What do we usually do when strangers pass by us?
Do we avert our eyes? Pretend they’re not there? Adopt a polite smile and nod?
It’s easy to play the game. It’s much more difficult to be genuine, ready and willing to help.
Similar to giving, how we treat strangers comes from the heart. What does this reflection look like for you?
Because honestly, what Christians are popularly known for today is hate. Whether it is signs and megaphones or denouncing rhetoric, our collective communication is clear. We are not known for our hospitality.
This is a massive break from how we’re taught to behave, both in person and Biblically. Did you know that the Sacred Law of Hospitality (AKA Hospitium) meant that: Travelers, strangers, and even those of other religions/beliefs are to be welcomed into your home, and offered refreshments, shelter, and comfort? Failure to do so is a massive insult. It’s dishonorable, reveals one’s flawed character, and is unholy.
How can we expect everyone to find sanctuary in our own churches when we’re regularly known for excluding others? How will others ever experience true communion and fellowship when our behavior remains so skewed?
Hebrews 13:1-3: Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
“Eating, and hospitality in general, is a communion, and any meal worth attending by yourself is improved by the multiples of those with whom it is shared.”
― Jesse Browner
Today, I encourage you to really chew on this message. I challenge you to consider how you treat strangers – not just how you’re supposed to but what you actually do in real life.
Be humble enough to practice Hospitium, Sanctuary, and Communion with all.
Because Kindness, Empathy, and Humanity are Holy practices too, you know.