Helping Others More Than Yourself

 8So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers. 9Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”  10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

Thoughts: Hospitality means caring for others even if it means an inconvenience to yourself.  Lot was Abram's nephew.  Lot and Abraham loved each other and supported each other.  But God had blessed them so much that their flocks were having a hard time living off the same land.  Their workers were fussing with each other and it was getting worse.  
   So Abram, though older and more senior and though he was the main leader of the clan, gave Lot first choice of where he wanted to go.  Lot chose the fertile plains of Sodom.  Soon those plains would be destroyed by an eruption and Lot would lose most of what he had.  That is a separate story.  Yet, how it fits in, is an example of God taking care of those who give sacrificially for others.  Abram continued to be blessed.   
    Genesis 14 (that I will not reiterate here) tells the story of Abram rescuing Lot who was kidnapped as booty in a battle.  Again, he sacrificed himself to bless a relative.  He even risked his own family, workers, and possessions.  But God blessed such a sacrifice- even in this life.  
     Hospitality incurs sacrifice.  It is letting others have the first choice- even if you deserve it.  It is risking yourself so another could prosper.  I have seen mothers do this for their children.  I will not forget meeting a mother in South Sudan who was so weak she could not stand.  She was starving to death.  I asked the elders about her and they said she had given her meager food to her children (of course we fed her).  Sacrificing for younger relatives to succeed is a common and good thing in life.  It doesn't always work out- but we are called to do our part.  How can you sacrifice for another in the name of God today? 

Prayer: Lord, all that I have is yours.  I pray for grace to be generous and to hold onto things lightly.  

God is Hospitable Even When We Don't Deserve It

9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 

Thoughts: Genesis 3 tells the story of how People turn away from God's directions to go their own way.  God has invited them into fellowship with Him, but instead people choose to turn away from His invitation of fellowship.  Pride is thinking we know better than God and perhaps that we are better off without the One who made us.  
     When sin began, shame and guilt began- and the innocence is lost. But God helps ease their shame and guilt.  He provides- makes garments of skin for Adam and Eve.  Even before they are forgiven, even before they made a sacrifice or claimed the need for a Messiah to take away their sin (Isa. 53:6), God still was gracious to them- covering them before they knew how to cover themselves.  My point is God shows hospitality to people even when they don't deserve it.  As Jesus put it, "He makes the rain to fall and sun to shine on the just and unjust" (Mt. 5:45).  The Reformers called this "common grace."  God is gracious to us in allowing us to live- giving us a chance to ask for a chance to come back into His good fellowship. 
    In this sense, we are to be kind and hospitable to all people- not just to those that we think deserve it.  For some, they think this is a waste of our effort or time.  But such a view is a selfish view- as if our time and ourselves are deserving and everyone else is not.  God is the One who gives us life and time (quite graciously), and wants us to use our lives by being kind, loving, and gracious to others.  Jesus' teaching about turning the other cheek, or treating others better than the deserve (Ps. 103:10) are lessons for us.  
     I like the saying of Dave Ramsey.  When he is asked how he is doing, he often replies, "Better than I deserve."  It's true.  
    The Father of the Prodigal Son keeps looking for him to come back- even though he deserves to be abandoned and forsaken.  A man saw another man by the side of the road with a flat tire.  He didn't ask if the man deserved the flat before he stopped.  He could have asked if the man ran off the road or just didn't care for his car properly.  But instead, he just stops to help.  A man helps a lady when he sees the groceries fall out of the bag.  He doesn't ask- why didn't she fill two bags instead of one- he just helps.  So God helps us and is gracious to us.  He calls us to be hospitable and gracious to others. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you treat me better than I deserve.  Help me to pass such treatment on to others.  

The Hospitality of God- Making a Companion

 18The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”...22Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

Thoughts: Clearly we were not meant to be isolated.  We are meant to be with someone else- not just in the sexual sense.  It is not good to be alone.  God cares about our being with other people and hospitality is born out of that.  If there are no other people, we cannot be hospitable.  Love means nothing if we are alone.  
    Wesley and others speak of those who have faith not being isolated.  I like to say that you can play football all by yourself.  You can toss the ball up in the air and catch it.  You can kick it up and catch it.  But football is best played with others.  So it is possible to be a Christian in a nursing home or on the Space Station (or other isolated places) by oneself.  But Christianity thrives with encouragement and human love.  
    Now, the ironic thing is having a person who differs from you- who is not just a clone, means that there are differences of opinion.  We are not to be loving and hospitable to only those who think exactly like us.  God did not mention the problems of being together- only that it is better together.  

Prayer: Thank you Lord, that you created the ability to have companions.  You cared for our hearts to love.  Help me to see that love is worth all the hurts or inconveniences that accompany any relationship. 

The Hospitality of the Garden

 8Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.10A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; (Gen. 2:8-10)

Thoughts:  Hospitality means thinking of other's needs.  God certainly did that when He put human beings in the midst of a place where their needs would be met.  The point of this story is that God cared for his human creation by providing for them.  He is Jehovah Jireh- the Lord provides.  Mankind did not place themselves on this earth.  They did not give themselves their brain- and it is not just luck or accidental cosmic chaos that put them in a place where they could have their needs met.  God is the greatest model of hospitality. 
    From His example, we should want to put our children in a place where their needs are met.  We should also look to God when we have needs- and not just to our own hand.  God did not put them in the garden and then leave.  When you are trying to be hospitable on purpose to family members, neighbors or friends- think about what their needs may be and what role you could play in meeting them.  

