Ten Minute Mystic: Part 4: Growing in Possessions through Hospitality (3)

 

Henri Nouwen once wrote that there are three moves critical to the spiritual life.[1]  When it comes to our interior life (the self), the most vital move is from loneliness to solitude.  When it comes to our relationship with God, the fundamental shift is from illusion to prayer.  And regarding our relationships with others, the primary move is from hostility to hospitality. 

Of all the many possible changes we might contemplate in our spiritual life, Nouwen believed these three were the most important.  True growth could not take place without these three.  And one of them is hospitality.

It’s easy to see why hospitality is a discipline or practice that can positively impact our relationships with others.   But here, we are also exploring how hospitality positively impacts our relationship with money or possessions.  Hospitality becomes part of the way in which we serve God rather than serve money (Matt. 6:24).  It becomes part the means by which we run after God’s kingdom and reign rather than running after wealth and riches (Matt. 6:33).

In the ancient world, hospitality took several forms.[2] Acts of hospitality included the warm welcoming of travelers into one’s home for food, lodging, and protection ( Gen 18:2-8 ; 19:1-8 ; Job 31:16-23 Job 31:31-32 ), permitting the stranger to harvest the corners of one’s fields ( Lev 19:9-10 ; Deut 24:19-22 ; Ruth 2:2-17 ), clothing the naked ( Isa 58:7 ; Ezekiel 18:7 Ezekiel 18:16 ), tithing food for the needy ( Deut 14:28-29 ; 26:1-11 ), and including the alien in religious celebrations ( Exod 12:48-49 ; Deut 16:10-14 ).  One of the greatest forms of hospitality was sharing a meal together.  In the ancient world, to share a meal was to share life.  Thus, God’s meal with the elders of Israel ( Exod 24:1-11 ), Jesus’ meals with tax collectors and sinners ( Luke 11:37 ; 15:1 ; 19:5-6 ), the Lord’s Supper ( Mark 14:17-26 ), Jesus’ postresurrection meals ( Luke 24:30-31 Luke 24:40-43 ; John 21:12-13 ; cf. Acts 1:4 ; 10:41 ), Peter’s meal with Gentiles ( Acts 10:48-11:3 ), and the common meal of the early Christians ( Acts 2:42-47 ) were stunning and exemplary acts of hospitality.

Take ten minutes today to invite someone to a meal with you.  It could be at your home.  It could be at sandwich shop for lunch, a bakery for dessert, a coffee shop for a morning snack, or a sit-down restaurant for a dinner.  Once the invitation is made, pray for God to use that meal-time in a positive way for your guest.

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[1] Henri Nowen, Reaching Out (Image, 1986).

[2] Rodney K. Duke, “Hospitality,” Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Edited by Walter A. Elwell

(Baker Books, 1996).

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