Acts 16:16-34
Hospitality seems
to be the result of conversion.
Sharing hospitality is an inevitable consequence of becoming a Christian.
At least that is
what happens in the stories from Acts which we had as readings last week and
this week.
You remember in
last week’s reading Paul received a vision to go to Macedonia, to take the
Gospel to Philippi. Picking up the
story as it is recounted in Acts:
On the sabbath day we [Paul and his companions] went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us (Acts 16:13-15).
This week’s
reading follows immediately after last week’s. Still in Philippi, Paul and his companions have been
jailed. That’s an interesting
story in and of itself, but not my focus today. They are praying and singing hymns when an earthquake breaks
their bonds and opens the doors of the prison offering them freedom. Continuing from Acts:
The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God (Acts 16:29-34).
It’s too bad he
doesn’t have a name, and surprisingly, tradition hasn’t given him one.
Regardless, the
first thing the unnamed jailer and his family do after they are baptized is to offer
Paul and his companions hospitality. And the first thing Lydia and her household do after they are
baptized is offer hospitality.
The very first
thing they do as Christians is share the Christian life with others. There is never a moment, as baptized
Christians, that they are alone.
The Christian
life is shared with others.
Always.
Offering hospitality
is one way to think of that shared life.
But I think maybe that word limits our perspective on what Christian
hospitality can be. For us “hospitality”
tends to mean dinner parties or having the in-laws stay for a week.
Hopefully, those
are acts of Christian hospitality.
But the hospitality of sharing the Christian life is much broader.
Last Sunday in
the adult education class we explored what Spirit-filled hospitality might look
like.
It involves offering
and inviting. Offering something
of ourselves to others. And
inviting them to share something of themselves with us.
It means
noticing other people around us and offering what we have to them and inviting them
to share what they have. Things
like: Stories. Needs. Hopes.
Prayers. Time.
Christian
hospitality might sound something like this: Tell me a story about your mother. It may be joyous or sad, happy or difficult. Or: Can I pray for you?
Let’s get a cup of coffee. Let’s
walk together. Here, take my coat;
Keep it.
Of course, there’s
another aspect of hospitality. It’s
not just about the things we initiate, whether that’s offering or
inviting. It’s also about
accepting the hospitality of others.
Accepting the offerings and invitations of others. For some of us, I think that’s often
harder. Yes, let’s walk together. Thank you for your offering in my time
of need. I am grateful for your
prayers.
So think about
it as you encounter people as today unfolds. People you know well, people you know a little, or people
you don’t know at all. Look for
opportunities to offer and accept Christian hospitality.
Let us pray that
the spirit will inspire us, as it did the Philippian jailer and Lydia, to share
our life in Christ with others.
