Jesus Christ died for the whole wide world, not just for those inside the church. Therefore, a theological test for the fidelity of a church is hospitality.
Will Willimon, Welcome Others As Christ Has Welcomed You
Enacting Hospitality
Given that hospitality is such a huge part of Christian mission, how do we enact hospitality at Intown? As a Christian church, Intown has two main categories for enacting hospitality: the Sunday morning Gathering, and everything else.
Sunday mornings we gather to celebrate the first day of the New Creation--to be reminded that we serve a risen Savior who is making all things new. This celebration is a time for the community of God’s people to gather together and partake in the angelic worship that happens without ceasing in the heavenly realm. This celebration is also a time for those outside the faith to experience a moment of New Creation, to experience the intersection of heaven and earth.
As such, Sunday worship gatherings are the most opportune times for the Church to feast--not in a way that only looks to satisfy the insider, but in a way that actively expects the inclusion of strangers.
When we have coffee and pastries and fruit we aren’t just looking out for those who forgot to have breakfast before coming to worship. Rather we are seeking to create an atmosphere that appropriately expresses the hospitality and feasting that is so clearly seen in the gospel. Our refreshment table is an entree into and a continuation of the verbal ‘gospeling’ that we do through song, prayer, scripture, and sacrament.
Once the worship gathering is over, we move back into our respective neighborhoods and communities. Though the designated day in which we celebrate the Resurrection and the New Creation may have come to a close, we must be careful to remember that we enter into the other six days as the New Creation.
We are to leave Sundays with the fragrance of Resurrection lingering within us. As we do so, we will enact a continuation of mission and hospitality, inviting brothers and sisters, and especially strangers and the undeserving into our homes to feast at our expense. Hosting or participating in a community group is one avenue that this sort of hospitality can take, but it cannot be overstated: christian hospitality is a way of life, not an event, no matter how regular.
1 comment:
The word ‘Hospitality’ simply means the practice of being hospitable. But when we add the prefix ‘Christian’, it transforms into something for which the people in this cruel world today thirsts for. Hospitality is one of the fundamental cornerstones of Christian faith.
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