Meatloaf and the Mission: Hospitality at the Heart of the Church

Good morning, everyone. It’s
a joy to be back here with you worshiping in spirit and truth,
just as our Lord commands and as we delight to do. Let me start
my stopwatch here just to make sure I know where I’m at. We’ll dive in. All right. So before we begin, I want to
extend a sincere thanks to the worship team for leading us in
song. So it’s such a blessing to me
and to my family and to so many others who have helped to make
this morning a success. and particularly to the folks
in the serving reminders box. Today’s sermon is kind of for
you, all right? So there’s a heart there in serving God’s people
that I want to speak to directly. And so I wanted to just extend
a special thanks to Sierra and Elizabeth and Dawn and Mary for
their work today and for many others on every Sunday. for making
the time of gathering after the service a place of hospitality,
which is our discussion for this morning. I’m also really grateful
to Ron and especially to Patrick for their kindness and flexibility
with me in this preparation time. So I’m just grateful to them.
Before I dive into today’s message, though, I’m obligated to extend
a hearty Happy Mother’s Day to our mothers. And for everyone
else, it’s Mother’s Day. So make sure that you’re wishing
your mom a happy Mother’s Day. It is important to honor mothers. It is God’s design that mothers
raise up and disciple the next generation in love and in truth.
Of course, fathers are not off the hook there either, but today’s
Mother’s Day, and so we honor that. The work of the mother
is a powerful one. It’s one of the most powerful
shaping forces in the church. Even our Lord Jesus was born
of a mother. who’s descended from Eve, the
mother of all the living, and to whom the first promise of
the gospel that we cherish was given in the Proto-Evangelion
in Genesis chapter 3. So whether you are a mother,
yearn to be a mother, have been shaped by a faithful mother,
or bear the sorrow over the absence of a mother, today is a day to
be grateful to the Lord for mothers. So thank you. Now, of course,
today’s sermon is not specifically about motherhood, but rather
about hospitality. However, I do think that women
in general, mothers in particular, carry a unique weight in the
practice of faithful Christian hospitality. So as we carefully
consider what Scripture has to say about our a call to brotherly
love and gospel-shaped hospitality. I hope that today’s message will
be an encouragement to mothers in their hard labors, even as
it exhorts all of us to open our homes and fill our tables
for the glory of the Lord, the defeat of evil, and the joy of
fellowship together in Christ. So that’s our goal for this morning,
to look at what scripture has to say. And for all the kids
here, so this is a church where families worship together, something
that I admire and enjoy, so I want to invite the kids. If you consider yourself a kid,
pay attention, this is for you, okay? I want you to think about
the word hospitality, and I want you to think about the word,
the phrase rather, brotherly love. OK, what do those two things
mean? We’re going to talk about that
together today. And I want you to think about how you can be
hospitable. If you don’t know what that means,
listen carefully. We’re going to get there. Think about how
you can show your brother love. Maybe you have a brother. That
would be a good thing to think about. How can you love him?
And if you don’t have a brother, maybe you have a sister, maybe
you have a friend. I want you to think about that. Maybe draw
a picture of how you would show your brother, your friend, brotherly
love in the likeness of Christ. And I’ve got more to say to you,
children, later on. But for now, let’s open our Bibles
together to Romans chapter 12. We’re going to read 9 to 13 now. Really, we’re going to focus
on verse 13. What I hope to show is that the theme of Christian
hospitality is woven throughout scripture from the beginning
in Genesis to the end in Revelation and represents a key element
of the Christian life. So Romans chapter 12 starting
in verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy.
By abhorring what is evil, clinging to what is good. being devoted
to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another
in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, being fervent in
spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in affliction,
being devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing
hospitality. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father,
we have gathered together in the name of your son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to glorify you, to worship you, and to honor
you through the singing of songs, through the reading and study
of your word, and also in the delight of brotherly love towards
one another, as we fellowship together. So I ask that this
morning you would be my shield and my guide as I preach. I ask that you would open the
ears of your people to hear your word clearly and delight in it. I ask that they would be called
out to action, that you would throw down your enemies through
our hospitality, through our charity, and through our love
to one another. I ask that your enemies would
be defeated and that they would be brought to you And if there
are any among us who have not embraced the cross, I ask that
you would call them to yourself through your word this morning. So Father, we’ve gathered to
do these things for your glory, and I pray earnestly that it
would be a sweet and fragrant offering of living sacrifice
to you, that we would listen and study and then live out your
word this morning. In the name of your son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, by whose blood and body we are saved. Amen. All right. So the title for you note takers
out there is Meatloaf and the Mission, or Meatloaf on a Mission.
