Introduction. An American tourist in London decides to separate from his

tour group and explore the city on his own. He wanders around, sees the sights, and even stops at a quaint pub to chat with the lads and have a pint of ale. After some more wandering, he finds himself in a neighborhood which, apparently, has no public restroom, and after his recent drink, he really needs one. So, he finds a narrow alley away from the public eye, but before he can even start to go, he is tapped on the shoulder by a London bobbie, who says, "I say, sir, you simply cannot do that here, you know." "I'm very sorry, officer," replies the American, "but I just couldn’t find a restroom."

"Ah, yes," says the bobbie. "Just follow me."

He is led by the officer along a wall, to a gate, and is told by the officer to open the gate and find a place anywhere on the space inside. The fellow enters and finds himself in the most beautiful garden he has ever seen--manicured lawns, statuary, fountains, sculptured hedges, and huge beds of gorgeous flowers, all in perfect bloom. Since he has the officer's blessing, he finds a spot near a tree and is greatly relieved. As he walks back thru the gate, he says to the bobbie, "That was really decent of you - is this what you call "British Hospitality?"

"No," replies the Bobbie, with a smile on his face, "this is what I call the French Embassy." (http://www.ahot.dk/jokes/visjoke.asp?ID=4960)

Move 1. The help given by this British officer to the American tourist is not exactly a shining example of hospitality. Yet hospitality–literally, brotherly and sisterly love shown to strangers--is something that is a virtue in most societies. It is a virtue in American culture today, just as it was for the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews, which encourages its readers not to neglect showing hospitality to strangers.

Hospitality is often thought of as a way of acting toward guests in a home, whether for parties or overnight stays. It is associated with the gracious host or hostess, who makes sure that a welcoming attitude is extended to guests. Hospitality is making guests feel good about being there.

But hospitality, in its broader meaning, is something that people can show anywhere and everywhere, simply by being kind and open to unknown people. It can be shown by young people toward new kids at school. It can be shown by parents toward their son’s or daughter’s new friend. It can be shown in church toward visitors.

It can certainly be shown out in the world. One hospitable act I recently read about involved a woman who stood patiently in a store line, behind another customer who was digging in her pockets, without success, for $.08 to complete payment of the bill. The kindness came about when the woman took out 8 pennies from her purse and handed them to the customer in front of her. It was unexpected, and the short-of-change customer said to the woman, incredulously, "I’ve never had anyone do anything kind for me for no reason." Weeks later, the act of kindness came up in a conversation between the giving woman and a friend of hers, and the woman’s friend said, "You might think it was only eight cents, but to that lady, it was a sign that there are good people in the world." (Sue Marquette Poremba, "Eight-Penny Blessing," DisciplesWorld, July/August 2004, pp. 33-34)

Hospitality has been a virtue for thousands of years, and remains one today. It calls people to improve lives and communities, even if only in seemingly small ways.

Move 2. Sometimes, people can extend the hand of brotherly or sisterly love to strangers better when they themselves have experienced being strangers.

Often, groups are not natural at being hospitable. They understandably get comfortable–whether they are students in a school who have grown up together, colleagues in the workplace who have certain ways of doing their jobs, or Christians in a church who know each others histories and feel they don’t need others. Such groups are "at home," and can turn off and turn away newcomers, usually unintentionally.

And so the early Christian community is encouraged by the writer of Hebrews to go "outside the camp," outside the city gate, away from the sacred places. In biblical times, criminals are executed outside the camp, including Jesus on the cross; animal carcasses from Temple sacrifices are burned outside the camp. Christians are encouraged to go there, in a metaphorical sense, ridding themselves of all securities and comforts, so as to be able to risk everything for Christ. (Fred B. Craddock, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. XII, 1998, p. 167)

People who can put themselves in the shoes of others by walking in them for awhile are often better at showing hospitality to those who are strangers than those who either can’t or won’t put themselves in another’s shoes. People who travel internationally are often more comfortable with the presence of foreigners when they are back home. People who remember their first, uncomfortable day at a brand new school after a family move often are better at greeting new students. People who visit other churches when traveling see the hospitality, or maybe inhospitality, of the churches, and sometimes come home with a new perspective on greeting visitors. This is something we’ll be discussing, incidentally, at an ushers training to be held on Sunday, October 3 after worship. Any of you interested in serving as an usher are invited to attend.

