The sermon on Sunday March 9 opened our five part series in “Forty Days of Fruitful Living.” During this season of Lent, we are following this devotional guide by Robert Schanase. The sermons introduce the week’s topic, and we discuss and study these topics during our small group meetings that week.
The initial “practice of fruitful living” is entitled “Radical Hospitality.”
Pastor Larry’s scripture passage was Matthew 25:34-40. He related his boyhood memories of when his family would always open their doors to share food with others. His family owned a farm and hospitality was a way of life.
Something that’s “radical” doesn’t consider the costs. We practice “radical hospitality” because it’s part of our inner being. It’s who we are.
God calls us to care for the needy. Love and hospitality are part of God’s character, and He wants us to share in that practice of hospitality. Deuteronomy 10:19 commands the Israelis to welcome strangers because they were strangers in Egypt.
God’s identification with the needy is so strong, that Jesus said that feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and visiting the prisoners in our lives is the same as if we were feeding, clothing, and visiting Jesus Himself. Practicing Radical Hospitality with the people we encounter is an integral part of obeying the greatest command of loving the Lord your God with all Your heart, soul, and mind.”
But there’s another half to this…
If Jesus loves the hungry, naked, and imprisoned to the extent that He embodies their pain on Himself, then His love for us (regardless of our material needs) must be much deeper than we can imagine.
Not only is God calling us to practice Radical Hospitality to others, He is showing us that He is practicing Radical Hospitality to us. Radical hospitality runs throughout scripture. He stands at the door and knocks.
Spiritual growth begins when we grasp the fact that God accepts us. We don’t have to prove anything (Christ has already done that!).
In our “modern” world we’ve lost the concept of Radical Hospitality. Like a waitress in a restaurant, we can perform hospitality when the situation demands it. But Radical Hospitality must flow out of who we are. It takes practice. Knowing God and growing in grace demands that we develop an innate sense of hospitality. Radical hospitality flows towards others, towards God, and it opens the door to the relationship that flows from God.
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