Did I say Meatloaf on a Mission? It could be Meatloaf on a Mission.
Apparently it’s Meatloaf and the Mission. OK, so I’m fond
of meatloaf, and I’ve always wanted to work it into a sermon
title, so bucket. But we’re going to talk about the defeat of God’s
enemies. We’re going to talk about the
building of God’s kingdom. And we’re going to think about
it through the lens of hospitality and hearty meatloaf. So if you
have a good meatloaf recipe, you want to keep that top of
mind for this morning’s worship. And I mean that, seriously. Our
passage this morning comes from Romans chapter 12. We kind of
just dive right into it. But I think it would be good
to step back just a little bit and think about what Romans is
and where chapter 12 fits in that. And then we’ll consider
more carefully our passage. So Romans 12 comes at a turning
point, a hinge if you will. from high theology. Romans 1
through 11 is a magnificent and rich theological treatise written
by Paul to explain the functionality of the gospel life. How does
this Christian thing work? It’s the logical progression,
the theological progression of the Christian life. But at 12,
we find that it pivots a little bit. into what does that theology
do? How does it flow into action?
And so we see that in the beginning of 12, if you kind of look up
the page there, maybe one page back, it says, Therefore, I exhort
you, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies
as a sacrifice, living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is
your spiritual service of worship. So, the therefore, you know,
what do we have to do whenever we see a therefore in scripture?
What’s a therefore? It’s there because of all the
theology that Paul has in 1 through 11. Explaining the grafting in
of Gentiles, and the sacrificial death of Christ, and God’s providence
over salvation. And so because of these things,
these theological realities that we live in, we need to do something. And that is to present our bodies
as sacrifice, living though, holy and pleasing to God. So
this is an unusual kind of sacrifice to Paul’s audience in… The sacrifice was a bloody affair. It was the substitution, the
slaughter, usually of an animal, to trade. to trade your sin, to take on
righteousness, to represent that. And so, in this case, it’s a
different kind of sacrifice. It’s a living sacrifice, not
a dying sacrifice. Though, of course, there is a
type of death to self, which we will see is necessary here.
So it is our spiritual service of worship to be a living, holy,
and pleasing sacrifice to God. Paul goes on to show many different
ways. It’s rapid fire in Romans 12. And of course, I don’t intend
to cover all the possible ways that Paul outlines that we can
do that thing, that we can be a living sacrifice. Instead,
I want to focus a little bit further down. on our responsibility
to be hospitable and to care for the needs of the saints that
we see in verse 13. And so among other things, hospitality
is one of the ways that we live sacrificially for God to be a
living, holy, and pleasing sacrifice. It is a tangible, practical,
and profoundly Christ-like way to live out our salvation. So
why does Paul, and much of scripture, emphasize this hospitality as
an act of worship? And I want to put forward that
it is not just a to-do list. You can’t just check this off
the box. Hospitality is anchored in the gospel itself. So it is
deeply and intimately connected to the work that God has done
in our lives. Firstly, if we look at Ephesians
chapter 2, verse 12 and 13, you’re welcome to turn there with me
if you’d like. Flip over here. We can see, so Ephesians chapter
2, oops, verse 12 and 13. Remember that you were at that
time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel
and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. And you were far off from God.