Prayer: Lord, you are the great provider.  Everything I see came from your hand.  All that I have is indirectly and even directly gifts from you.  Help me to trust in you.  Help me to believe that if I give away my time, my house, my possessions you are able to provide for my needs.  

When did Hospitality Start?

 It is a valid question.  Is hospitality another recent fashion that will fade away?  Is it simply a cultural thing that will go away with the next culture change (with the advent of the internet and social media- culture changes a lot quicker than before).  Perhaps hospitality started in creation.  God did make everything we need to survive- gravity, water, habitable temperature, our stomachs and then food to fill them.  He made our eyes to take in the beauty He made all around us.  He made our ears to hear the birds and experience music. The words "And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25).  It was good because it all fit not only together, but fit His idea for goodness.  God designs all that is, and it is good- for His glory.   That God designed our needs to be met by the way things were made, and more than that- designed that life happens even when we do not see it (like in the deepest sees or darkest cavern) is in a sense hospitality.  He designed things to welcome us.  
    But more than that- we could say that there is hospitality designed in the very being of God.  Before creation of humans, Genesis 1:26 indicates that God said: "Let us make mankind in our image...in our likeness."  The plurality of the godhead in the "us" points to hospitality- the ability to get along- to be an "us" together.  There was no argument.  There was no debate.  There was only- "Let's do this..." and it was done.  We could say that unity and hospitality co-exist.  Everything is copacetic when it all agrees and there is one.  Hospitality looks for everything to be... as my grand-daughter says, "situated." Hospitality calls out to us to be content and to share that contentment with others,  When we are not hospitable but close minded, self-centered, and full of hate- then we are not hospitable, not god-like- and not living up to our design or directions.  Because scripture tells us hospitality begins with the plurality of God- or "God is love"- we are called to be loving and hospitable.    

Prayer: Lord you teach us what hospitality means by being so hospitable with us.     

Hospitality Toward The Unhospitable

 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."  (Psalm 23:5 NIV)
"You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies." (Message version)

God shows hospitality to us even in the presence of our enemies.  Eugene Peterson's Message version says God doesn't just prepare a snack but a "six-course dinner" in front of them.  

Sometimes we don't want to have anything to do with our enemies.  We want them to stay on one side of the fence, and we'll be in the other.  But it seems that God wants to invite our enemies  into our presence because that means they can experience His presence.  For those who do not like God, this may mean that they see God blessing these folk and realize God is the great Blesser.  Sun Tzu is credited with saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."  But Jesus ate and drank with "sinners."  He came into their presence in order to draw them to Himself- if they would be drawn.  Frankly, it is easier to be in a holy huddle.  But your life is lived best when you are spreading the love.  This may mean taking the one who said bad things about you out for lunch or sending them a kind note.  It may be killing the enemy with kindness. 
Proverbs 25:21-22 (quoted by Paul in Romans 12:20) says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals upon his head, and the Lord will reward you."    Matthew 5:44 says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." 
     I have found this to be true.  There was an old cartoon about a coyote and a sheepdog- who clearly tried to hurt each other, but when their time clock went off- they clocked out and went back to their respective homes cordially- "good night Al- Good night!"  If you are kind to those who are not kind to you, it may not change their mind, but it assuages and softens things.    

Prayer: Lord, help me to find ways to be kind to those who are not so kind to me.  Soften our relationship with your love and your hospitality.  

Being Hospitable When You Don't Feel Like It

 "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling."  1 Peter 4:9

Why would Peter say such a thing?  Surely the early Christians who saw or heard Jesus never grumbled!  I think this could be translated, "Show hospitality even when you don't feel like it!"  Grumbling and complaining often happen when we don't feel we are being treated fairly or things don't happen the way we expect or feel they should happen.  
    One viral video that has been going ballistic this week is of two women fighting at a concert in Pittsburgh over who gets to use the porta potty first.  One claims another cut in front of her in line.  Now, this kind of thing is something we should have learned to handle in kindergarten!  Wait your turn.  Take your turn.  Put others before yourself.  As it was, neither got to use the toilet very fast because they were fighting each other.  Learning how to put others ahead of yourself even if you are inconvenienced is important.  It shows respect for others as human beings.  Serving others before yourself is in part what hospitality is all about.  Loving your neighbor is not just for the person who lives next door, but the person you meet in the grocery store line, or the hardware line, or even the porta-potty line.   
      But another point of this is it is possible to do something good and grumble about it the whole time you are doing it.  So Mary and Martha both welcomed Jesus to their home.  But Martha grumbled that Mary had quit helping and was sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Grumbling is not the Christian way.  We don't hear Jesus griping and complaining to the Father that He was about to die for the sins of people who often don't care, are apathetic, take His death for granted, or worse still continue to mess up.  Instead, you see Jesus weeping over the stubborn hearted in Jerusalem.  You even hear Jesus on the cross say of his crucifiers- "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." 
     Sometimes we may have a headache and providentially we have the opportunity to be hospitable.  Sometimes we are busy, or tired, or just want to relax.  This verse doesn't say, "Be hospitable to others as long as it is convenient to you."  In that sense, this is a tough verse!  But it is also a caring verse.  We are called to love others even when they don't deserve it.  
The way of the cross is not the grumbling way.  But it is a giving of oneself without complaint that changes our outlook, our attitude, our world.  

Prayer: Lord, let me give myself freely and willingly for others.  Let me put others above myself without even grumbling.