We are hospitable
‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’
Image by Sophie Killingley
‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’. This was a proverb I learned growing up, and as I look out of my upstairs office window typing this I see a row of castles opposite.
by Rev Tina Hodgett
When the weather is good my neighbours sit in their gardens and pretend the others in the other gardens are invisible.
In ancient Biblical times people lived in tents that could be moved. You’d see people coming from a long way away and would prepare to meet them on arrival, not knowing if they brought gifts or threat. In either case, as Abraham knew (Gen 18), offering lavish hospitality was a way of making it more probable the outcome of the visit was a good one for all.
Hospitality is about a posture of openness to the stranger. It is about holding a space for them and yourself to meet on shared ground as fellow human beings. A fellow human being is in need of water in the desert. She or he needs freshly prepared nutritious food, shade, rest. When we encounter others as fellow human beings – subject to bodily needs, physical and psychological safety, and a need to make meaning in our lives – we are more likely to see a stranger as an opportunity to share connection. Not barricade ourself into the castle of seeing people we don’t yet know as a potential threat.
When you read this it will probably be in the raw bright days after Easter Sunday. The encounter between Jesus and the couple on the road to Emmaus may be in your mind. Sometimes we focus on what happens at the table in that story, but Jesus is hospitable way before that. In his tone of voice, body language, humble listening and responding to them in their distress and confusion, he has created space for them to see more and become more while they are together on the road.
This is what Pioneering Parishes aims to do and aims to help churches to do; create space for others to see more and be more through encounters with Jesus and others on the road.
Is being hospitable an important value for your congregation? Discover who your congregation aspires to be for God and your local community at the next Pioneering Parishes Values Setting and Embedding Workshop. Find out more.
