Hi there!
Another day out and about. I'm starting to feel pretty tired, but we're on a roll with hospitality, so let's keep it going!
The second characteristic that each of these actions (greeting one another; washing one another's feet; waiting for one another) communicates is commitment.
In the culture of the first century, greeting was a commitment. Unlike today, when you can shout a “how’s it going?” from across a room and then get back to what you’re doing, if you saw someone in the marketplace or in town as you were going about your day, the decision to greet them was going to involve both time and proximity. We’re talking about physically going to where that person is, just so you could embrace them and engage them.
That may be particularly troubling for us to think about, because our society is so very time-conscious. How many of us in the last couple of weeks were (at least) tempted to cut through a parking lot instead of waiting through a long line of traffic to turn right at a stoplight, because we knew it would save 3 minutes?
OR, over the last few weeks have you put something in the microwave, turned it on, and then found yourself standing there wishing it would hurry up? “Sheesh, four minutes to cook this? And now I’m supposed to let it stand for a minute? Bump that, I’ll risk the 3rd degree burns.”
In a world that seems to thrive more and more on busy-ness, authentic hospitality says "I have time for you," and it looks a lot like this:
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. -Matthew 25:35-36
Authentic hospitality can wreak havoc on your schedule and wreck a to-do list.
But that kind of commitment to one another trumps busy-ness.
See you tomorrow!
In Him we live,
Jeff
1 comment:
well written
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