Healthy, Holy Hospitality

Hospitality has always been an important part of my life.

When I was young, my Mom sent me to the neighbor's house for an egg if she was out or a cup of sugar if one of the other Moms was in need. I knew what I had to do. There was no time for talk, no time for play. I was on a mission. I had to deliver precious cargo to one Mom or another, and there was no room for error. If I tripped and fell, the egg or the cup of sugar would be lost. There was no going back and getting another. I had to succeed. The neighborhood children all took their turn on similar missions. No one was ever teased or distracted. The mission was too important. To my knowledge, everyone made it home.

If the "big door" was open, it was expected that the guests walk right in. My Mom and her siblings never knocked before entering each other's homes. They were family. It was always a happy surprise to see them. Hello! I wasn't expecting you! We were just sitting down to eat, pull up a chair! Oh, you can't stay? Just dropping off the cake pan you borrowed? Thanks for stopping by. Next time let's have coffee, okay? Good-bye!

Hospitality becomes a little more complicated when the stranger at my door is selling something. I have had people threaten me when I declined. I have had people insult my intelligence when I declined. I have had people question my morality and my relationship with God when I declined. I have had people question my ability to raise my children when I declined.

The Lord calls me to care for the stranger at my door. Sometimes the stranger at my door is a devil coming to snatch me away from the good path. In any case, the best thing to do is to pray over the stranger at my door. Entrusting them to the Lord and asking for His blessing upon them can never be the wrong thing to do.

Continue to love each other like brothers, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it... Hebrews 13: 1-2