Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:1-3
“Generosity involves the “pouring over” of the boundaries of the self and society in order to enclose the presence of others . . . The purpose of this enclosure of others, however, does not function simply to make others part of the self or society, but to give them the benefit of the resources of self and society. Generosity in this sense encloses others within self and society to bestow on the other the riches and the blessings of the self and society . . . By generosity, the outsiders become insiders, others become part of the self, and foreigners become part of the corporate entity, the society.
Hospitality is the shifting of the center of the self, or correlatively the society, to another self or society in order to put the necessities and desires of others first. Whereas generosity maintains the self and expands its boundaries, hospitality relocates the center of the self itself and places it in the other. This relocation bestows upon others an increment of honor and respect and makes the needs of the other primary to the self . . .
Both generosity and hospitality, precisely as mirror images of one another, open the self to the world and to the people around it and places a high valuation upon those others . . . Especially when it is inconvenient and disruptive, the seeker puts aside personal pursuits and activities to expand the boundaries of the self to include others (generosity) and to locate the self in an exterior person (hospitality) in order to minister to another needs as though they were the seeker’s own.”
Richard Valantasis in Centuries of Holiness: Ancient Spirituality Refracted for a Post-Modern Age (New York: Continuum, 2005) 147.
My mind is drawn this morning to the intersection of generosity and hospitality in order to minister to the needs of others as my wife, Jenni, and I are hosting Gladys Güitz and Andrea Marroquin from Potter’s House in Guatemala in our townhouse over the next few days.
Though the post seems long, don’t miss what Valantasis is saying (and I also hope you like the new header photo I shot on Tuesday evening on our walk with our dog, Joy). It’s a beautiful set of ideas that get to the heart of what must motivate us to carry out the instructions in today’s Scripture reading
Generosity is voluntarily expanding our boundaries to include others as insiders to benefit from all that God has given us. In plain terms, generosity says: “What’s mine is yours.” Hospitality, then, shifts the focus of the society (or in smaller cases, the household) to serve the stranger as a guest. It says, “How can we minister to you?”
Let’s read again the final sentence and therein read ourselves as the seeker: “Especially when it is inconvenient and disruptive, the seeker puts aside personal pursuits and activities to expand the boundaries of the self to include others (generosity) and to locate the self in an exterior person (hospitality) in order to minister to another needs as though they were the seeker’s own.”
I am convinced that our best ministry happens when we welcome inconvenience and disruption. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I am receptive to these opportunities and sometimes I am not. I suggest that we “plan margin” for these moments so we don’t miss them altogether (think of the blessing that the priest and the Levite missed out on in the Good Samaritan story in Luke 10:25-37). I say this because today’s text literally tells us not to “forget” to do this.
Father in Heaven, help us extend generosity and practice hospitality to welcome people even when it’s inconvenient and disruptive, so that we are known for lovingly making space in life for others, and for remembering those who are suffering. Empower us to this way of living by your Holy Spirit, I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.