Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they
have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to
house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set
before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say,
“The kingdom
of God is very near to you.”
Luke 10:7 -9
The days when no one locked the back door, or front
door for that matter and left their keys in the car, are well and truly gone.
Having visitors turn up at any time was somewhat serendipitous, but providing
drink and something to eat was essential. Not offering hospitality was
considered ill- mannered and poor form. It still exists in some places, but
turning up unannounced in the 21st century is generally met with
surprise and occasionally indignation – because our favourite programs are on
the box, because we all have routines that we must keep to.
It is less surprising that when Luke is looking for
images of the Kingdom of God, that he uses hospitality in the form of banquets,
meals, invitations and welcomings. Indeed when those who preach the Gospel are
welcomed into a new community, Jesus assures them that the kingdom is close at
hand.
This is a real challenge to us in our busy lives –
making ourselves available not only to friends and relatives, but remarkably to
our own families – let alone to perfect strangers. We’ve all overheard or even
used excuses for not visiting or to avoid having visitors as if opening our
homes and offering hospitality is an invasion of privacy not an invitation to
intimacy and deeper relationships.
Our words hospital, hospice, host and hospitality are derived from the
Latin hospes meaning both host and
guest or stranger. This gives us an idea of what hospitality is, how it is an
act of reciprocity – we are givers of hospitality and recipients of
hospitality.
Luke is keenly aware that fellowship at the table,
the sharing of meals is a particular moment of grace. It is in the making of
companions (companion means one who breaks bread with another) that grows out
of eating together, sharing stories, dreams and visions that unveils
hospitality’s deeper purpose: remembering and reliving. It is something we do
each day around the family table, ordering our responses according a rubric that
scaffolds our love and friendship in our stories which draw concern, approval
and advice, and we in turn listen and give of ourselves in return. This is
holy, sacred time. It is here just as in our churches that God is truly
present, he is indeed near.
Bringing our friends and perfect strangers to our
table, into our homes, to begin new memories and to link with ever deeper
common stories is the very reason we must break out of the chains of our 21st
century culture and be nothing less than hospitable.