Paul is saying, but now in Christ Jesus, we see in verse 13, you
who are formerly far off have been brought near by the blood
of Christ. And so we’ll see that hospitality,
the love of strangers was first shown to us in the blood of Christ. So there’s the first one. Then
Christ shows us continually his brotherly love. We celebrate
that brotherly love that we have in Christ every time that we
take communion. He nourishes us on the bread
and the wine. For I received from the Lord
that which I have also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus,
in the night which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given
thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for
you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, he took
the cup after supper, saying, this cup is a new covenant in
my blood. Do this as often as you drink
it. in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord
until he comes.” The very establishment of the new covenant is nourishing. It’s not something that is built
on just slaughter, although of course the righteous lamb was
slaughtered, but rather it is nourishment to the brothers and
sisters in Christ. And so we find that we were far
off, aliens, strangers to God, brought near through his hospitality,
and we are continually nourished by his word, by worship, and
by our fellowship together. at the table of the Lord and
as we share life together. And so, we can see finally in
Ephesians 5, verse 1 rather, Ephesians finishes with this
idea. Therefore, be imitators of God
as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved
us. and gave himself up for us, an
offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. And so we’re
called to imitate the love that was shown to us, the hospitality,
the brotherly love. This is an imitation of the love
God has given to us. So hospitality is anchored in
the gospel life. It’s anchored in the gospel we
cherish. And so that’s ultimately, if there was like a thesis statement
for today’s message, it’s that hospitality is gospel shaped. It’s formed by the gospel. It’s
formed by Christ. So that’s the foundation stone
of today’s message. And what I want to do next is
look a little more closely at how this hospitality manifests
itself in life together. so that we can carefully imitate
Christ and worship and delight in the one triune God together,
and extend that worship, delight, and imitation outward to our
families, to our friends, and fellow believers, fellow heirs
in the gospel in the local church, and finally, in gospel-driven
hospitality to the world. Okay, so let’s dive in to verse
13. Here in verse 13, go back here
to Romans 12 verse 13, our key, our cornerstone text for today.
We see that there are two things happening. The first is contributing
to the needs of the saints. Up above in verse 10, it says
being devoted to one another in brotherly love. Brotherly
love is Philadelphia. There’s a city named after that.
I’ve never visited. Presumably it’s not quite as brotherly as
we are here. Though hopefully some. And it’s
quite straightforward. It’s a phrase that just means
that the love of the brothers is usually in scripture applied
to the love of fellow believers. It is the inward expression of
caring for the needs of others. It is familial. It is intimate.
It is to care for and honor those whom you know well and love.
It is what happens here every Sunday, especially after the
service, when you go out those doors and you get a cup of coffee
and a donut and you hear about the triumphs and trials of the
week from your friends here at Providence. It’s what happens
when you go to dinner at another friend’s home. It’s what occurs
when you care for the needs of those in your close circle. This
is what Philadelphia is, brotherly love. The other one is hospitality. Now, when I started prepping
for this, I made the error that I presume that many people make,
which was that hospitality was this kind of lump term that just
was being nice to everyone. Or maybe like the concierge at
the hotel or something like that. I was thinking about that. What
does this mean? Upon further inspection, hospitality comes
out of the Greek. Philoxenia, which literally means
love of strangers. The love of strangers. So on
the one hand we have brotherly love. This is love of family.
Love of those closest to us. Love of the ones we cherish.
And on the other, we have love of strangers. In God’s providence,
in his kindness to us, he demonstrates both. First, we were strangers
to him. And then we were brothers. And
in both cases, He loves us. And so too, we are called to
imitate that love. First to love those who are nearest
to us, and then to extend that love outward in the outward expression
of Christ’s love for everyone else. Even those who hate you,
the ones who revile you, who try to destroy you in your place
of work. This is the kind of love that God showed to you and
I. that when we were dead, that
when we were enemies, that when we were actively transgressing
against him, he condescended to us and brought us near, and
continuously nourishes us through his word and through his care,
through the spirit, and one day through a resurrected body. So
biblical hospitality is focused on those who are outside the
church. Our brotherly love aimed at those
inside. Hospitality and brotherly love
are not peripheral to the gospel life. They are central to what
God intends for the church. So, we find two directions for
this generic hospitality. One inward facing the brotherly
love, the other outward facing. So, if this is the mission, who
is on mission? The needs for hospitality in
the church are so important, they’re so significant, that
it’s built into the very qualifications for eldership and deacon. If
you want to be in leadership, if you’re called to that, it’s
not that you should not seek to employ your entire intellect
to that endeavor, but it is not the standard. The standard is
not the smartest guy in the room. The standard is not the most
college degrees. The standard is how you treat
others. So if you read those standards
carefully, turn over. I’m going to choose Titus, chapter
1. I’ll just start in verse seven
here, though there are others. For the overseer, that is the
elder, must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed,
not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, great
word, not fond of dishonest gain, but hospitable, loving what is
good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled. Okay, so right
there in the middle, The need to love strangers, to love those
far off from God, is built into the role of elder. It doesn’t say go to college
six times in a row so you can have multiple PhDs. It says love
the strangers. Love the strangers. And so it’s
built into the very leadership structure of the church itself.
