Each day is full of opportunities to explore God’s goodness and the wonders of our world. And this week, we explored Genesis 18:1-10 and Luke 10:38-42.
Both passages explore hospitality, the art and practice of welcoming others into our home and focusing on their needs as a reprieve of their journey. The first featured Abraham and Sarah, the second Mary and Martha. These are familiar passages and the risk of reading familiar passages is that we can too easily gloss over them.
Hospitality. It is a central piece in many cultures: in Indigenous cultures in North America, peoples welcomed others to their territory, gifts exchanged and food shared. So too is perhaps the familiar art of Scottish highland hospitality, as people, no matter how poor, opened their doors and shared what they had with others on their journey. And so it was in Middle Eastern culture even back in the days of Abraham: the heat and hot sun were exhausting and Abraham and Sarah welcomed travellers and shared food and fellowship.
In the incident of Mary and Martha, both women are busy – one with preparing food and other measures of comfort for her guest, the other eager to listen to what her visitor had to share. Both are important elements of hospitality.
Jesus reassured Martha that focusing on her guest was important, although He recognized the practical tasks that involved in her time and day and the pressures she faced.
Perhaps the take-away is we should be ready to open our doors and our minds and hearts to visitors. Our homes are comfortable, perhaps not perfect, but that’s ok. What is asked of us is to be present in the moment.
Our visitors have messages and gifts to share – unexpected blessings. Take time to enjoy them! Stay plugged in to God’s love.
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Thanks, Laurie