1 Peter 4:9 - How important is HOSPITALITY.
1 Peter 4:9 (NLT) Cheerfully share your home
with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
1 Peter 4:9 (AMP) Practice hospitality to
one another (those of the household of faith).
[Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with
brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the
foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way
who are of Christ's body.] And [in each
instance] do it ungrudgingly (cordially and
graciously, without complaining but as representing
Him).
1 Peter 4:9 (MSG) Be quick to give a meal to
the hungry, a bed to the homeless - cheerfully.
INTRODUCTION
Christian hospitality differs from social
entertaining. Entertaining focuses on the host: The home
must be spotless; the food must be well prepared
and abundant; the host must appear relaxed and
good-natured. Hospitality, by contrast, focuses on the
guests' needs, such as a place to stay, nourishing
food, a listening ear, or just acceptance.
Hospitality can happen in a messy home. It can happen
around a dinner table where the main dish is canned
soup. It can even happen while the host and the
guest are doing chores together. Don't hesitate to
offer hospitality just because you are too tired,
too busy, or not wealthy enough to entertain.
[Life Application SB taken from Romans 12:13 re
hospitality]
COMMENTARY PEARL
One Sunday, my husband, Zane, invited a
young couple over for dinner without asking me.
That afternoon, we were already hosting our small
group, so I felt overwhelmed. When we got home, I
scurried around cleaning the house. I found myself
grumbling about entertaining so many people. Couldn't
he have invited the couple over a different
night? I thought as I threw dog toys into a basket.
I was in a crummy mood, definitely not an
attitude of hospitality, at least not the type of
hospitality Jesus modeled.
Jesus, of course, didn't grumble when He
made a meal for thousands of hungry people out of
fish and bread without a kitchen (Luke 9:16). He
created an intimate moment of connection by cooking
breakfast over a fire on the beach for some of His
disciples after His resurrection (John 21:9). In fact,
Jesus graciously offers what we need most. He
nourishes us without food and satisfies our thirst
without water (John 6:35). He restores our souls
(Psalm 23:3) and gives us rest (Matthew 11:28).
Grumbling when preparing for guests is an
indication my heart was not right. I had subtly slipped
into wanting others to admire our lifestyle, a
tidy home, and fancy food, rather than offering
them the gift of friendship, acceptance,
understanding, and love. People can enjoy themselves in a
messy house, but an unclean heart is never
hospitable. True hospitality is not about the house;
it's about the Host. Jeannie Blackmer
Faith Step: Think of a time you focused
more on how your home looked than how your guests
felt. Ask Jesus to help you focus on what really
matters the next time you have the opportunity to
host others. [Mornings With Jesus 2023 Devotional
by Guideposts and Zondervan]
COMMENTARY
Open Your Door, Open Your Heart
Long before the church had pulpits and
baptisteries, she had kitchens and dinner tables. "The
believers met together in the Temple every day. They
ate together in their homes, happy to share
their food with joyful hearts" (Acts 2:46 NCV).
"Every day in the Temple and in people's homes they
continued teaching the people and telling the Good
News - that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 5:42
NCV).
Even a casual reading of the New
Testament unveils the house as the primary tool of the
church. "To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow
laborer and to the church in your house"
(Philem. vv. 1-2). "Greet Priscilla and Aquila
the church that is in their house" (Rom. 16:3,
5). "Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and
Nymphas and the church that is in his house" (Col.
4:15).
It's no wonder that the elders were to be
"given to hospitality" (1 Tim. 3:2 KJV). The
primary gathering place of the church was the home.
Consider the genius of God's plan. The first
generation of Christians was a tinderbox of contrasting
cultures and backgrounds. At least fifteen different
nationalities heard Peter's sermon on the Day of
Pentecost. Jews stood next to Gentiles. Men worshipped
with women. Slaves and masters alike sought after
Christ. Can people of such varied backgrounds and
cultures get along with each other?
We wonder the same thing today. Can
Hispanics live in peace with Anglos? Can Democrats
find common ground with Republicans? Can a
Christian family carry on a civil friendship with the
Muslim couple down the street? Can divergent people
get along?
The early church did - without the aid of
sanctuaries, church buildings, clergy, or seminaries.
They did so through the clearest of messages (the
Cross) and the simplest of tools (the home).
Not everyone can serve in a foreign land,
lead a relief effort, or volunteer at the
downtown soup kitchen. But who can't be hospitable?
Do you have a front door? A table? Chairs?
Bread and meat for sandwiches? Congratulations!
You just qualified to serve in the most ancient
of ministries: hospitality. You can join the
ranks of people such as
Abraham. He fed, not just angels, but the
Lord of angels (Gen. 18).
Rahab, the harlot. She received and
protected the spies. Thanks to her kindness, her
kindred survived, and her name is remembered (Josh.
6:22-23; Matt. 1:5).
Martha and Mary. They opened their home
for Jesus. He, in turn, opened the grave of
Lazarus for them (John 11:1-45; Luke 10:38-42).