That’s how significant this is. We can see the same thing echoed
in 1 Timothy 3, 2. It’s another very similar list
of qualifications for elders and deacons. Hospitality features
prominently there. I believe even in front of the ability
to teach, however, I’m not sure they’re ordered lists in the
sense that they’re ranked or something. So yeah, it’s a foundational
element of church structure. So elders and deacons are not
supposed to be mere theologians to teach. They need to be accessible,
generous, and welcoming. You cannot open, if you cannot
open your home in the service of the king, then you should
not open the word in authority for others. The gospel leadership
is deeply relational and hospitable and lived out. It’s not pure
intellect. Now, unless you think you’re
off the hook, that’s just the deacon’s job. It’s a good thing
we have them. And praise the Lord for deacons, by the way.
I mean, they do 1,000 things. And their families care for them
as they do 1,000 things. And no one ever sees. I’ve served
in the past as a deacon. And they do more things than
you could ever possibly imagine to serve others. And so the Lord
is great. just profoundly kind to the church
in giving faithful men as deacons and elders. But you’re not off
the hook if you’re not in one of those camps, okay? The imperative
to be hospitable, as we’re seeing, rests with all of us. The whole
church just, God in his kindness, builds it into leadership so
that we can follow good examples. Our passage today and others
in Hebrews and throughout scripture shows that we are all responsible
for being hospitable and for caring for others in brotherly
love. Indeed, the Lord in his kindness
has given us actually many examples in scripture of hospitality and
action. And so that’s where I want to
turn our attention to next. Let’s see what this looks like. I got
the theory down, did a little bit of Greek. I’m not a Greek
scholar, but I did listen to the pronunciation over and over
again. So I did my best there. But I
want to look now at what hospitality looks like in action. So this
is an active It’s not something you sit in a quiet room and ponder
alone. You can’t do it. You have to
live out hospitality. So, I want to invite you to turn
to Genesis 18. I love this passage. I hope that you love this passage,
if you don’t already, the way that I love this passage, because
it’s just hilarious and it’s so rich. Okay, so Genesis 18,
we’re just going to start in verse 1 and we’ll read until
it feels right. I think it’s like verse 8 or
9. I’ll let you know. So then Yahweh… Oh, by the
way, I tried something new. I’ve got the LSB here. Yahweh
is usually the LORD in all caps, I think. Yahweh appeared to him
by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting… Him being Abraham,
by the way. While he was sitting at the tent door in the heat
of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, three men were standing nearby. He saw them, and he ran
from the tent door to meet them. He bowed himself to the earth,
and he said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight,
please do not pass your servant by. Please, please let a little
water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under
the tree. And let me bring a piece of bread
that you may refresh your hearts. And after that you may pass on,
since in such a manner you have passed by your servant. And they
said, so you shall do as you have said. So Abraham hurried
into the tent to Sarah and said, Hurry, prepare three sails of
fine flour. Knead it and make bread cakes.
