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News and views from the German-language region of Europe

October 8, 2010

"Given to hospitality"

Filed under Sabbath Thoughts

In describing how Christians should interact with each other, the apostle Paul wrote that we should be "distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality" (Romans 12:13).

The author of the book of Hebrews exhorts us: "Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels" (Hebrews 13:1-2).

In Bible times there was a great need for hospitality. The environment of the dry land in most of the Middle East is harsh. For a traveler, access to water and food was a matter of life and death. Hospitality was important, as the host provided the traveler with food, water, and shelter. Abraham welcomed three such "strangers" (Genesis 18:1-8) into his tent. Abraham's words and actions, including bowing to the ground, might seem exaggerated to us. However, this was typical hospitality in his day. He provided them with water to wash their dusty feet and a place to rest.

Today we have restaurants and hotels available, even in inhospitable areas. The need to provide shelter, food and water is not like it was in Bible days.

However, when God calls people to His church, they come to us from the harsh world where God’s truth is not respected. They come to us, seeking refuge and nurturing. How we receive them, how readily we accept them and integrate them into our fellowship, is a key aspect of being hospitable.

In recent years we have not had as many opportunities to do so, but that is changing. Preaching the gospel and then making disciples is a cause-and-effect relationship. If we preach the gospel, God will draw people to us who are to be made disciples.

Let’s remember our responsibility to be hospitable to those whom God calls.

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!

Paul Kieffer's blog with personal insights and news from the German-language region in Europe.

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