Practicing Hospitality in a Pandemic
By Seth Lewis
(From the July - September 2020 issue of VOX)
In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul gives a simple command: “practice hospitality”. It must be important, because he also tells Titus that being hospitable is a requirement for church leadership. Peter agrees, telling Christians everywhere to offer hospitality “without grumbling”.
But what would Peter and Paul say about practicing hospitality during a global pandemic?
Usually when we think of hospitality, it smells a lot like dinner. It’s hard for us to imagine hospitality without food, or at least a cup of tea or coffee and a few biscuits. So how can we practice hospitality when we’re not allowed to have people over? Or even when home visits are allowed, but must be short, small, and socially distanced? Perhaps the command to practice hospitality must be put on hold until the danger has passed and restrictions are lifted.
Which would be sad, except for the fact that it isn’t true. These strange circumstances give us the perfect opportunity to remember that hospitality never was the same thing as dinner. Think about it: we’ve all had lovely dinners in beautifully kept homes where we didn’t feel welcome at all. Is that really hospitality? We know that it isn’t, even if it’s hard to put our fingers on what exactly is missing.
Search every cookbook that’s ever been printed—there won’t be a recipe for hospitality. There’s some kind of secret ingredient that isn’t written down, and if we want to practice hospitality properly, we can’t do without it. Lovely dinners are lovely, of course, but even the best of flavours can’t overcome the feeling that the host doesn’t care two beans about us as people. We’d trade any feast with a host like that for two beans with someone who actually cares.
“We discover that the secret ingredient to hospitality has nothing at all to do with food.”
Actually, we don’t even need the beans. Two ears will do just fine, if they’re really listening. And so we discover that the secret ingredient to hospitality has nothing at all to do with food—the secret ingredient is love.
Hospitality is so much more than houses and tables. Jesus Himself didn’t have either, and we only hear about Him feeding people a few times. Yet He was the most hospitable man who ever lived. Why? Because He shared much more than food or shelter. He shared Himself. He welcomed people into his life, even (especially!) if they had nothing to offer in return. He really listened, and responded to what He heard. He sought out those who were in need and provided for them. He offered Himself to all people as the “bread of life”, broken once and for all time to provide true life to all who would come to Him.
Pandemic or not, a hospitable heart looks the same: It is an open heart, ready to welcome others deep into its life and affections, regardless of what they can give in return. A heart like this won’t be stopped by a pandemic. It won’t be stopped by rules about not having people over. It will find ways to communicate love, to welcome people and to share life with others, even from a social distance. Most of the New Testament letters were written from a distance, from men who had welcomed people into their hearts, and were longing to see them in person again. Yes, hospitality might look different in a pandemic but we need it more than ever.
Seth Lewis, who is originally from the USA, has lived in County Cork for the last 11 years with his wife Jessica and three children working with a network of local churches. Seth blogs at sethlewis.ie.
