War vs Hospitality

 5Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!

6Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace.

7I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war. (Psalm 120)

Thoughts: Christians are called to be people of peace- instruments of His peace.  So in the face of the Hamas-Israel war, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).  

Hospitality is to offer peace and love.  Hospitality also seeks to protect the peace.  Augustine of Hippo said that Christians need not be ashamed of protecting the peace and punishing the wicked.  Thomas Aquinas spoke of the criteria for a just war: 
1) War is waged by a rightful ruler. 
2) War should be waged for a good cause. 
3) Warriors seek to promote good and avoid evil. 
He said that injustice should not be tolerated in order to avoid war.  Yet violence should always be the last resort.  Aquinas also condemned cruelty in war- and unrestrained revenge and violence.   More recent studies add that going to war is justified only when there are serious prospects of success- and not ongoing violence.  

The Scots have a true tale of the McDonald clan welcoming strangers from another clan into their homes on a cold, snowy day.  They fed them.  But in the middle of the night these strangers sought to kill all of their hosts.  This is an evident and terrible evil.  Hospitality is meant to foster peace not war- and hospitality elicits hospitality. Unfortunately revenge elicits revenge and seems never ending.  

Prayer: We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Lord, may your peace shine thought.  

Hospitality when People are Mean and Unfair

 12Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”17So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, ^c because they disputed with him. 21Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. ^d 22He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, ^e saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”28They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33He called it Shibah, ^f and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. 

Thoughts:  Isaac is one of the least controversial figures of the patriarchs.  When he was wronged, he just moved on and did right again.  We could learn from this today. 
       The last two weeks where I live, teenagers have been shot by teenagers  because they were "wronged."  
        Isaac had his inheritance (wells dug  by his father- this was a truly costly act- months worth of work) taken from him by the Philistines (mean men by many accounts).  
         Then when he moved to another place- and he did all the work, some other men (from Gerar) took the wells from him.  
           But God  blessed Isaac despite the well stealing and the mean people.  Isaac trusted that God would bless him, and He did.  Isaac even held a feast for the Philistines!
            When we are wronged, we should turn the other cheek and continue to move on and do right.  We believe in a god who sees and blesses us. 

Prayer: Lord, see when others wrong me, and lift my head and provide for me.  

Hospitality and Friendsgiving

 I Peter 4:9- "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling."  

Thoughts:  I am  okay with showing hospitality, but Lord, do you really have to add, "without grumbling"?  I guess it makes sense that my attitude toward being kind should also be "kind." 
      Part of being a Christian is to imitate the God who is so hospitable toward us.  He made this earth in a way that we can live in it- He made a home for us- with water, air, land, and many blessings.  But He also came down to make sure we are okay, to show us He loves us, and to make a way to a more permanent home.  That is another show of hospitality.  Jesus said that He "goes to prepare a place for us that where He is we may also be."  That is another show of hospitality.  
      We know that we should forgive others because we are forgiven.  But we should remember we are to show hospitality because we are shown hospitality.  So many parables and commandments surround this- but one great one is the Good Samaritan that stops what he is doing (when other busy people won't) to help someone in need.   He was a stranger who made a friend.  
     This fall, is a great time to meet some new neighbors.  Maybe have them over for lunch or supper (we do have that china for something).  During covid no one could be hospitable without scaring another.  But today we should be able to do something- even if it is an outside cookout on a pretty day.  The idea of Friendsgiving came about for people who are scattered from family, as a combination "friends" and "thanks" meal.  Maybe you haven't met the neighbors two houses or apartments over.  It is a great time to pick a date (maybe toward the first part of November) and invite them over.  You don't have to have a turkey- you might have BBQ or even just hors d'oeuvres.  Being hospitable means to not just focus on yourself or even your family- but on those around you.  The Bible says by entertaining strangers some have even entertained angels (Heb. 13:2).  Let this be part of your mission for God.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to see others as you see them.  Give me a heart to get outside of myself, even to risk to reach out to my neighbors this fall for your glory.  

The Hospitality of Sharing, Taking Turns, Allotting

 8As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.” 9So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions. (Joshua 18:8-10)

Thoughts:  Today some take for granted that things should be divided up evenly between relatives.  But others simply want it all and don't care about fairness or their siblings.  The call of God upon our lives is to give up selfishness and try to share.  Here Joshua tried to distribute the land as fairly as possible. 
     "All I Ever Really Needed to Know- I Learned in Kindergarten:" was a famous best-selling book by Robert Fulgham.  Here he talked about things like learning how to share, to wait your turn, to be kind to one another, cleaning up after ourselves, and balancing work, play and learning.  One phenomenon we are seeing is that children who could not go to kindergarten because of Covid and thus were not around as many children to learn to share, be kind, wait turns, etc is that right now they are a mess- and those teaching are exasperated at trying to teach older children basic skills.  

Prayer: Lord, let me want the best for others and for you above my own selfish desires.  Give me grace to be gracious in how I share, take turns, and be kind to other people for your glory.