J Bruce RItter Jr - October 25, 2015
The Belong Series
Introduction …Always be eager to practice hospitality.Romans 12.13b Have you ever had to approach the customer service people? Come on, everyone probably has a customer service story. Let’s just say I’m not one to hound the customer service people. I’m a pushover. I’m wired to accommodate others. I’m not, by nature, confrontational. Are any of you like this? No. You guys are bulldogs, aren’t you. Okay, not all of you, but the ones here more like me, we either stand in awe of the bulldogs. Why can’t I be like that? Assertive. Direct. We stand in awe of them. Or maybe they just embarrass the dickens out of us? My dad is a bulldog. When I was growing up, he spoke to more customer service supervisors than I can remember. Recently I've been reading up on the methods used in customer service. I know. It's a weird hobby. Anyway, I read the following on a recent customer service blog about a restaurant's hostess and her exchange with a woman, who called needing a reservation. Hostess: “Hello, thank you for calling our restaurant. How can I help you today?” Customer: “I have some questions about a party coming in next week.” (I pull up our reservation book and review the information with the guest. She is very agitated, and makes a request that we are unable to take care of.) Hostess: “No ma’am. I’m afraid we have no way to do that. If you—” Customer: “How dare you! Don’t talk to me that way! I know exactly what you are doing! I hate it when you Southerners use ‘ma’am’! Don’t think I don’t know what you mean! I know exactly what you mean by that!” Hostess: “I’m sorry?” Customer: “I am so sick of this fake southern garbage! I moved down here with my husband. He’s from here and I’m not. I’m so sick of you people calling me ‘ma’am’! I know that you aren’t really being polite, you’re being ugly to me and trying to pretend it’s polite so I won’t know what you’re really doing! But I’m not flipping stupid. I know what ma’am means! You are just about the rudest hostess I’ve ever met, you and all you other southern idiots.” (She hangs up and I am left thinking how sad her husband’s life must be. 15 minutes later, I get a phone call from the same woman.) Customer: *sheepishly* “I’m sorry. My husband heard the whole thing and demanded I apologize. He told me everyone in the South uses ‘ma’am’, and it’s just good manners. I just moved here with him and I can’t make any friends!” In that same vein of reading, I came across a book entitled, Selling the Invisible. It shares the following story about a customer service guy named Roger. A successful Minneapolis executive remembered that Dayton’s suit department had promised they would have his summer-weight jacket repaired and ready by that afternoon. The executive approached the register and was quickly met by an energetic dark-haired clerk named Roger Azzam. “I’m here for the jacket,” the executive said. Five minutes later Azzam returned from Alterations with bad news. “Sorry, not ready.” The executive had barely started to complain that his heart was set on getting the jacket when Roger disappeared, shouting, “Be right back!” Almost as quickly, Roger returned. “They will do it right now and have the jacket in 15 minutes, I promise,” he said. The customer reacted as most people would. He was touched. Actually, he was more than touched. The clerk had gone so far out of his way that the customer now felt indebted to him. While the customer waited, he started walking through three aisles of sports jackets. Now Dayton’s is a high end place. He spotted a grey herringbone Hugo Boss jacket with a matching price tag: $575. Naturally, the story ends with the executive buying the $575 jacket, but not only that. He also bought a $180 pair of black slacks and a $55 brown, black, and white striped tie to match them. In seconds, Roger’s five-minute dash up to Alterations created over $800 in sales. Now you know the senior sales executive for Dayton’s probably reviewed the men’s suits department sales figures on his computer screen and thought to himself, “I sold another of those Hugo Boss jackets.” But the Dayton’s senior sales executive did not sell the jacket. Roger did — with a promise and great customer service. Good customer service is worth it’s weight to any store or restaurant or business. Hospitality is like that in the kingdom of God. Hospitality creates the space that others need to deeply experience God’s grace. Hospitality, A God-Value. Now, you might question, “What could hospitality possibly have to do with God?” And it’s an important one for those, who want to live a God-centered, God-shaped life. So as pleasant as the habit of hospitality and good-mannered may be in general, THE question is, “What does it have to do with God?” What gives hospitality its eternal value and sets it apart from the business values of Chick-fil-A’s or Starbucks? The answer is it is a God-value. And as far back as you want to go in the history of God's people, hospitality is one of the values, which God appointed the righteous to carry out; simply the willingness to welcome people into your home, who don't ordinarily belong there and show them kindness. The God-centered motivation for hospitality begins in the Old Testament. Perhaps the clearest text is Leviticus 19… “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19.33–34 NLT-SE Now that was written in the governing law of God’s people and all throughout the Old Testament, it was practiced. It was ingrained in their culture that, even visitors traveling through the country, who didn’t share ethnic or cultural backgrounds, were treated with hospitality. Homes were opened. Honor was shown. All throughout the Old Testament the value was set, stretching even to the birth of Jesus, when Mary and Joseph can’t find room in an over-capacity Bethlehem. Hospitality actually came in the form of a stable. What is the motivation for hospitality here? I am the Lord, your God. In fact, all of the laws of the Old Testament can be traced to that same reality. The Ten Commandments begin with the same weight… “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. Exodus 20.2 NLT-SE The Old Testament duty of hospitality flows right from the center of who God is. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt and who made a home for you. Therefore, you shall love strangers as yourself. The culture continued into the New Testament and, Christians, were taught to practice it. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Romans 12.13 NLT-SE Literally it says, "Pursue (διώκοντες) hospitality.” And the verb, διώκοντες, implies continuous action. So the command in Romans 12.13 is that hospitality not just be a once a year thing at feasts or pilgrimage festivals, but a constant attitude and practice. Hebrews 13 says it in a similar way… Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Hebrews 13.1–2 NLT-SE Ingrained in their hospitality was the goodness of God, who did more than break them free from Old Testament Egyptian slavery. They trusted in Jesus, who brought them out of sin and shame and into belonging to God’s family. Ephesians 2 captures that element of their faith in the practice of their hospitality... 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2.12–13 NLT-SE Hospitality was a kind of paying it forward. Look, God brought you into His household through the grace and kindness and crucifixion of His Son. Don’t neglect to demonstrate the same grace and kindness to others through hospitality. Pay it forward. Hospitality retells the story of what God did to show you His kindness, His compassion. He made us to belong through Christ. Hospitality is saying, “You belong to me.” It creates the space that others need to deeply experience God’s grace. The Kind of Person I Am Going to Be So, you can see how hospitality exists really because of who, God is. “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.” Practicing hospitality is about deciding the kind of person that you’re going to be. Look again at Romans 12 and you will see that leading up to verse 13 from verse 9, there is a lot said about the character and identify of a person, who shows hospitality… I Am AUTHENTIC. 9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them… …10 Love each other with genuine affection... Romans 12.9-10 NLT-SE Pretend is from the word ἀνυπόκριτος, which was the character wearing a mask as they played out a part in the theater. It's not really the person. It's the part they play. We know the word in English as hypocrite. Love is φιλαδελφίᾳ, the brotherly kinship. It affirms belonging to others. I’m not going to settle for a distant connections with others. It’s going to be real. I’m going to feel it and not just go through the motions. Secondly, I AFFIRM what’s good and right. I speak the truth because God never divorces the priority of His truth from His command to love. …Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Romans 12.9 NLT-SE Third, I HONOR others. I constantly elevate them to a better place. …take delight in honoring each other. Romans 12.10 NLT-SE I am DILIGENT. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Romans 12.11 NLT-SE Laziness should never be a word associated with followers of Christ. The culture around us demands that we stay sober and alert and ready. Wickedness never sleeps and we shouldn't give into lethargic lives. Enthusiasm is from the word, ζέοντες, which means to “to boil in spirit.” It takes energy to show hospitality. The physical force of gravity pulls everything to the center of the earth. In order to break free from self-centered life, thousands and thousands of pounds of energy have to push a rocket away from the center. It is a psychological force of gravity that constantly pulls our us inward toward the center of our own selves and our own homes. The most natural thing in the world is to neglect hospitality. All we have to do is yield to the natural gravity of our self-centered life and old nature, and the result will be a life so full of self that there is no room for hospitality. We will forget about it and neglect to show it. I live with FAITH. I think that’s a key to maintaining an attitude of hospitality. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans 12.12 NLT-SE The world is starving for positivity and optimism. People of faith, who show hospitality, invite others around the realities of your life lived in faith and trust in God. Intentional Hospitality What Is Intentional Hospitality? It is a hospitality that is both ready and planned. It says, “I am going to live my in space-creating ways for others to experience God’s grace through my kindness, my sharing, my home, my time, my effort.” Intentional hospitality is not content to just have the family over for dinner again and again. It strategizes how to make the hospitality of God known and felt, from the lonely church goer at CLA to the individual or family in our community adrift and disconnected from a vital relationship with Christ. Dream about it. Pray and dream and plan for the people in your life to experience God’s kindness through your kindness. Who are the ones you’re going to pay it forward to see them experience God’s grace? Be a “There-You-Are” Person. In this life, there are two kinds of people; those who walk into a room and say, “Here I am. Come talk to me. Come ask me about me. Come make me feel comfortable.” And there are those who walk into a room and say, “There you are! You look interesting to get to know. Tell me about yourself.” It’s a subtle but essential distinction. The only real difference between the insecure “Here Am I Person” and the self-absorbed “Here I Am Person” is the volume of their voice when they enter a room. Remember, "…take delight in honoring each other." Elevate others by thinking of them first. Invite one another home. Invite your Bible Fellowship over. Kick the toys in the corner. Break out the paper plates. Order a pizza. Don't ever underestimate the power of your living room as a launching pad for the activity of God and the opportunity for ministry! Greet and welcome others into worship. Invite them to Bible Fellowship. Show them where the nursery is. Show them where the coffee and bottled water are in the CLA Cafe. Let them read the hospitality of God in your pleasantness. Hospitality creates the space that others need to deeply experience God’s grace. It's one of the most spiritual things you can do.
Scripture References: Romans 12:9-13
From Series: "The Belong Series"
Who really belongs to Christ's Body, the Church? The truth is both revealing and surprising and what we will discover is that everyone belongs. Regardless of the success (or failure) of their spiritual journey, everyone can experience the redemptive power of Jesus through His church.