When people are strangers in strange lands, they are able, when back in their homeland, to better understand the plight of strangers, and then extend the hand of fellowship to them.

In Leeds, England, a program called St. George’s Crypt, run by a church, began in the 1930s as a soup kitchen, and now exists as a professionally run homeless program, looking after drug addicts, alcoholics, schizophrenics and asylum seekers. It is a source of hope for many who are considered hopeless. The Crypt offers a daily chapel service at the end of each night, helping address some of the spiritual questions for which many of their clients are seeking answers. By meeting the range of needs of their clients, the Crypt helps countless people turn corners in their lives.

The Crypt accepts people who come through the door as they are.

One example: after trying to throw himself into a river, a man named Geoff was brought to the Crypt to be looked after. For weeks he sat in the corner eating sandwiches but saying nothing. Eventually the story came out that he had been a successful businessman with his own painting and decorating business until his wife was run over and killed by a drunk driver. Since then Geoff had not returned to work or home. It took time, but eventually Geoff restored his confidence. He began house sitting, and began painting and decorating again. He said, "I put it down to that night that I came to the Crypt."

St. George’s Crypt entertains many with open arms. It is special, according to one former trustee there, because "We have found ourselves ‘entertaining angels unawares.’ Through the smell and drink, the drugs and mouthing we have seen glimpses of Jesus and the laughter of heaven." It is special, the former trustee adds, because "Over seventy years of entertaining angels and still we catch ourselves asking…who’s entertaining who?"

We, who are so busy, who have our agendas for the day that we don’t want interrupted, might remember to show such hospitality when we cross paths with strangers, who might very well be angels.

Move 4. What might help us achieve this? When showing hospitality is hard, and even seems against our nature at times, what might help us show hospitality in our schools, in our places of employment, in our church? A balanced approach to our faith can help us to show hospitality. Such a balanced approach is laid out in Hebrews. It involves a number of emphases.

A balanced approach, first of all, involves praising God. In verse 15, the encouragement is given–"Let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name." That encouragement is the flip side of the rebuke given by the prophet Jeremiah to the people of his day, who have forgotten and forsaken the Lord. (Jeremiah 2:4-13) Praise is what we do here in worship each week, especially as we sing and pray and think together. Praise of God is what is done anytime and anywhere God is confessed and held in honor. Praise of God reminds us of the divine one who loves and cares for all of us, no matter if we are feeling right at home, or feeling like strangers in this world.

A balanced approach also involves trust in God. In verses 5 and 6, trust is encouraged through several quotes from the Old Testament–"‘I will never leave you or forsake you,’ (and) ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’" Trust in that God whom we praise enables us to live without fear, knowing that ultimately, in eternal terms, nothing on this earth can hurt us. Without fear, trust enables us to better engage strangers, and thereby show hospitality, without feeling threatened.

Finally, a balanced approach to faith involves doing good, as verse 16 says. It involves sharing. It involves sharing our resources, whether our money or our possessions or talents. It involves sharing our time–Hebrews specifically calls us to "remember" those in prison and those being tortured, and that means not only remembrance in prayer, but also "a full solidarity with those imprisoned and those suffering at the hands of others."

(Craddock, p. 163) It may even involve sharing our seat–just maybe that stranger sitting in our area of the church one Sunday is an angel, waiting for us to chat with them about who they are, where they came from, what their life is like.

A balanced approach to faith needs these three emphases together for hospitable living. Sharing and doing good is difficult without trust in God; trusting in God is difficult without recognizing and praising all that God has done and is doing in the world; and praising God is worthless and dead if it doesn’t lead to good works.

Conclusion. Ultimately, Jesus is our finest example of hospitality. Jesus, who has taken the lowest place outside the camp, and subsequently been exalted on high, bids us follow his example of humility in social situations. He has proclaimed this: "invite everybody, all the nobodies; transgress class boundaries; don’t lower your standards, have none." He has shown us the way to entertain strangers of all ethnicities and classes and genders and ages–some of them angels, maybe, all of them sent by God. (Bruce Wollenberg, "Living by the Word," Christian Century, August 24, 2004, p. 16)