Many years ago when I was attending Bible college in Ohio, I had the opportunity to participate in a service project where we brought food to various widows, elderly, and shut-ins in the surrounding suburbs.

The woman I was assigned to was affectionately called “Grandma Laura” by all who knew her. Upon arrival to her house, she opened up the door with a huge smile on her face, hugged me, and began to talk to me like I was her son who had just seen her yesterday. Without missing a beat, this kindhearted grandmother had me put the food in the fridge while simultaneously making me something to eat and drink without even asking.

Laura took care of her husband, who was in the last years of his life and who had already lost most of his mobility and cognizance. She was a staple in the local church congregation.

Over the next year, I continued to visit her with my future wife (this was prior to us being married). And we developed an extremely strong relationship with her. I admired the fact that although we were supposed to be there providing for her and serving her, she took the situation and spun it around so that she would be the one showing hospitality. To her, hospitality and serving other people was the pinnacle of her relationship with God.

Who do you think of in your life when you hear the word hospitality? Is it your family? Perhaps another kind grandmother like Laura? It’s likely that you think of a mother or wife inviting people over her family’s house for a meal.

But while that might be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of hospitality – it’s actually only a small portion of what the word really means in scripture.

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. – 1 Peter 4:8-10

Or, as the KJV says it: “Use hospitality one to another”

This word hospitality in Greek is “philoxenos”. And it should sound slightly familiar, because the first part of the word – philo – means brotherly love.

Literally the word hospitality in the bible means “the love of strangers.” That’s what hospitality is. It’s not necessarily making dinner and inviting people to your house. It’s loving others. It’s loving strangers. To the point where you would do something to serve them and spend time with them.

I believe that the surface level idea of hospitality that is used today takes away from the powerful purpose it really has. Today’s “hospitality” doesn’t quite match up to how it’s defined in Greek.

If hospitality is about service, love, and spending time with guests and strangers, then hospitality is:

• Giving someone a ride who needs it;
• Showing up for someone you don’t know very well;
• Volunteering your time to help at a shelter or a soup kitchen;
• Giving out encouragement and material needs at a homeless camp;
• Sharing the gospel with someone at a gas station;
• Calling up that person in the fellowship you don’t know well;
• Inviting the “new person” to your house for a meal;

Hospitality comes in all shapes and forms, and is for every phase in life.

And now that we’ve got a better understanding of what hospitality truly is – the love of strangers – it’s important to remember that it’s not only a ‘good’ thing to do – it’s an expectation of Yah’s. You might even call it a requirement!

Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. – Hebrews 13:1-2

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. – Romans 12:10-13

I don’t think any of this is news to anyone, but I’m hoping we realize just how important hospitality is to our Maker, and how loving strangers is something that needs to be constantly enacted.

Grandma Laura knew that. When I came to her door that first time, I was a stranger, and she loved me anyway. We had no relationship when I entered her house, but she served me, and I was her honored guest for whatever she had to offer.

This is the way we should view hospitality.

But hospitality does more than just serve others physically or emotionally – it has additional benefits.

First, and most obviously, it forces us to grow relationships with others that we would never have (because humans are selfish with their time, and would rather spend it with people they already know and like).

Then Yeshua answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ – Luke 10:30-35

The Samaritan in this example was clearly showing hospitality to the injured man. He didn’t own the inn, or the food, or the room- but he owned his money, his time, and his attention, and he gave freely of it to this stranger in order to provide him with healing and encouragement.

The reason why this parable is so shocking, is that Samaritans and Jews were not very friendly to each other during Yeshua’s time. In fact, most Jews looked down upon the Samaritans. (Don’t believe me? Read the part about Yeshua and the woman at the well… or just any history book)

On the outside, neither individual likely wanted to be friends with each other, or even be near each other. But that didn’t stop the Samaritan from “loving strangers”, and it even says he was going to “come back”, which means he likely formed a relationship with the Jew.

Showing hospitality builds relationships. And relationship building unifies the body:

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart – Acts 2:44-46

These early believers were showing hospitality constantly to each other. And then if you read further, you see that the fellowship was growing daily. I can guarantee this was not random people showing up at a Sabbath meeting. These were strangers who had been shown love by people within the body. These were strangers who became not-strangers through this group’s hospitality.

