Practice hospitality

DAILY BYTE

The first suggestion of a practical way to express our worship of Christ this Christmas season that was made yesterday was to SIMPLIFY. A second suggestion is this – PRACTICE HOSPITALITY.

Hospitality is one of the great themes that lies at the very heart of the Christmas story. The truth of Christmas is that Christ enters our world in a manner and form we would least expect, and is found to be present in the least and the lowest in the eyes of our world. The great challenge of Christmas, therefore, is for us to cultivate an openness within us for the strangers and outcasts in our midst, for there Christ can be found in a special way.

The practice of hospitality is the way in which this can happen, and it can be a beautiful expression of our worship.

How might you become a little more open to the poor in your midst this Christmas? Might it mean taking the time to really listen to somebody’s story; or simply affording the beggar on the street the dignity of a friendly greeting and a warm smile; or even inviting someone in for a meal that you would never normally invite?

Of course, the practice of hospitality extends not only to those who may be strangers to you, but also to family and friends. If hosting Christmas lunch for your family feels like an ordeal, how might it be reframed in your mind for it to become an act of worship for you? How could it become your personal way of saying ‘thank you’ to God for the wholehearted hospitality that God has shown to you? How could your home become a Christmas stable this year, providing a gracious space where the miracle of the incarnation can be experienced once again?

What about your spouse, or your children, or your friends? There are very definite ways in which we can practice hospitality towards them. (Which, incidentally, will be a far better present than anything you could buy them.) It simply requires making space for them in your life – that means giving them your time and attention – and allowing what is most important for them to become what is most important for you.

Most wives would give virtually anything for their husbands to take them on a date and give them their undivided attention, taking an active interest in what they had to say, listening not only to their words but the feelings beneath them, without judging or offering advice, but simply being there and remaining present. That’s one simple, but powerful way of practicing hospitality.

Similarly with our kids. Most children would give virtually anything for their mom or dad to really play with them. To spend chunk time with them. To enter their world. To remain present to them for more than just a brief moment. To allow them the space to be kids, and to join with them in that experience.

The same principles apply with our friends. Practicing hospitality is a profound way to allow the heart of the Christmas story to be expressed in our lives, and as such can be a beautiful expression of our worship of Jesus.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord Jesus, we read in the Christmas story that there was no room for you at the inn. We confess with shame that the inn often reflects our own lives, especially at Christmastime – too busy, too cluttered and too crowded for there to be any real space for you. But as we practice hospitality towards others, making more room in our lives for them, so we trust that you also would find more space within us to come and take your rightful place. Thank you for the wonder of encountering you in others, when we extend ourselves towards them in sacrificial and self-giving ways. Help us, this Christmas, to be more hospitable. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Romans 12:13

Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.