Zacchaeus. He welcomed Jesus to his
table. And Jesus left salvation as a thank-you gift
(Luke 19:1-10).
And what about the greatest example of
all - the "certain man" of Matthew 26:18? On the
day before his death, Jesus told his followers,
"Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
The Teacher says: The chosen time is near. I
will have the Passover with my followers at your
house'" (NCV).
How would you have liked to be the one
who opened his home for Jesus? You can be.
"Whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt. 25:40 NIV).
As you welcome strangers to your table, you are
welcoming God himself.
Something holy happens around a dinner
table that will never happen in a sanctuary. In a
church auditorium you see the backs of heads.
Around the table you see the expressions on faces.
In the auditorium one person speaks; around the
table everyone has a voice. Church services are on
the clock. Around the table there is time to
talk.
Hospitality opens the door to uncommon
community. It's no accident that hospitality and
hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both
lead to the same result: healing. When you open
your door to someone, you are sending this
message: "You matter to me and to God." You may think
you are saying, "Come over for a visit." But
what your guest hears is, "I'm worth the
effort."
Cheerfully share your home with those who
need a meal or a place to stay. God has given
each of you a gift from his great variety of
spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
(1 Peter 4:9-10 NLT)
Heavenly Father, you have given me so
much - every breath I take is a gift from your
hand. Even so, I confess that sometimes my own
hand remains tightly closed when I encounter the
needs of others. Please open both my hand and my
heart that I might learn to delight in taking
advantage of the daily opportunities for hospitality
that you present to me. Help me remember, Lord,
that when I show your love in tangible ways to
"the least of these," I am ministering directly
to you. As you help me open my heart and hand,
O Lord, I ask that you also prompt me to open
my door to those who need a taste of your love
and bounty. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. [Max
Lucado Daily Devotional at maxlucado.com]
ILLUSTRATION PEARLS
My senior year of college should have
been a breeze. Each of my roommates had
assignments during the summer so we'd be ready to launch
a smooth new year when we arrived at San Diego
State University for the fall semester. Within a
day or two of arrival I knew the transition was
going to be anything but smooth. The roommate who
was supposed to secure our apartment failed to
fill out the proper forms, so we got there to
face an angry landlord who'd already rented the
place to someone else. Feeling sorry for us, he
let us sleep in an unrented apartment filled
with storage items for almost two weeks.
Two of our roommates couldn't stand the
stress so they packed up and left, leaving me and
one other roommate virtually homeless. The
dreaded day came when the landlord set our things
out on the curb and said, "Figure it out!" I
remember walking to a phone booth and dialing the
number of a girl I barely knew. I'd only been a
follower of Jesus for a few short months, but she was
a loving Christian that God planted in my life
at just the right time. With shaking fingers I
dialed her number, embarrassed to ask if my
roommate and I could stay at her place until we could
find a place of our own. It took her four seconds
to say, "Stay at that curb, I'll be right there
to get you!'
We slept on her floor for three weeks,
and never once did she complain. Her hospitality
taught me more than a thousand church services
could have about serving with a Christian heart.
by Gari Meacham
Faith Step: Hospitality is more than
opening our homes; it's opening our lives. Is there
someone or something you can open your life to
today? [Mornings With Jesus 2018 Devotional by
Guideposts and Zondervan]
Throughout my long college teaching
career, my wife has taken care of the house:
cooking, cleaning, caring for the children. Now she
is not strong enough to do some things alone.
Retired, I am able to help with the hard jobs:
mopping floors, cleaning tubs and sinks, unclogging
drains. Everything except dusting, because, she
says, "Men can't see dust."
My favorite domestic duty is cleaning up
the dirty dishes. After every meal, we have a
"date" at the kitchen sink. She washes, I dry. We
don't have - or want - a dishwasher. We enjoy
working together as a team. I do the heavy pots and
pans that she can't lift. I scrape the encrusted
skillet with a metal spatula, and I enjoy showing
off my strength.
As we work, we rehearse the day's events:
"There was a famous author signing books
at the library."
"Oh? Anyone I know?"
"Naw, never heard of him."
"There was a big accident at the
convenience store. A man drove right through the door."
"I guess parking wasn't convenient
enough?"
Standing close to my redhead, I can smell
the fragrance of her perfume and see the
freckles under her smiling Irish eyes. When she
laughs at one of my corny lines, her eyes sparkle.
Done, I head for the TV room to catch the
news.
"Thanks for helping out, Danny."
"Well, thank you for that delicious meal."
I am thankful to have found a small way
of giving back, for all the years she has given
to me.
It would be a very lonely world, Lord,
without my Sharon. Daniel Schantz [Walking in Grace
2021 Devotional by Guideposts and Zondervan]
TEXTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Romans 12:13 (NKJV) distributing to the
needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
Hebrews 13:2 (NKJV) Do not forget to
entertain strangers, for by so doing some have
unwittingly entertained angels.
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
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