WEDNESDAY'S WORD - HOSPITALITY- Sadell Bradley 6/2/2021

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD HOSPITALITY 6/2/2021 "Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Hospitality is impossible to teach. The most important thing you can do is make the distinction between customer service and guest hospitality." - Danny Meyer - Restaurateur

This past weekend, we observed and celebrated Memorial Day, honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service for our Country. It was the first time many of us had the chance to flex hospitality muscles weakened by over a year of pandemic isolation. HOSPITALITY is the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. I did not realize how much I'd missed being able to have people over to our house for food, laughter, and fun. It was great to return to some sense of normalcy. We don't often talk about it, but hospitality is a Biblical character trait required of everyone and especially of leaders. In 1 Timothy 3:2 Paul includes hospitality or 'enjoying having guests in one's home,' as a qualification for bishops or overseers. Peter admonishes all Believers to, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." (1 Peter 4:9) The New Living Translation renders that verse, "Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay." Many of us would be willing to do the former, but the latter—offering someone a place to stay, might stretch the bounds of our hospitality.

In her book on Pastoral Care called "Hearing Beyond the Words: How to Become a Listening Pastor," Emma Justes suggests that listening is a form of welcoming hospitality. An adept and nurturing pastor or Christ-follower should acquire this trait and practice this skill. As I reflected on her wisdom and some of the exercises in the book, I thought back to the ways in which we had attempted to make compassionate listening and a culture of vulnerable transparency a part of the DNA of The Warehouse Church. We'd taken our leaders through a course called "Trust Building" from Equipping Ministries International, that focused on active listening. It was clear through the practice of that discipline that the hospitality of listening was a part of creating and maintaining trusting relationships of every kind. There are things we can do or not do that build or 'bust' trust with one another. Still, I'd not made the connection between listening as hospitality and pastoral care, but when I looked more closely and saw the root word of hospitality was HOSPITAL—everything came together. A hospital is a place that provides nursing and care to sick and injured people. Hospitality is a matter of emotionally caring for the weary, the disenfranchised, and the weakened. When the Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples why He chose to eat with tax collectors and sinners, He replied, "The whole do not need a physician, only the sick do." (Matthew 9:12) For many, the area of their hurt is not physical; it is emotional, mental, spiritual, or relational—so the mere sense of being seen, heard, and valued is enough to recover their lives. Maybe you're not prone to invite people into your home yet, but through the blessing of hospitality, you can invite them into your heart.

 WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY HALL OF FAITH MOSES TONIGHT, 7:00 pm EST @warehouseOTR live.thewarehousechurch.