1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,240 As I was preparing for my sermon, I had to go this week 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,680 and rewatch one of my favorite episodes of The Office. 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,280 Give me a, a small hand raise if you're an Office fan. 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:13,640 Yeah, look, it's the church. We're an office church. 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,000 One of my favorite episodes. One of my favorite things about 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,200 The Office is it's so cringy. Right? 7 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:23,520 Like Mike Mike's Tots, the episode where Mike Michael Scott 8 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:30,080 has promised tuition to a bunch of students in elementary school 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,800 and then when they become seniors, they're looking forward 10 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,960 to graduating with tuition and Michael Scott realises he has no 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:39,640 way to pay it and he has to go and tell them. 12 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:46,040 That whole episode is so cringy. But a close second, maybe third, 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:51,800 is the episode Dinner Party. In the episode, if you haven't 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,200 seen it, which I, I'm sure there's not a lot of us, Jim and 15 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:00,480 Pam are invited over to Michael Scott's house for a dinner party 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,840 with his less than sane girlfriend Jan. 17 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:10,720 And Michael and Jim and Pam are doing everything they can to not 18 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,120 go. They try to think of an excuse. 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,480 They try to find a way out of it, but they can't. 20 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,000 And so they have to go and they go and, and the only other 21 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,560 people that are at the dinner party are like the guy that 22 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,080 likes to that's, that's like trying to be the number 2 at the 23 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,640 office. And then of course, Dwight shows 24 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,520 up with his nanny from a childhood and the whole episode 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,400 is just so awkward. Whether it's an awkward game of 26 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,520 charades with an incredible tension, or the fact that dinner 27 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,920 hadn't even been started before the guests showed up so they'd 28 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:47,960 be eating at like 11:00 at night. 29 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,360 Or the fact that that Michael takes all the guys out to the 30 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,480 garage to pitch them Jan's candle business. 31 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,560 Awkward moment after awkward moment in the entire time 32 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,840 Michael and Pam or Michael and Pam. 33 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,080 I'm confusing characters. Jim and Pam are trying to get 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:14,360 away from this dinner. What makes this episode so good 35 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,520 is that we have all felt that way. 36 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,040 It's OK, You're not a bad person. 37 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,120 I know that we have all had a time where we did not want to go 38 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,240 to that dinner. We did not want to go to that 39 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,880 event, whether it was going to be cringy or there was someone 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,400 there that we just didn't quite want to interact with. 41 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:36,240 We've all had a time where we didn't want to go to the thing. 42 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:43,640 And what's what's hard about that is that it's really 43 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:49,360 difficult for relationships to foster when we choose not to 44 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,840 enter into relationship with other people, or at least just 45 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,480 dinner. And what happens is, is that the 46 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,840 lonely begin to feel lonelier, right? 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:01,600 Whether they're the ones throwing the party or they're, 48 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,240 they're not invited, they begin to feel forgotten. 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,080 They begin to ask the question, do I matter? 50 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,240 Would anyone care if I'm not here? 51 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,320 But on the other side, you have people that begin to close their 52 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:20,680 table that begin to not understand the people around 53 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:22,960 them. They just eat dinner with those 54 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,040 that are like them, whether it's like for political regions or 55 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,320 religious reasons or even like a social class. 56 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,440 And so there's no communication between US and usually good 57 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,120 things don't happen when there's a lack of communication, right? 58 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,680 It's easy to have hostile assumptions that begin to 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,760 develop. We know that we live in a, in a 60 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,640 culture where relationship seems to be breaking down more and 61 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,280 more as we really try to focus our relationship and things like 62 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,040 social media, right? How many of us have how many 63 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:05,720 friends online that we would look to for relationship or 64 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:11,040 spend our time on Instagram or or X or TikTok? 65 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:14,400 Influencers talk about the amount of people they have 66 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:20,079 following us. We have division between 67 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,000 different political beliefs and religious beliefs. 68 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:28,440 We have just a lot of relationship break in our 69 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:34,360 culture. Is there a practice of Jesus 70 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:41,280 that can answer this breakdown? The answer is yes. 71 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,440 Right now we are in a series where we are talking about the 72 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,240 practice of community. Last week Pastor Ben preached on 73 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,440 what exactly community is. What does it look like? 74 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,080 What does a Christ like community appear to be? 75 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,680 If you did not listen to that teaching, it is up on Apple 76 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,120 podcast. Highly recommend go and give it 77 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,040 a listen. But for the next three weeks, we 78 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,400 are going to be talking about different practices of community 79 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,320 starting with this week. So if you have your Bible with 80 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,480 you or it's it's on a phone or whatever, go ahead and turn to 81 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:23,000 Luke 5, verse 27. We always recommend a paper 82 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,640 Bible. Easier to not be distracted or 83 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,320 well, distracted. So Luke 5. 84 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,040 And then if you want to, if you have a paper Bible, put another 85 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,880 finger in. Luke 19. 86 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,920 We'll be hanging out in those two stories. 87 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,080 So in the Luke 5 passage you have Jesus is walking around at 88 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,440 the beginning of his ministry and he is calling people. 89 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,120 He's already gone to Peter and his friends stood out and said, 90 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,240 follow me and I will make you fishers of men, OK. 91 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,320 And we know that that invitation, if you've hung out 92 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,760 with us, is not just a, hey, do you want to be a follower? 93 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,680 But hey, do you want to be an apprentice of Jesus? 