Abraham also ran to the herd and took a tender and choice
calf and gave it to his young men. And he hurried to prepare
it. And he took curds and milk and
a calf which he had prepared and placed it before them. And
he was standing by them under the tree and they ate. Then they
said to him, where is there your wife? And he said, there in the
tent. We’ll talk about what happens
next, but I want to just look at this rather extreme hospitality. I mean, people walk by my house
every morning on their morning walks, and I have not once rushed
out and offered a calf. So maybe I need to rethink my
priorities. But yeah, so these three guys walking by, And Abraham,
he’s relaxing. It’s hot. In the heat of the
day, it says. He’s relaxing in his tent. When
he sees them, he rushes to them. This is pretty earnest. He offers
them rest and he offers them food. Now, this was a key element
of the ancient Near Eastern life. Abraham’s hospitality would not
have been completely unheard of. But nonetheless, it is genuine
and earnest and rather sudden. So he immediately goes into the
tent and hurries, you know, it says hurries into the tent and
to Sarah and says, hurry, prepare three sails of fine flour. Okay,
so I look this up. Because we don’t really use say
as these days and apparently that’s like about five gallons
like just a little over five gallons So this is like three
three guys, and I love bread a lot. I promise you I could
not eat five gallons of bread in one in one sitting. And my wife, Katie, has recently
gotten into sourdough. I guess not that recently, a
couple years now, which is so delicious. And so she is a true
example here of blessing others with dough. But I asked her if
she thought she could quickly prepare five gallons of sourdough
and she said most definitely not. It would take days to maybe
a week to get that much dough. cultivated and then turned into
loaves. So this is quite the ask that
Abraham brings to Sarah. But she obliges, for she is very
hospitable. And then, of course, he rushes
to his herd and takes a tender and choice calf, no small thing,
and gives it to his young men and prepares it with other things,
curds and milk, and places it before them. And in doing so,
Abraham does not merely entertain three pastors by. It is likely,
scholars believe, that one of the three is Christ himself.
It’s called a Christophany, the appearance of Christ in the Old
Testament. The other two are angels. Hebrews
references this directly in chapter 13, verse 2. It says, do not
neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have
entertained angels without knowing this. We know that they were
angels because in the following chapter, the two angels go on. They go down to Sodom and Gomorrah
and show up at Lot’s house to save Lot and then to judge Sodom
and Gomorrah. Indeed, the very act of hospitality
does a couple of things in Abraham’s life. Firstly, it creates an
opportunity for God to demonstrate his His fulfillment of the promises
given to Abraham in the covenant that he made in chapter 17. So
we see that specifics about how that covenant are going to be
unfolded are given to Abraham and Sarah. later on in verse
18. So that’s one thing that comes out of his hospitality.
The other thing is Abraham has an opportunity to intercede on
the behalf of those righteous and faithful in Sodom and Gomorrah.
No doubt at least one of the people at top of his mind are
Lot and his family. And so out of Abraham’s extreme
hospitality we see that God’s good work is accomplished. That
intercession for the sake of Sodom and Gomorrah are accomplished.
and that God’s promises are made more clear to those to whom he
made them. So Abraham’s hospitality makes
a way for God to do what he intends to do. Later on we see actually
that Lot shows the two men, the two angels, a similar level of
hospitality, though his full unpacking of that probably deserves
another sermon entirely. This hospitality that is built
into the God-centered life is seen throughout the Old Testament.
We see another great example. We won’t read the whole thing, but
I’ll at least summarize it. If you don’t know well, the story of Abigail
and David, King David, It is a delight. It’s a delightful
story, so you can jot it down. 1 Samuel, chapter 25. It’s a
rather long chapter, which is why I’m not going to read it,
but rather just summarize for the sake of our time this morning.
So David, he’s on the run from Saul. He’s got a rather large
army with him. I think it was like, in the passage,
I think it says about 400 men. I should have written that number
specifically down. And they were kind of dwelling
in the land, and they had been providing kind of protection
for a guy named Nabal. And he was not a nice guy. I think Abigail calls him a vile
man when she talks to David. So he’s not a good dude. But
David and his men were providing protection for his shepherds
and his flocks. And David was in some need. He
needed some food. And so he went to Nabal basically
saying, hey, man, I’ve been covering for you. And not one thing that
belongs to you has gone missing this whole time. But now I’m
in need. And I was hoping you could help me out. And Nabal’s
just like, no way, man. I don’t even know who you are.
He mocks David, mocks David’s claim to the throne, and rejects
the ask. And this makes David extremely
angry. So he gets his 400 armed men and they are marching down
to destroy Nabal and his household. Abigail was Nabal’s wife. She
was both beautiful and wise, it says. She’s very discerning. So she hears of the offense of
her husband and acts swiftly. She prepares an enormous feast. Hospitality. To strangers, no
less. She didn’t really know David,
and it seems clear that she didn’t really know David and the men
here. So again, pretty extreme hospitality. I don’t know when the last time
you had 400 armed men come over for dinner, but I imagine it’s
no small thing to get the wine and the bread and the grain and
the raisins and the figs and to ride out in envoy to intercept
this war party. When she reaches David, Through
wise oration and the delivery of this hospitality, she stays
his hand from violence. Her hospitality to David is striking,
not just for its generosity, which is a key element, but also
for its incredible discernment and courage. She brings the food
and supplies to David and his men, lavishes hospitality in
a time of rising tension. And in doing so, she prevents
the bloodshed of innocent people, her people. She also stays David’s
hand from sin in doing this. He says that of her. And so she
reflects the peacemaking heart of God and protects her household
and David’s integrity, as well as the lives of many of David’s
men in her hospitality. It’s pretty wild to think about.