Look at the unity describe in this verse. They had all things in common. They divided amongst themselves as they had need. They were of one accord in worship.

Imagine for a moment, if our tiny fellowship in the middle of Vermont spent half the amount of time this early group of believers did on hospitality. Imagine how unified we would be! Imagine how massive our fellowship might become?

So as we can truly see, hospitality brings a benefit to our relationships with others by providing healing and encouragement, as well as unifying the body together.

But not only does hospitality – the love of strangers – benefit your relationship with others, it also benefits your relationship with God himself!

Think about it this way: The Father and the Son are unified. Yeshua says they are “one”. Together. Yahweh is creating a world full of children who choose Him and follow Him, and the design is to mimic His relationship with Yeshua.

God’s very character is one of intimate relationships. He stresses it. He commands it. He gives us examples of it. And He Himself is it.

So when we show hospitality, we demonstrate an understanding of who Yah is and that we are trying to become like Him.

Years ago, my family and I were building a garden full of raised beds, and we had to shovel and haul wheelbarrows full of dirt from the pile downhill to the garden uphill. Imagine if you would my excitement when I saw my four year old son out by the first pile with his own little shovel and his own little wheelbarrow, shoveling and transporting dirt without even asking? He was literally demonstrating an understanding of who his father, me, was, and that he was trying to become like me!

When we show hospitality, when we serve others with what we have, when we love strangers – that is what we are showing Yah. That is the relationship we are demonstrating to Him. One of a father and a child.

Not only does it make us more like Him, it also makes us his co-worker.

Think of it this way: being hospitable is likened to inviting people to the wedding feast of God. As a co-worker, when we invite people into our lives by serving and giving, we are literally advancing the Kingdom of God by drawing in those who are spiritually in need:

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose 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. – Isaiah 58:6-8

Yeshua came for the weak of this world, and showed hospitality by inviting them into His house, and to partake of His life. His ministry was of service, He gave of what He had to strangers and acquaintances alike.

So what about us? Are we taking part in Yeshua’s ministry in this way? Are we inviting people into our life, to share what we have to offer with them? Because that will benefit our relationship with God, and we will become coworkers with Him.

One thing that Grandma Laura taught me about hospitality is that it trains you to be humble and less selfish. She was like the widow that Elijah came to during the drought.

Laura had next to nothing. I mean, that’s why I was there bringing her food in the first place!

She told me that her and her husband lived off less that $100 per month for groceries, essentials, and basically everything except utility bills. You know where she would shop to buy her food? The dollar store.

And yet in her humility and selflessness she did not even bat an eye at this. I would come over and she would break out her finest 50 cent plastic cups, pour me some questionable colored liquid, and serve me with it as if I were her first born son just coming back from college.

And so there’s another benefit of loving strangers. It will improve your relationship with yourself.

Have you ever took a moment to think what your relationship is like with yourself? Are you disappointed in yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you trust yourself? Are you the person that you want to be?

If you want a better relationship with yourself, if you want to see character growth: do more hospitality. And in addition to that, while you are serving others and providing them with encouragement and healing like we talked about earlier, you will find that for yourself as well.

I have often said that if you are ever feeling guilty, if you are ever feeling depressed, sad, unloved, or lonely- go do something for someone else and you will be healed.

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” – Luke 6:38

If you give love, you will receive it, if you encourage others, you will be encouraged, if you provide healing, you will be healed, if you feed others, you will be filled.

If you love a stranger, you will gain a friend.

Hospitality is a big subject. We could talk about what hospitality is and what it looks like, we could list out practical ways to be hospitable, we could even go through multiple examples in the Bible.

But the most important thing to know is that hospitality = the love of strangers, and that it is a huge priority for God.

It can benefit our relationships with others, our relationship with Yah, and our relationship with ourselves!

Ask yourself if you want to be the type of person that encourages and heals others.

Ask yourself if you want to be the type of person who unifies the Body.

Ask yourself if you want to show God that you are developing His character. That you want to be His coworker in His work.

Ask yourself if you want self-healing and personal growth.

If the answer is yes to these, then go out and love a stranger!