Thursday 24th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 7:36-50

Hospitality 101

Heiskell TN Hospitality

Back in 2019, Ginger’s parents decided it was time to simplify their lives and downsize their home.  So we helped them sort through all their possessions and decide what they wanted to keep and what should be discarded.  It involved cleaning out their current house and checking out new possibilities.  Even when they moved into their new home at Central Baptist Village, there was still a lot to do – picking out new furniture and deciding on the best arrangement, everything to make their new home warm and comfortable.  But not just for them!  Such care was taken to make their home hospitable – open and welcoming to visitors, making sure there was room and seating, comfortable seating, for family and friends, for all who came to visit.  Open door, open arms, open heart!

Quite the opposite of what we read in today’s Gospel.  A Pharisee has invited Jesus to his home for dinner.  But hospitality is sadly lacking, even non-existent.  He doesn’t greet Jesus with a kiss.  He doesn’t wash His feet to wipe away the dust of the street. Hospitality in your home was a given for the Jews at the time of Jesus.  Otherwise you could be sure that people would not be hospitable to you in return. And yet this Pharisee shows none of it.  It’s as if all he is interested in is himself.  Maybe all he wanted was to tell his fellow Pharisess – guess who’s coming to dinner!  Or maybe all he is doing is trying to get Jesus to perform a miracle, a trick for his friends.  Either way, hospitality is far from his mind.

The sinful woman, however, shows all the elements of hospitality that the Pharisee lacks.  In fact, her hospitality extends not from welcoming Jesus into her home.  She is welcoming Him into her heart.  And that is our question for today.

Are we welcoming Jesus into our home?  Into our heart?  What are we doing to prepare our home, ourselves, to welcome Him into our lives?  We spend a lot of time and energy prepping our home for a dinner party, for a birthday – cleaning, cooking, best clothes, etc.  How much effort do we expend to welcome Jesus into our soul?  Is there downsizing that we need to do in our lives?  Do we need to simplify our lifestyle?  Do we need to stop thinking so much about ourselves and more about our relationship with Jesus?  How welcoming are we really?  How hospitable are we?

I hope our home also reflects Mom and Dad’s sense of hospitality!

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