Have you ever stepped into the home of a true hostess? If you have, you probably remember the experience. I was 21 when I first met a woman who would come to be a mother in my life. Her hospitality made a huge impact on me. Her example is one that I seek to model today as I’m stewarding my own home.
A Home Away From Home
I was a junior in college and living away from home for the first time when I met Ria. She was an empty-nester and we attended the same church. She helped me navigate a difficult situation with a friend and became a mentor and safe place I retreated to. Whenever I needed the steadiness of “home” amidst college life, she was there.
When you walked into Ria’s house you would pass rocking chairs on a big front porch. Two yellow lab puppies who were ready for snuggles would meet you at the door. Upon entering the kitchen you’d find baked goods out on the counter, and were invited to make yourself at home. You didn’t need to tip-toe like an intruder, what was hers was yours— she taught me that home was meant to be shared.
Rare Hospitality
Home was a place where strangers became known, where problems could be poured out to a listening ear, and where you were safe. But what was most compelling to me about Ria’s home and Ria herself was that I was never seen as an inconvenience. I always knew that when I was with Ria or in her home, I belonged.
This kind of hospitality is rare, almost unheard of today. In the busyness of our lives our homes can become an insular kingdom constructed for our own comfort. A space to retreat from the bustling world. While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying our own homes, I see an invitation within the scriptures to lay down our lives and what is most precious to us— could this include our homes?
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Radical Hospitality
Within the expression of true hospitality, I can’t help but see the beauty of the incarnation; a King who left what was most valuable to Him, being with His Father, to come and die, making a way that we could be with Him forever. (Philippians 2:5-11) When we invite people into the most intimate place of our lives, our home, and give it away freely, we reflect a Savior who freely gave His life.
Is there anything more sacred than the sanctuary of our homes? Can we see a more radical call within the gospel than to invite the stranger in and by our actions show them they belong?
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. The shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, Here I am“. Isaiah 58:7-9
Stewarding Home
How often we treat our homes as something that is ours alone, we curate our homes and fill them with our favorite things as if it is just for us. We focus on design and creating a space worthy of instagram. (Don’t get me wrong, I love to create beautiful spaces). Have we forgotten that we are stewards of what God has given us? Are we clenching our fists around what is ours instead of opening our hands in hospitality and love for our neighbor? The Bible calls us to a kind of hospitality that is radically generous.
“Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14
Sharing Home
Today as a new mother and homemaker I find that my home is my greatest gift to the kingdom of God. As I build a space that is safe, inviting, and fosters room for the presence of God I am building something that is meant to be shared not only with my family but with the stranger. It is for those who are different from me, those who have nothing to offer me in return. Is there a greater way we can steward what God has given us then follow His example and give away what is most valuable to us? Hebrews 13:16 says “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God”.
The deepest longing in the human heart is for home. A place where we rest from our wandering, where we are safe and where we know we belong. Ultimately, that home will only ever be found in Christ. Some of Jesus’ last words to his disciples involved that he was going away “to prepare a place for us”. (John 14:3)
A Place Prepared
This world is not our home, we are sojourners and pilgrims like Abraham. In Hebrews 11:10 it says Abraham was “waiting for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Our God is preparing a place for us, an eternal home where we will belong forever. When we prepare our home to be shared, to be a place where people are safe and where they belong, we are meeting a need at the core of a person’s humanity— the need to experience home. We are bearing witness of a God who sacrificed His own son that we might find a way out of despair and come home to Him.
I have lived all over the world; traveling, living abroad and now I am making a home for my own family back in the states. Wherever I go, I know that I have a home with Ria and her wonderful husband Larry. Fifteen years of friendship and her home is a place I now take my husband and my son. It’s still a place where I feel safe, where I find the presence of Jesus and where I know that I belong.
I Can Only Imagine
On my most recent visit Ria and Larry were caring for their aging father who was at the end of his life and suffering from severe dementia. Some mornings he would eat two breakfasts, forgetting that he’d already eaten. Each morning as we ate breakfast together we would read the Bible with him and then Ria would turn on her father’s favorite song, “I can only Imagine”. His memory was shattered but there was light in His eyes as he sang those words and looked to the day that he would truly be home.
The gift of hospitality might be an overlooked expression in the Bible, unfortunately, one that we relegate to women and homemakers. But don’t diminish the transformational power, the miracles that can take place, and the lives that can be won for the kingdom when we open the doors of our houses and invite people to find home.
Originally written for: Mommalove.org
