August 12, 2008

• Titus 2 Tuesdays

  Gina over at ‘Chats with an Old Lady’ has come up with the idea of a Titus 2 Tuesdays. I like that idea so here goes my thoughts for this Tuesday. (Oh, and we’re still not moved and probably won’t be until next week. BUT.. at least we’re moving forward as of today. Thank you, Lord! *S*)

  
  

  Hospitality

  
  

  I’ve been thinking a lot about hospitality lately. Possibly because I am confronted with sharing my home on a daily basis since my son and his family moved in last month. I’m always amazed at God’s provision and timing because right before they moved in with us I had finished a book on radical (biblical?) hospitality called “Open Heart, Open Home”. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read on hospitality (even though I didn’t agree with every jot and tittle of the book).  It really challenged me to look at our home and ask myself if we have an ‘open door’ policy.. especially to our beloved brethren.

  
  

  During the beginning of the early church there was no social security or Medicare to care for the elderly. If a widow’s children or family did not take care of her then she could find herself starving and homeless. The New Testament church set up feeding programs to care for the widows but they had a very specific list of ‘good deeds’ that qualified the widow for care. Washing the feet of the saints and being given to hospitality were a few of the requirements on the list.

  
  

  Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
  1 Tim 5:9-11  ESV

  
  

  I like to use the exhortations in 1 Timothy 5:9-10 as a very clear directive for my life today. Apparently, these ‘good deeds’ were highly valued for women in the New Testament church. I can imagine that their younger women made these acts a high priority in their daily lives. .

  
  

  “Open Heart, Open Home” really caused me to examine the practices of our home in light of this scripture to see if we would be considered hospitable. I felt as if I fell short in several areas.

  
  

  I seem to do fine when “I” am the one doing the inviting and it’s on my time table. I love to serve those we invite into our home and so this is not a problem. But, I believe I am lacking when it comes to an ‘open door’ policy.  I really spent some time evaluating if people feel free to just stop by for a visit. And how do I respond to those who DO stop by for a visit. Do I drop everything in order to welcome them into my home? Or is my ‘to do list’ more important than those whom the Lord has sent.

  
  

  Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-46 that one day He will come again and gather all the nations. He will separate the people from each other just as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He will put His sheep on his right and the goats on his left. The sheep will enter His heavenly kingdom while the goats will be sent to everlasting judgment.

  
  

  Now, look closely at the dividing rod the Lord chooses to separate the sheep from the goats. He says very clearly,

  
  

  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’”
  Matt 25:35-37   ESV
  

  
  

  Several of the good deeds above are directly connected to hospitality… feeding the hungry, giving them drink and taking strangers in and welcoming them.

  
  

  And I love what Jesus says next, “I tell you that whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

  
  

  Doesn’t that help change the entire way we may think of hospitality? No longer is the knock on the front door an intrusion of our ‘to do list’  but an opportunity to set aside what we are doing and to serve Christ. No longer are we irritated when the phone rings for the upteenth time because it may be another opportunity to minister to Christ.

  
  

  I want to remember that this home I live in is not REALLY mine but it belongs to the Lord just as my days belong to Him. I am a steward of it.  I hope that I’ll be found faithful.

  
  

  Blessings to all who enter your home,

  
  

  Georgene
  
  

  • 8:08 am
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