2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hospitality isn’t just about welcoming people to your home or church or place of business. Its also reaching out to members of your community in lots of ways, from block parties to feeding the homeless to adopting shelter dogs. Hospitality is about helping.
Sometimes rules get in the way of helping.
Mina loves dogs. Puppies are nice, she says, but her real passion is for finding forever homes for senior dogs. Muttville is a no-kill shelter for senior dogs. Mina wanted to help but rules got in the way. You have to be 17 to volunteer at Muttville and Mina is only 9. So she started fundraising for Muttville and raised $14,000!
My friend Diane in Burbank used to make sandwiches and take them to a local park where the homeless hung out. Nothing fancy. She just handed each person a sandwich. Then the city passed a law making it unlawful to hand out food in city parks. She was devastated. How was she supposed to help those in need if the city tied her hands like that?
Christian Cafe is a program that provides a meal every Wednesday evening to seniors and anyone else who needs dinner. This has been going on for years and years and 14 or more churches in town take turns providing and serving the meal. This week it was our turn, but last Friday we were told that new coronavirus rules closed it. The program coordinator for our church was devastated. How are we supposed to care for the people who need us most?
And of course, the big one. Rules related to the coronavirus have kept us out of our sanctuary for months now. That makes it really difficult to invite people to come to worship, to be hospitable and to make them welcome. We do the best we can to advertise our online services, but we know that can’t reach everyone.
And then . . . Some of our members went to visit some of the less techie people and taught them how to watch on their phones or computers. Some others invited one person they are close to anyway to come watch at their home. And, we believe, being on YouTube makes our services available to a larger audience, including those who for whatever reason are not comfortable coming to the in person services. We are still offering hospitality but it’s different today.
Hospitable God, we know that being hospitable is one of the most important ways to love others. When we face rules and regulations that prevent us from being helpful in the way we are used to, may we find new and different ways to offer hospitality. Amen
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