And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers. Philemon 1:22
“A habit of hospitality is fundamental to our identity as Christians. Our primary call is to live out the gospel; a lifestyle of hospitality is part of that call. For some of us, there will be a more particular call to a deliberate and focused expression of hospitality, but for all of us, hospitality is essential to who we are as followers of Jesus.
By reflecting on our own experiences as a guest or stranger, we can identify the components of hospitality that communicate welcome. What made us feel comfortable, valued, safe? What communicated to us that we were inconvenient or in the way? What is it about certain people and places that make us feel renewed and nourished?”
Christine D. Pohl in Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 177.
Have you ever experienced hospitality that communicates welcome beyond your expectations and imagination? Like Paul asked Philemon to prepare a guest room for him, I have stayed as a guest in many homes on numerous occasions, but I cannot recall ever feeling so honored as I have this weekend.
Jon and Maria Searles gave me their master bedroom to stay in this weekend.
This sweet couple, with whom someday Jenni and I hope to visit Maria’s homeland, Italy, was so excited to host me, they gave me their own bed. Unforgettable! They inconvenienced themselves, showing me sacrificial generosity in order to communicate welcome to me. I got a glimpse of the hospitality of Christ.