Hospitality Part 2

Background of Biblical Hospitality

In Jewish thought, hospitality is seen as rooted in both a concept of God who “loves the sojourner” (e.g., Deut 10:18), and in the story of the Israelites, to whom God said, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Ex 22:21).

Whether it is Abraham receiving the three angels (strangers) in Gen. 18, the Midian priest taking in Moses in Exodus 2, Rahab allowing Joshua's spies to stay with her in Joshua 2, or Nehemiah extending hospitality to a random trumpet player in Nehemiah 4, the Old Testament is full of examples of hospitality being extended to strangers who become valued guests.

The New Testament is no different. The Samaritan woman invites Jesus the stranger to stay with her community, which he does (John 4). Paul (Saul), who had previously been enemy of the Christian movement, is taken in by the apostles in Acts 9. Later in that chapter, it is said that Peter stayed with a tanner named Simon during his time in Joppa. Perhaps all of this seemingly immaterial information is included because it is actually quite significant to the biblical authors. (3)These are just a few examples of many of a practice that is found thoughout the bible.

Peter when teaching about what it means to exercise spiritual gifts in this last age, tells God's people to 'offer hospitality to one another without grumbling' (1Peter 4.9). This is given as a command that is applicable to all Christians (4). Paul speaks to believers in general in Romans 12:13 when he says that we are to “pursue hospitality.” Some translations are too bland in translating the verb as “practice”(5). The verb here, dioko, connotes an earnest striving after something. We are to pursue opportunities to give hospitality.

The act of offering hospitality must be basic to Christian identity and practice. For most of the church's history, Christians located hospitality within a vibrant tradition in which people are welcomed and even transformed. Hospitality addresses the physical needs of food, shelter, and protection. But hospitality also radically affirms the high worth and common humanity of all people. Table fellowship is an extremely important way, even today, of affirming the equal value and dignity of people. (6)

We might hear an objection to strong emphasis on hospitality today because of the extreme need for hospitality in bible times. People who failed to receive hospitality could face death because of a lack of hotels/hospitals and so on. Travelling conditions were quite different. However perhaps there are such clear injunctions in the bible, not simply because it was practical, but because it had spiritual value in its own right. (7)

3. Jason Foster, 2.
4. Ibid, 2-3.
5. Orchard Keeper, http://cbumgardner.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/christian-love-and-christian-hospitality/
6. Jason Foster, 4.
7. Ibid, 53.