Pentecost Sunday was a busy day for me...up at the crack of dawn (well, sort of) and off to Holy Trinity Sheerness for Praise and Worship before popping along to Holy Trinity Queenborough for Morning Prayer, then dashing off to Minster Abbey for the APCM...with time for a quick breather before returning to Minster Abbey to welcome Churches Together in Sheppey to Pentecost Praise and some hospitality afterwards. The dictionary definition of ‘hospitality’ is varied, but for me hospitality is simply 'the building of positive relationships between two or more people’.
In the media ‘true’ hospitality is grand and expensive. Hospitality is full of glitz and glamour and the great and glorious amongst us. But truthfully most acts of hospitality are spontaneous and undertaken with humility. As a Christian the act of serving others should be second nature, encompassing every aspect of our lives. Strangely it seems easier to show hospitality in the comfort of our homes than in our churches. Maybe this mirrors Peter’s exhortation to ‘cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.’ Yet Romans tells us ‘when God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality’, whilst Hebrews reminds us to ‘show hospitality...for some have entertained angels without realising it.’ Thus hospitality really should encompass our whole lives and the scope of human experience. It is unacceptable to leave something, or someone, out.
Indulge me for one moment and imagine attending a dinner party where the host completely ignores you. Or you receive a glass of wine you cannot drink. Or no seat is available for you at the table. The list goes on and I’m sure you can identify occasions where hospitality you received has been somewhat lacking. Now imagine you were the host and despite your best endeavours people stopped coming to your parties. What would you do? You may decide such parties have ‘had their day’ and stop. Or you may recognise the parties aren’t the problem, and resolve to change in an effort to meet the needs of those who come.
This is hospitality encompassing all we are and know. Children do this best of all. If you sit and watch them at play they incorporate whatever they need in order to be inclusive. This might sound like sitting in an ivory tower where everything is sweetness and light, but rarely do children, of a certain age, reject others unless they learn such behaviour from a ‘significant adult’. Jesus said “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Which brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘child’s-play.’
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.’ If we recognise the need for hospitality then we also need to recognise the need to change occasionally, no matter how fearfully we view such change, otherwise we may find ourselves as the hosts whose parties no-one attends, just like the Kings wedding feast...
May each one of you receive God’s hospitality and blessing daily...
with every blessing…
Rev Paul
