed in Hebrews chapter 13. They believed that if you showed hospitality to a traveler, you might be entertaining an angel without knowing it and that’s why the Bible says, in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Probably a reference to Genesis chapter 18 verse 2 and following where Abraham received three angels in his house without knowing it. But you see, there’s even a more beautiful concept in the Bible and the more beautiful concept is this: when we show hospitality to someone, when we have someone into our home, when we make them welcome, when we make them feel at home, we are doing it to Christ and that’s an even more beautiful concept.
In Matthew 25, Jesus Christ said that “One day He would come again” and He will say to the saints “Come oh blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me.” And they will say “When, Lord” and He will say “Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethern, you’ve done it unto Me.” That is a beautiful, beautiful promise. You see, it was 2,000 years ago that the Apostle Peter invited Jesus to come and stay at his house and so it was that Jesus lived at Peter’s house when He was in Galilee. And it was 2,000 years ago that Mary and Martha and Lazarus invited Jesus to come and live at their house when he was in Judea or Bethany outside of Jerusalem. And so, it was that Jesus lived at their house.
And we count Peter and Mary and Martha and Lazarus fortunate to have been able to have shown hospitality to the Son of God. But we have the same privilege today the Bible says. Because when we have anyone come into our home and we show them hospitality, we’re doing it to Christ and that is the promise of the scriptures. Now the word philozenos was not used by Christians simply to refer to loving strangers. It was also used by Christians to refer to loving anyone who became a guest at your house or your home. It could be a family member. It could be a friend. Anyone that you make welcome in your home, that’s an expression of philozenos and it didn’t simply refer to having people spend the night with you. Hospitality also was used—the word philozenos was used to just having some friends over to have dinner at your house. That was hospitality or having someone into your home and sharing a conversation with them, reaching out to them, that is hospitality and that is why in this church we have a 3 x 3 program where we encourage couples to sign up and can have some other couples come into their home and that they can show them hospitality. Or single people have other people come into their home and show them hospitality. That’s what this ministry is for, that we might encourage hospitality in this church. That’s why we have koinonias in this church. That you might be able to invite other groups of people and Christians to come-into your home and you might show them hospitality. And if we as Christians, are commanded to use our homes for hospitality, how much more are we as a congregation, commanded to use this church, this building, this facility as an expression of hospitality. To welcome people here. That when people come in here, they might feel at home. That they might come here and find that mercy of Jesus Christ. That they might come here and find the grace of Jesus Christ and experience the love of Jesus Christ here. That is what the church is meant to be.
I read just a short time ago about a church in New York City called St. Bartholomew’s Church. It’s an Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue in New York. A man went into that church with a hat on. He walked down front and sat in the second row, leaving his hat on. And the usher came, up to the man and said “Sir, we don’t wear our hats in the church sanctuary” and talked to him a little bit but the guy left his hat on. So then the head usher came down and explained to the man that he was to take his hat off and they talked a little bit but the man left his hat on. Then the head of the women’s association came down, this is true, came down, talked to the man. And he still left his hat on. So finally, the senior warden, an official or an officer in the Episcopal Church came down front and talked to the man and told him you know they don’t wear their hat in church and the man still left his hat on. But then when the worship service actually began, the man took his hat off. After the service, the senior warden came back up to him and said, “Sir, I hope you understand. It’s just that here in the Episcopal Church, we don’t wear hats in the sanctuary or during worship.” And the man said, “Well, I know that.” He said, “In fact, I’ve been coming to this church for two years.” He said, “I just wore a hat today because, you know, I ‘ve been here for two years and I’ve never met a single person but this morning I met the usher, the head usher, the head of the women’s association and the senior warden.”
Unfortunately, many churches are like that. That’s a sad commentary on the institutional church today. Churches were never meant to be like that. Certainly, we don’t want our church to be like that. It’s not possible for the staff to make all of you feel welcome. It’s not possible for those of us on the staff to befriend all of you individually. We wish we could. Bob and I have thought about standing at the back door after the worship service and shaking everyone’s hand as they go out. But you see you really can’t have a meaningful conversation in the doorway or if you do, you cause a traffic jam. So Bob and I stay down front after the worship service and we assume that anybody who wants to come down and just talk will come down and talk to us here. Or if you want to be prayed for. Or if you have a question that you’d like to discuss with us. We’re here and we also have deacons and elders after every worship service who are available to talk to people and they’re in the library. From this Sunday onward, they’ll be meeting people in the library where there’s more privacy. The library is in the southern hallway of the church, beyond the secretary’s area and to the left. If you would like to have an elder or a deacon pray for you or just talk to an elder or a deacon about anything in your life, go to the library and talk to them there. They are available to you. If you fill out one of the cards in the pews saying you desire to talk to someone, our deacons will call you. But you see, it’s not possible for the staff and the elders and the deacons to make everyone feel welcome. If everyone in this church is going to feel welcome, then it’s going to be because of you. The major burden falls upon you, the congregation., and I think it is the will of God that every Sunday morning when you come to this church you don’t just look for your friends—and I think that’s great—but you don’t JUST look for your friends but you also make a special effort every Sunday when you come here to find somebody you’ve never met before and just say hello and talk with them. Jesus Christ said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Jesus Christ said.ca “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Hospitality. Let’s close with a word of prayer.