At the risk of embarrassing them recently we celebrated the receipt of our visas with two of our closest friends.
Over the years we have known them we have created many memories together, but one of them particularly, we often laugh about. It was one of the first occasions we had the pleasure of really getting to know them. A whole load of us descended on their house for a BBQ. At the time Bec was suffering from anaemia and the steak they served was so thick we often joke they single handedly cured her.
For us it was an important moment because we were on the fringes of friendships having only recently moved to Coleraine. Now many years on, as we reminisce, thank and let our circle of friends know how much we will miss them, I am aware that the many of these are friends because of connections we made through our closest friends hospitality like that BBQ.
The art of hospitality seems to be close to God’s heart, and in my opinion it really is an art form. I think it has less to do with immaculate show home tidiness or gourmet presentation than household tv shows wold have us believe. But has everything to do with welcome.
The apostle Peter writes in his first letter;
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Or the new living translation phrases it this way;
“Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.”
I think there are 3 significant points in those verses that make for great, welcoming hospitality. Firstly open arms, I love the way the new living translation phrases it, “cheerfully share your home” it paints a compelling picture of an authentic love for people that welcomes with open arms simply because of a deep love of humanity not just because it is the right thing to do or because it is a project we are part of. Secondly, service, “use whatever gift he has received to serve others” I wonder if as Peter wrote that he had one of his trips with Jesus etched in his mind. The day an argument broke out amongst his friends along the road to Capernaum about which one of them was the greatest. The day Jesus had dropped the riddle that if anyone wanted to be first he must be last and the servant of all. And perhaps how the truth of that had sunk in, as in the moments that followed they processed their experiences with Jesus and how His service of humanity brought everywhere He set foot alive. Thirdly grace, for three years Peter had seen the glory and beauty of that in action up close and personal through his time with Jesus and continued to see it since through the Holy Spirit and the hands of the early church. Grace is an extraordinary action that asserts, honour, respect, value and worth to people even before they have shown they in anyway deserve those. It’s counter cultural and revolutionary welcoming.
One of my favourite moments this year was opening a free pop up coffee morning outside our office for any of the local offices or traders on our business park. A week before hand some of my team popped round all the offices and delivered invitations with bags of coffee. We borrowed a big gazebo, brought in fire pits, filled urns with tea, coffee and hot chocolate and laid out some delicious cake. And it was a pleasure to meet some of our neighbours who in the business of our normal schedules we rarely have the opportunity for introductions or conversation. It was simple, we opened up, we served with grace.
Long may our world come alive as we show up with open arms and serve with grace.
July marks one year since the launch of our Because You’re Loved book by Harris House Publishing. It is available from amazon in both paperback and on Kindle.
If you would like to find out more about Because You’re Loved as a resource please check out our website becauseyoureloved.com and you can get your hands on a copy of the book via the link below.