It’s not usually what happens when you have guests for dinner
or bring a meal to someone else. So David, at the end of this
story, acknowledges her actions as providential. Bless the Yahweh,
the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me. There’s
more to the story, and I would earnestly encourage you to take
a look. It’s one that I love. Abigail’s courageous act of hospitality
paired with humility and God’s godly wisdom turned David’s heart
and he praises God for sending her and blesses her for keeping
him from sin. Abigail’s table, not her sword,
becomes the means of peace. God, of course, at the end of
the story strikes Nabal dead and David takes Abigail to be
his wife. So, we’ve got many examples in
scripture of hospitality being part of God’s plan, worked out
in history. We see even in the example of
the early church that those who had believed, it says in Acts
2, were together and had all things in common. And they began
selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with
all as anyone might have need that brotherly love. caring for
the needs of the saints, and daily devoting themselves with
one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to
house, they were taking their meals together with gladness
and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all
the people. And the Lord was adding to their
number daily those who were being saved.” There is, in that passage,
the description of the activities of the early church, both brotherly
love towards the believers and hospitality, bringing those who
were outside in. And because of that, the Lord
was adding to their number daily, those who were being saved. So
it was not purely intellect, though they were gathering at
the temple with one accord. They were also breaking bread.
They were also covering the needs of others in brotherly love and
in hospitality. And because of that, the Lord
was adding to their number daily. So in short, hospitality is not
limited to mere activity. It is central to the gospel,
and it is the activity by which God works in history. It is a
key activity. It’s not the exclusive activity.
I should say that clearly. So, if we’re going to think rightly
about hospitality, it is not right to think of it as just
having dinner parties. Okay? Hospitality is spiritual
warfare. It is the defeat of God’s enemies. If the church will be victorious
in winning God’s people to himself, we must look at the strategy
he’s laid out in scripture. For we are at war against all
that is evil in this world, and our king did not make the church
to sit idly by, but rather that we are to be on the offensive.
The gates of hell will not stand against us. We are on the offensive. So the church, as we’ve seen,
is led by men who are on the move. It is populated by people
who are of one accord to that end. But how? How do we do this battle against
evil in our day? Well, we’re going to return to
our meatloafs, okay? If you look at our key passage
for the day, back in Romans chapter 12, And we look just a little
further down, so past verse 13, and we look at… 20 and 21. It says, but if your
enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a
drink. For in doing so, you will heap
burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good. For this is the outcome of sincere
hospitality and genuine brotherly love. That which is evil is defeated,
and those who were doing evil become members of God’s family. They become brothers and partake
in the brotherly love. So we defeat evil in the world
in part through amazing meatloaves. Hospitality is the mode by which
God intends evil in the world to be defeated and righteousness
to triumph. This is the battle plan that
God has given us. Do not forget that you yourselves
were once this very enemy defeated by the kindness of God. And so
it is ours to do. Hospitality is, as I’ve said,
not a dinner party, but rather a spiritual warfare. Every table
where Christ is honored is a forward operating base of the spiritual
battle that we find ourselves in and every generation before
has been in. Every meal shared together, every
invitation extended, every burden carried builds the kingdom, brick
by brick, as we see in Ephesians. So, when we are fighting against
the enemies of God, we do so with meatloaf and prayer, coffees
and scripture fellowship, and bold love for others, both inside
and outside the church. All of this is done in the imitation
of our Lord and in the model that he has laid out for us clearly
in scripture. Hospitality is how we storm those
gates of hell and set the table for heaven. So let’s think about
how we can practically do this good work that God has given
to us. There are many ways that we can demonstrate hospitality.
