I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the topic of hospitality. I’ve known for years and I have preached about how hospitality is essential for strengthening Christian communities; nothing bonds people more than sharing time around a table. Our door at home is an open door and our adult children have carried on themselves, what we have modeled for them their whole life. We’ve hosted small groups in our home over the years -- more times than I can count. I’ve trained church leaders in hosting groups in their homes. I even helped put a book together on hospitality several years ago. But unexpectedly tonight, I learned something new about hospitality.
Even after all of these years of practicing the habit of hospitality I discovered something I hadn’t considered. How did I learn this? Sandy taught me. Sandy who? Sandy is a member of our church, but you may know her as well as a local hairdresser; she owns Attitudes Salon on Center street. The ever fashionable and cheery Sandy taught me something valuable about hospitality and I’ll never forget her lesson.
You see, my wife and I have enjoyed having a hospitable home for as long as I can remember, but, I’ve kind seen hospitality as a one-way blessing and somewhat as a chore -- yes a labor of love is probably a better term. But still, being hospitable requires some work, or so I thought. And, I’ve thought about all of the people “we’ve” blessed by opening our home to them. By work, I mean I have thought in terms of all of the meals we’ve prepared, and then the dishes to be done, and of course the prerequisite vacuuming and dusting before everyone arrives, whew. As for the directional-blessing, I have always thought about how the folks who received the gift of your hospitality are, well, they are the ones being blessed by you.
But, tonight I saw hospitality through the eyes of Sandy, Sandy who has inspired my wife and me for quite awhile as we have watched Sandy face health battles that would've left me crying in a corner and probably grumpy and not very nice. Tonight, Sandy was resting comfortably in her living room, in a hospital bed.
Pouty, whiny, cranky? Not Sandy. She remains steadfastly cheerful, optimistic, strong, and she has the most positive outlook I’ve ever seen anyone have. Quick-witted and funny as ever, she said a few things tonight that opened my eyes to a deeper truth about hospitality.
Here’s what Sandy taught me, hospitality doesn't merely bless the visitor, it blesses the host. Sandy shared how much she loves people and how she loves having company over. I know that doesn't sound profound or earth-shattering, but the more I thought about her words, the more I saw how much I’ve misunderstood the topic.
We enjoy having people over and sharing meals, sure. Also, I never took myself for a Martha (she’s the one who is complaining to Jesus about all the hard work & preparation she was doing, in Luke 10:38-42), I love to cook, especially grilling, and while I’ve never been bitter about having houseguests, I have always seen hospitality as hard work. More importantly though, I really hadn’t understood how much of a blessing having company over can be for some people.
I’m not recommending you invite yourself over to someone else’s house just so you can bless them, though that occurs to me that’s kind of a funny thought, “Hey I’m coming over, just wanted to bless your day...” I am saying, when you offer to host a meal you’ll be blessed and when you receive an invitation into someone’s home, you might brighten their day and bless them more than you knew you could.
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