Video Transcript: Hospitality Practice Based On The Early Church
Henry - Welcome back to our fellowship and hospitality mini course. And we have completed the fellowship part. And now we move on to the hospitality side of the class. In many ways, these are two very important but related topics. They truly are there like sisters, one deals with the people you already know, believer, and one dealing with people you may not know or may not know well. It's for let's say in the mission, you meet someone, and you're going to share your home with them and they're in Christ, that would still be considered hospitality, right. But it also includes being hospitable and welcoming to people who don't know Christ yet.
Pam - You're welcoming.
Henry - Right, so let's get started and see where this goes. First of all, Pam - hospitality sharing friendship with strangers, potential future partners.
Henry -So sharing friendship with people you do not know or that are newer to you as potential partners. or newer to you if you know they're in Christ or maybe newer to you.
Pam - Right, right.
Henry - So it's from the Greek word, Philoxenia. Philo means Greek for friends, Philadelphia, xenia is stranger than means stranger, odd one. foreigner, the verb, Xenizo was from that root means to be strange, or interesting or to entertain. Kind of related. So and then we see an example of that verse.
Pam – Acts 17:20. You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean .
Henry -So in some ways, that in that passage that strange ideas is probably interesting ideas. That's strange, interesting and we haven't heard about that before, so So anyway, that's kind of at the very core meaning of hospitality. So let's look at how
Pam - hospitality and the human relationships approach what we're looking at here.
Henry - So how does the world think of hospitality, the human nature is to form cliques and stay within your circle. New people are allowed to be in the circle based on what they how they will specifically benefit the group. People who are not part of the group are distrusted. Even a hospitality industry, it's a pay for
exchange, I get a hotel, I give you something you give me something back. A lot of times, other times when people introduce people to someone is because some way it's going to benefit the group. The Roman view was very similar, the Roman Empire view live with strangers, but make no effort to get to know them unless they have a patron.
Pam - somebody was foreign to them. Notice
Henry - that the apostle Paul knew how the Roman Empire worked. And somebody like Phoebe, in Romans 13. was first of all, she was the diakonos, a minister, was the carrier of the book. Yeah, Romans 13. She was the letter carrier as a minister. She carried the Roman letter, and the letter carrier would explain things that writer was thinking about, so all of those things, but then it says read that whole Romans 16 Chapter or chapter 16:1-2.
Pam - I commend to our sister Phoebe a servant of the church in Cenchrea I asked you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you for she has been a great help to many people, including me
Henry - now, the Greek word for the word help is patron. In other words. She was an introducer. She was a hospitality maker. She would go out there and introduce you need to know this person. right because the way the Greek world operated, you needed a patron to be introduced. So she was an introducer. Very, very interesting. Well, how does the Bible understand hospitality? So we'll talk men
Pam – The Old Testament showed an openness to strangers, but a closedness to ideas or worldviews that mocked God. But there was a strong belief in the power of the practice of hospitality.
Henry - I find it interesting that they were very open, but not to capitulating their actual beliefs. They were not open to someone who had contempt of faith in God. Right? You want to get Monty?. It we'll do this video to go by you wondering. So there's a interesting passage that talks about this.
Pam – In II Kings 6:17-22. And Elisha prayed, oh, Lord open his eyes. So he sees, then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha, as the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, strike these people with blindness. So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. Elisha told them, This is
not the road and this is not the city follow me. And I will lead you to the man who are looking for and he led them to Samaria.
Henry - What has this to do with hospitality. Let's look and see what this passage has to do with hospitality.
Pam - me. I was wondering that person. But I do know. After they entered the city, Elisha said, Lord open the eyes of these men, so they can see. Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked and there they were inside Samaria,
which was the capital city, there in the enemy. They're surrounded by enemies, instead of them being surrounded. And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, shall I kill them? My mother, so I kill them my father? Shall I kill them? Do not kill them, he answered, would you kill those you have captured with your sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master. So he prepared a great feast for them. And after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raidng Israel's territory. So hospitality went a long way.