The first one is kind of obvious because it’s built into the sermon
title, and I think it’s what we think of, which is having
people over for dinner, sharing meals together. I think this
is really important. I’ve often said that you don’t
really know someone until you’ve had a meal with them. And so
this is a strong encouragement to you to consider doing so. You do not need to be a gourmet
cook. to share a meal with others. You don’t need to have a large
dining room and a big table. Nothing has to be perfect in
order for this to work out. In fact, a picnic at the park
can be an excellent option. Takeout around the cluttered
table or folding chairs in the backyard around the campfire
are excellent fellowship opportunities. Invite others into your life,
even in your imperfections. Honoring others, not showing
off, is the key here. On the other side of that table
is accepting invitations, being willing to go out of your way
to visit with others. When someone invites you, say
yes. Receiving is a part and parcel of that brotherly love
and active fellowship. But there are many other ways
that we need to demonstrate hospitality and brotherly love. It must include
genuine generosity. If we look back at that early
church example, what were they doing? They were sharing everything
they had together. So if you have something that
another person needs, sharing that is built into brotherly
love and hospitality. I know this is hard to hear,
men, but when another man needs a tool from your toolbox, the
Lord is calling you to share that tool. It could be sharing
a vehicle or giving from your pantry. These are all examples
of hospitality. Yeah, there’s risk. That tool
might come back dirty or broken. You might have to go without.
You might have to do a car repair you weren’t planning on doing
in order to be hospitable, in order to be brotherly loving.
But these are the things which God has called us to do. You
can also offer your skills and time. Many of you have enormous
gifts. Whether it’s being an electrician
and doing electrical work, or a plumber, or car repair, or
child care, or being handy with a hammer, or just willing to
help. Some of you build decks. Others build chicken coops. I
solve differential equations. No one has ever called me to
do that, but I’m waiting. One day, I’m going to answer
the phone. It’s going to be like, dude, I need to model bacterial
growth, and I don’t remember how to do it. It’s going to be
a good day. I’m going to have to look it up, but I’ll help.
So we have these skills, and hospitality is not just dinner
parties. It’s sharing skills. It’s sharing
life together. It’s having all things in common, even those
skills. It is that Christ-like community meeting the needs of
others. It is caring for the young ones
among us, right? It’s looking out for the kids
after church, talking to them, getting to know them, being friendly
towards them. If you don’t know a kid in here,
you probably should. There’s a lot of them. If you
get down on one knee, you’ll see a whole new population. And
they’re awesome. They’re awesome. Sometimes it’s
defending the very well-being of others. We see that in Lot’s
example. Lot basically defends the guests of his home from actual
violence. The way in which he does that
is probably deserving of a little critique, definitely deserving
of critique. It stands true that he was very
hospitable. So this is a part of it as well. You may need to defend the well-being
of others. This is not just for adults.
Remember, I said it was going to come back to the kids, so
this is for you, kids. How can you be hospitable? What
are some ways that you could show brotherly love? Did you
think of any while we were talking? Remember, hospitality is sharing
with those you don’t know well. Brotherly love is sharing life
with those you do. Have you thought of ways you
can do that? Let’s think about it. Yeah, I’m getting some nods
over there. That’s good. They were prepared,
though. What about this side? You thinking? Thinking about
it? There are lots of ways. You have wonderful things, toys. Maybe you’re playing with something
on the playground. It’s always good to share. What about inviting
somebody into your game that you don’t know? It’s a way to
share and show hospitality. You too can demonstrate the love
that God has shown to you in your care for others. So this
is not just for the grown-ups, this is for all of the church.
This is for the kids too. Hospitality is not always warm
and tidy. Sometimes it’s sweaty. Sometimes
it’s inconvenient. Sometimes it costs us everything.
But it’s how we love brothers, sisters in Christ. It’s how we
care for the strangers. It’s how we demonstrate the very
gospel that we claim and carry with us. It’s how we show what
has been shown to us first. It’s how we imitate God. I want
to kind of start to wrap things up here with an encouragement
to women and to mothers. I think women in particular carry
a unique and often unseen weight in hospitality. And I’m not saying
that men don’t have a serious responsibility to be hospitable.
