People of God, we are seeking to build a community where Jesus is supreme over our lives, our thoughts, and actions. Submitting to Jesus in this wholistic manner is no easy task. If you grew up in an environment where basic commitment to Jesus was not stressed, or if it was simply left as an option, it is difficult to imagine being confronted by a message that says “friendship is a necessity, not an option,” and a message that says that “hospitality is not an option, but a holy obligation.”[1] We considered biblical friendship last Lord’s Day, but the other side of the coin is the obligation of Christian hospitality.
This is a skill and a gift that need to be cultivated in our congregation. I am going to say right from the beginning that this is going to be a challenging message to those who rarely are hospitable, and a challenging message to those who are hospitable, but do it out of necessity and not out of holy delight.
Proverbs is teaching us to be Kings and Queens in the world that God has given us, and that means that we are called to share our abundance with the world out of the abundance of gifts God has given us. If we are to be imitators of God, then we are called to be like him in the way He distributes His gifts. What we see in the Bible is this three-fold pattern: The fruits of our labors are to be used to provide for our families and all that entails, the tithe (the gifts to sustain the Bride of Christ), and then to others. I want to focus on the latter in this sermon.
Let me begin with a general principle: Continue reading “Proverbs Series: Kingly Wisdom, Part VI, On Biblical Hospitality”