Henry - Much is true if we reflect on our ministry, if your neighbor doesn't know the Lord, and is an enemy of the gospel, and you invite them into Samaria, so figuratively speaking into your home where the Lord, I remember this one time, we invited a professor of one of our children, and we invited him, from the community college, and he was a nonbeliever. His wife was not a believer, and he was surprised when we asked him to our house, in fact, he was not only not a believer, he was an athiest. So we had him come in, we had food, and then we went through the whole meal. And it was our custom we Christians, that will read a Bible verse and say a prayer. Okay? Don't want to be with the indigenous Christians. Pray with them. So, of course he prayed, but he was he was, we asked permission very much. Okay, when we read like a couple Bible verses, then we prayed, we thought it'd be a little bit. Instead, all night he talked about God, and about his children about the how they were like living a lifestyle that was sustainable. We had an opportunity to witness all evening. Because he came to Samaria. When his foot set food in front of him, hospitality. Now, God takes it from there, in many cases, at least, he met a Christian who opened up their home to him and offered food and said a little prayer and had a friendly regard and who knows what God can do. So
Pam - in the New Testament, hospitality was Christians shared, also the dislike for any for an attack on God, but the love of the xenos, stranger. It's a special form of love to your neighbor.
Henry - Okay, so we see the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 We read the Good Samaritan. Just lots and lots and lots of times even preached messages on the Good Samaritan. And I find the Good Samaritan is fascinating because really Jesus, he's questioned by the Pharisees about labor and love and all that and then he tells a story. It is a powerful story is a strange story, an interesting or xenos story. And it's Samaritan who is the good neighbor, and he does a lot of hospitality himself and the Samaritan
Pam - story, right? Right. He puts him on his own donkey brings him to the inn and had someone take care, pays for them.
Henry - Matthew 25:43-45 This one
Pam - I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or
needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you? He will reply. I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these. You did not do for me
Henry – That's powerful stuff. Jesus is the stranger. So if you're not welcoming to one of the least of these, right you're not welcoming to Jesus. powerful
Pam - hospitality sharing friendship or partnership with strangers.
Henry - Well, back to our theme verse, Romans 12:13. Distribute, Koinoneo, to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. That's Philoxenia. What does the Bible say about the price of hospitality and given to hospitality, or I Peter 4:9, offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. So given to hospitality. What is given to hospitality mean to you?
Pam - Then that is a natural link for you to do. Natural meal together let's share a cup of tea or whatever your hospitality mode is, right?
Henry- Well, that is a little bit of a idiomatic phrase in Greek. Actually, the word didasko is the word given. And then it applies given to philoxenia. So it puts it together. And given would be the it almost borders on? You don't really say it this way. But obsessed, OCD. Like it's a high priority, that it's like, given to be a welcoming person. And again, given the word given means that is probably a learned thing. Because it's not something we naturally would do, but it's something that we cultivate. I remember when we first started in ministry, you know, when I remember, you and I being called to ministry, and one of the things
you did not like is the calling to ministry, specifically in meeting new people. You'd like to every part of it but not, we touched on that a little bit earlier. Just so how did you get over some of that?
Pam - I really wasn't against that. It was just scary. I want it was not against it. I just, it scared me. It was more it was more threatening to me as far as just I was very shy. But I realized that it didn't matter through the Holy Spirit. I mean, he really showed me that it wasn't about whether they like me, or if I come across me if I'm just trusting in Him and just offering friendly hospitality that will come across the right way.
Henry - In my struggle was sticking around, the fellowship side. And some of my fellowship manners were weak in comparison to her fellowship manners. So it's fascinating, like I had some growing to do in the fellowship side. We helped each
other, but it really was the Lord. It's actually not taking yourself too serious. we really had
Pam - to be able to you know it was not against him.
Henry - word given also means you're actually allowing yourself to grow in the area I have given
Pam - you, whatever, wherever and whatever the Holy Spirit leads for you to do is really key.
Henry - So we've talked now about hospitality, in the biblical view. Next, we're going to talk about how it was actually practiced in the early church. So, you know, to stop today, is basically saying, Look, hospitality is not something that is just an option. That it's something that's core to being a believer, because actually, the hospitality verse that trumps all verses, is Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. That alone is saying, you know, fellowship with gospel to proclaim to all nations will be I even think about doing this mini class, I think about all our promotions online, to get people to sign up for ministry training courses, is a welcoming in. We're welcoming strangers
Pam - they're unknown to us. They're new to us. But because we have the Lord in common, they are part of those believers. So we have that deeper fellowship with
Henry – they're not strange as odd, they're strange as interesting.
Pam – Yeah, unknown. We don't personally know them yet and now we are getting
Henry - so we're getting to know you so come in and welcome.