In fact, hopefully it’s clear, I’m making the exact opposite
claim. There is something unique about the responsibilities which
women carry with regards to hospitality. They are often the keepers of
the home, the schedule, the calendar. They are frequently the ones
who end up with the burden of cleaning up right before guests
come. They are frequently the ones who are dealing with the
children seconds before the knock happens at the door. And there
is a quiet faithfulness that is not always visible. And so
I want to make sure that that is honored. I also want to encourage
women to open their homes. It can be a real challenge. It’s
not perfect. There’s like, I don’t know, spaghetti
stuck to the wall. But that doesn’t get you off
the hook for this. And so on the one hand, I want
to delight in the faithfulness of the ladies and the other to
encourage them here on Mother’s Day to continue to be hospitable. This hospitality and this brotherly
love does actually start just with your own children, to care
for them in loving kindness in the same way that Christ has
cared for you in loving kindness, to be warm and thoughtful to
their needs, and then it extends outwards from there to your friends
and then to strangers. It is a self-giving love that
is part of the home and is what bakes up the body of Christ.
So whether you’re raising children, caring for aging parents, opening
your homes to students or strangers, or simply showing up ready to
serve on Sunday morning. This is at the very heart of
ministry, at the very center of the gospel, and it is deeply
precious to God’s sight. So go forward and cook a mean
meatloaf, perfect that artisanal sourdough, and defeat Satan. That’s my challenge to you ladies.
Men, honor the ladies in your life who labor at this, for it
is precious to God and central to His work in the church and
in the world. And so it is our job to defend
that for them, to honor and care for that in them. So let’s conclude
here. Hospitality is not peripheral,
I hope I’ve made the case, but rather it is central to the Christian
identity, to the identity of the church, and central to the
work of the church in the world. We are saved through the hospitality
of God. We are nourished through Christ’s
brotherly love towards us. We are called to imitate the
Lord Jesus in these things as we offer our bodies as living
sacrifices, as we loan our tools out. Sorry, guys. Got to do it. Our enemies are defeated, not
at the edge of some sword, but at our dinner tables and in the
garage late in the night fixing someone’s car. Our final hope.
is also an invitation to God’s hospitality, to the Feast of
the Lamb. So we’ll finish here in Revelation. We went everywhere. We were in Genesis. We were in
Paulian stuff. Now we’re going to wrap it up.
So turn with me to Revelation 19 verses 6 to 9. I have to turn there too. 16, 17, 18. 19. Okay, starting six. Then I heard something like the
voice of a great crowd, and like the sound of many waters, and
like the sound of a mighty peals of thunder, saying, hallelujah,
for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be
glad, and give the glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and his bride has made herself ready. And it was given
to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for
fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And then he said
to me, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper
of the lamb. And he said to me, these are
the true words of God. And I fell at his feet to worship
him. But he said to me, do not do that. I am a fellow slave
with you. and your brothers who have the
witness of Jesus. Worship God, for the witness
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And so we see that even in the
end, our invitation is to God’s banquet table, to the wedding
feast of the Lamb whom we imitate. Our church must be marked here
at Providence by open doors, loaded tables, and genuine kindness
towards others, both inside and outside our community. And so
I want to leave you with these thoughts. Think about tangible
ways that you can open up your life to others around you. Is
your table open? Is your home open to strangers?
Is your toolbox open to strangers? That’s obviously a problem that
I have, to be generous with my tools. I want to do so. So let us lead by example to
love strangers, to welcome others as Christ welcomed us as we looked
about in the beginning. And we’re going to get a chance
to do that in just a few minutes. We’re going to sing one song
and then you’re going to have a chance to go out and show brotherly
love and possibly hospitality to one who is a stranger to you.
And so I’d encourage you to do that right after the service.
So we’ll finish with this benediction, Romans 15, 7. Therefore, accept
one another just also as Christ accepted us to the glory of God. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father,
thank you for this morning. Thank you for the mothers among
us. She asked that we would honor them well. I thank you for the
many saints you gathered here at Providence. I ask that you
would encourage them. I ask that you would be their
delight, that you would be their strength as they go and live
out the gospel in tangible ways in their life. I ask that your
word would shape us and form us and mold us into the likeness
of Christ, that we might be faithful imitators thereof. So we lift
all of these things up in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, whose death and resurrection is our great and eternal hope.
Amen.