Tag: Hospitality

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Hostility to Hospitality to Family – Hebrews 13:2

This exhortation comes at the end of the book of Hebrews, a part of a list of closing instructions – love each other, minister to those in prison, be sexually moral, and this one. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

The term is philoxenia, a combination of the terms philos or affection, and xenos or stranger. We see this same instruction in Romans 12:13 – “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Both the people of God and the stranger, the xenos, are covered here.

The concept of welcoming the stranger is a continuance of the same instructions in the Old Testament where it is often connected to the people of Israel living as strangers, whether in Egypt or in Babylon.

But there is an additional angle here, this idea that there is more to these encounters than just the practical. At one level, it’s a reference to the story in Genesis where Abram and Sarai welcome and show hospitality to angels and are blessed in turn – or the reverse of that story that results in the destruction of Sodom. This negative example gives us a strong sense of how important hospitality is to God.

Beyond that is the promise that when we serve others in this way, we are touching something more than human, beyond the material world. It’s echo of the promise that when we serve others we are really serving Jesus in a very personal way. There is a magic to hospitality that transcends the practical effects, as valuable as those are.

And if we look at the “sin of Sodom” we also see that there is a negative magic as well, associated with hostility towards the stranger. This should give us pause, and give pause to the portions of the American church in particular that have set themselves up in opposition to the strangers and immigrants in our midst, painting them as criminals and as taking resources from deserving Americans.

In reality, immigrant churches are driving forward the kingdom of God across the country, especially in urban areas where white churches have declined or closed. A majority of the baptisms performed by the Evangelical church today are by immigrant churches. Immigration of non-Christians is bringing the mission field to the USA, while the work of immigrant pastors and churches are evangelizing Americans, reversing the typical ministry flow.

We must seek to go from hostility to hospitality to family as we engage with the strangers and immigrants around us. We should seek to learn from the ways of worship and teaching that seem foreign to us instead of putting up walls. We know that the ultimate destiny of the church is exactly this congregation from all peoples and all tribes.

But this unification of all voices can look a lot like a loss of control if we are used to being the only voice being heard. We must put that fear aside and instead step into the supernatural opportunity we are given to show hospitality to strangers–and possibly even to angels.

–Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, November 2, 2025

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Widows, Orphans and Foreigners – Deuteronomy 10:18-19

We don’t ourselves have the same experience as Israel is pointed to here, but all of us have depended on others in the the past, even if just when we were infants. We have all been vulnerable in the past, like Israel, and like Israel as a faith communitand we are all called to demonstrate empathy for and actively advocate for the most vulnerable around us.

This passage comes just after the golden calf rebellion, when the people of Israel lost patience and created their own god target than waiting on the Lord. It comes as a piece of the covenant renewal, expanding the ritual purity into a broader doctrine of compassionate holiness, from ritual purity to justice and compassion. The response to divine mercy God asks for is ethical faithfulness.

This call to love the out group was radical in the ancient Near East, even more than in today’s society. The boundaries and borders of the world are real, but the first identity for them (and us) is as a child of God.

This message is a reminder that the ethnic identity – even for the chosen people of God – is a responsibility rather than a recognition of innate goodness. They literally just finished giving up their good jewelry to create a pagan idol. Likewise, if we today conflate our cultural, national or ethnic identity with our identity as children of God, we likewise make that mistake. When we see our political units and political players as anointed by God, we miss the point of what God truly cares about.

God shows us what He cares about when He orients Israel’s law to center on the dignity of marginalized.

Today, much of the church has lost this understanding. We have to make excuses to show compassion, we condemn empathy. We spend more time gatekeeping our communities and places of worship than welcoming in the stranger.

So as a community we are called to respond to God’s justice in the same way Israel was. We are called to welcome immigrants with radical, practical hospitality. We are called to support orphans, widows, and immigrants in their needs; to learn the stories of the marginalized; to use our places of privilege to advocate for justice in our communities; to build friendships across difference; to pray and worship with mercy in mind.

As a church we are a subversive community, living in the world, within particular political boundaries, but with a higher calling. Let us continually seek that calling and to live out the unconditional love God shows us.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, October 5, 2025

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Giving and Receiving Hospitality – Sermon Notes, Acts 28:1-10

It can be difficult to accept help – it can be embarrassing, demoralizing and overly vulnerable. But we are also commanded to give help and assistance to those in need – this means that if we are not careful, we can fall into a pattern of paternalism, making a separation between those who Have and those who Need. But this dichotomy is not biblical – biblical hospitality is a two way street. You cannot truly give unless you can receive.

We see that in this story in the book of Acts. People serve each other throughout the story – even at the beginning, the people of Malta rescue Paul and his companions, while Paul works to build a fire.

When he is bit by a snake, Paul’s reputation swings wildly from being a murderer to being seen as a god. This miracle does not result in an immediate conversion of the people there – they do not turn to Jesus but interpret what happened within their own pagan framework.

But even so, Paul heals the father of Publius, the chief official, and then heals many others on the island – in turn, they are given hospitality by Publius for three months, and are greatly honored by the people there, “in many ways”, finally sent off with all the supplies they need

We don’t see Paul preaching the gospel here, but rather we see him “doing life together” with the pagans around him, accepting their help and providing his own.

We can learn a lot from this passage about receiving hospitality in God’s economy. First, God’s people aren’t immune from need. If we pretend we do not have any needs, we will miss opportunities to receive help. And we will be surprised by those who step in to help. Christians are not the only people who work the will of God, just like we see on Malta. As we also see on Malta, receiving hospitality creates community. Paul and his shipwrecked companions created a community for three months with the people of Malta, a combination of cosmopolitan Jews, superstitious islanders, maybe a few sailors in the mix. And in that community, like this motley crew in the Mediterranean, we can experience home and life.

As a people, our hospitality muscles have atrophied – between the pandemic and the general drift of culture, as Paul says later in Acts 28, our “heart has become calloused.” This is true on an individual level but also on a national level.

If we as individuals and as a nation could reflect more on how we have received help and wisdom and gifts of other people and peoples, perhaps there would be less calloused behavior, and more celebration.

We, as a church, are called to be openhearted, to both give and receive hospitality with joy and gratitude. We are to be expansive in both directions as we expand our family circle and God brings all of us to His banquet table.

— Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, September 21, 2025