Hospitality
| As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. (Luke24:28-29) |
When I was a child in Sunday school, our teachers always told us that the Emmaus disciples invited Jesus to join them at the inn. But this wouldn't need an invitation – Jesus would have been free to stay at the inn without an invitation.
But if this was their home, then it is a very different picture all together. This becomes a picture of risky and generous hospitality. Risky, because they were inviting a preachy stranger into their home, and generous, because they'd just had a rough weekend where their friend and hero had been executed and all their hopes and dreams had been shattered. We'd have cut them some slack if they didn't feel like entertaining...
But they choose to open their home and their hearts and because they did this, they received a very special blessing – they saw Jesus revealed in the midst of a simple meal together.
We are guilty of under-estimating the incredible value of hospitality – and I'm not only talking about the hospitality of opening up your home. I think it is more about opening up your heart. The Hebrews writer puts it like this: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (Heb.13:2)
When we make space in our lives for others, God can do beautiful things in our lives. How hospitable is your heart? Or do you easily let others get on your nerves? Maybe you need to pray that God helps you to be more hospitable of heart to those around you.
