| 699 reminded me of this topic which I had meant to address some time
ago. Better late the never I guess.
The New Testament references that come to mind are two. One is Mark
4:10-11
" 10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into
an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when
ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for
a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall
be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment,
than for that city."
Also Matthew 25:35
"35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
me in:"
So I tend to think that hospitality was something that Jesus considered
important.
Now travel was far more difficult in those days but I think the
principle still applies. This is especially true in cases where
travelers are in trouble. Cars broken down etc. And I also think that
Christians have a special responsibility (see Mark reference) to
assist those traveling on the Lord's business.
>Locally, there is the Red Cross shelter which would take in the stranger.
>Few people who've not needed the services of the shelter have ever seen
>or been inside it.
As a child/young adult I was at the site of a great many fires that
resulted in people losing their homes (my father was and is a chaplain
with the NYC Fire Department). The Red Cross was always there to help
people without any place to go find temporary accommodations. Yes, those
accommodations where often little more then warehouse space. But at
least it was warm and dry and there was food and clothing available.
The thing I always found sad was that there were often no friends,
relatives, or neighbors to take people in. Churches, especially in
low income areas, did often serve as temporary shelter though. And
that is how it should be.
As a high school kid I traveled with a bicycle group from California
to Delaware. This was a Christian group founded to provide activities
for Christian youth (initially boys but long since to include girls).
We found accommodation where we could. An occasional school, under the
stars, but mostly we stayed in churches. We were seldom turned away.
And the hospitality we were shown was often quite amazing. This trip
was 20+ years ago but the group continues and the hospitality continues
unabated regardless of the economy. I think that hospitality may be
one of the signs of a healthy church.
Hospitality, at least on my last trip 18-19 years ago, seemed to be
alive and well in the middle east as well. I would not be surprised if
it was a component of Islam. I remember being welcomed into a house
after spending some time with the families children. (They'd never had
a foot of snow before so we taught them about snowmen.) This was not
a rich house but we were given the best treats they had (good indeed).
The men were in a separate room sharing a water pipe. Treated as an
honored guest they set up a new pipe for me. (The one time in my life
I tried smoking) I only wish we'd shared a language in common. :-(
The woman in the group who spoke some Hebrew was in the other room with
the women.
Oh, in case you are wondering how 699 reminded me of this topic. There
I mention the Norse religion. In most polytheistic religions the gods
have a ranking as well as what they were the "god of." One can get
an idea of how valued something is by the ranking of the god whose
responsibility it is. In the Norse religion Odin, who was chief of the
gods, was the god of hospitality, among other things.
Alfred
|
| re Note 91.4361 by BIGQ::SILVA:
> | <<< Note 91.4358 by SNOC02::LINCOLNR "Ignorance = Fear" >>>
>
> Hi Rob! Glad to see you back in here!
>
> | A sodomite is a person who's sin is one of inhospitality. This was considered
> | a grave sin in the Old Testament because it could mean the death of a
> | traveller.
>
> Then when those people who were in Washington last year screaming out,
> "You sodomites would burn in Hell", were not talking about homosexuals, but of
> people who were inhospitable? I don't think that was what they meant. I guess
> the twisting of Sodom into meaning a gay type word has done a job.
According to Matthew 25:31-46, the inhospitable *will* "go
away into everlasting punishment".
"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and
he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth [his] sheep from the goats: And he shall set the
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and
ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto
me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungered, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave
[thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee]
in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick,
or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer
and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done [it] unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the
left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an
hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked,
and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me
not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw
we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch
as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it]
not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Bob
|