94 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,280 Come and follow me and I'll teach you to be with me, to 95 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:03,640 become like me, and to go and do what I did. 96 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,360 And so in the in Luke chapter 5 verse 27, it says this. 97 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:13,880 And after that he went out and looked at a tax collector named 98 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:20,120 Levi sitting in the tax office. And he said to him, follow me. 99 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,760 Now in this story, it's really important for us to understand 100 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,920 the cultural context of tax collector. 101 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,640 It's not like Jesus just went up to a government employee, right? 102 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,960 It's not like he just went up to City Hall and was like, hey, 103 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:34,760 person at City Hall, would you like to follow me? 104 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,400 It's not like he went up to the mayor or a District Attorney or 105 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,680 something. A tax collector in that day 106 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,880 would have been a Jewish man that sided with Rome, OK. 107 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,800 And Rome, of course, during Jesus's day was an oppressor. 108 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,480 They had taken over the land of the Jews. 109 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,960 And so that tax collector not only had joined forces with the 110 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,320 Roman government, but was the representative of the Roman 111 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,240 government to go and collect taxes. 112 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,320 I know not we don't like collecting or we don't like 113 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,320 giving taxes then. But the Jewish tax collector 114 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,720 would not only get the government taxes, but his wage 115 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,040 was whatever he wanted it to be, and he would go up and he would 116 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,760 ask for more than the rate of taxes. 117 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,760 Does that make sense? So for example, if you were 118 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,760 Peter, you went out, you went fishing, you were going to need 119 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,120 to pay taxes on those fish before you could sell them. 120 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,760 Maybe taxes were as high as 80% during that day. 121 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,160 As a tax collector, you would go up to Peter and say, hey, Peter, 122 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:40,400 your taxes today are 90%. Eighty for me, 10% for for me, 123 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,560 or 80% for Rome, 10% for me. Or maybe it would be 20 percent, 124 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,680 30%. It was honestly whatever that 125 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,760 tax collector wanted it to be. And if you know, people in 126 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,440 general, we're not usually generous about those kinds of 127 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,840 things. We try to get as much money as 128 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,960 we can. So tax collectors were usually 129 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,800 pretty wealthy, but they were wealthy at the expense of their 130 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,560 own people. A tax collector was known as 131 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,360 someone that had betrayed their people. 132 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,120 They were an outsider. They were considered an enemy. 133 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,520 And Jesus just walked up to him and said, would you like to be 134 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,320 an apprentice? This would be like if you saw 135 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,520 Jesus hanging out with like a terrorist from ISIS. 136 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,600 This would be like if you saw pictures of Jesus sitting down 137 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,320 with with like the head of the KKK. 138 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,480 This would be like Jesus sitting down in a prison with the worst 139 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,120 murderers imaginable. How would you respond if you saw 140 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:42,280 that? Verse 28 Levi got up, left 141 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,920 everything, and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet 142 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,160 for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors 143 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:50,840 and others were eating with them. 144 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,080 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who belong 145 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,440 to their sect complain to his disciples. 146 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,880 Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? 147 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,520 This meal was scandalous, right? Jesus is hanging out with the 148 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,440 very people that were an enemy of their own people. 149 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:12,280 You see, when we sit down for a meal, and this is whether it was 150 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,560 Jesus's day all through, all throughout really humankind, you 151 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:19,160 and I, we eat with people that are like us, right? 152 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,680 Like, think about who is at your dinner table. 153 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:25,320 It's usually your family, maybe some friends if you have to, 154 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,160 maybe someone from work, but it is usually someone that you have 155 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:34,320 relationship with that has a common something in your life. 156 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,600 And so for Jesus to sit down with tax collectors, the enemy 157 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,840 of the people was for Jesus to say, I have something in common 158 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,240 with these people, which it makes sense. 159 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,240 The Pharisees would be like, Jesus, what are you doing? 160 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,600 We already think you're kind of weird with some of the teachings 161 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:56,320 you're giving, but now you are sitting down with our enemies. 162 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:02,520 See, the Pharisees are not offended by Jesus's theology. 163 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,560 They are offended by Jesus's table. 164 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,680 Jesus's meals are upside down. The religious leaders would use 165 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:16,760 the table to separate. Jesus used the table to seek and 166 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,920 save the lost. Go ahead and turn to the right 167 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,120 to chapter 19. OK, Jesus has been doing 168 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:30,920 ministry for a while longer. Verse one, Jesus entered Jericho 169 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,120 and he was just passing through. A man was there by the name of 170 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,960 Zacchaeus and he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 171 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,800 So you have Levi in the first story, just a tax collector. 172 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,400 This is like the tax collector's boss. 173 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,600 This is the main man. He wanted to see who Jesus was, 174 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,400 but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. 175 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:58,240 Quick Bible nerd thing. K in the Greek there it's not 176 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,480 clear who the subject is of the short. 177 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,680 It can be read Either Zacchaeus's short or Jesus's 178 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,600 short doesn't have anything to do with our subject, but just 179 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,160 for the the short kings in the room. 180 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,760 So we ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore fig tree to see him, 181 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:19,240 since Jesus was coming that way. Zacchaeus is a tax collector. 182 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,640 He's the chief tax collector. He's wealthy, he's compromised, 183 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,920 He is another enemy of the people. 184 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,520 If there was someone that was despised in this town, it was 185 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,240 him. And what happens verse 5, when 186 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,480 Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and he said to him, 187 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,720 Zacchaeus, come down immediately. 188 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,440 I must stay at your house tonight. 189 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:50,600 Jesus is a travelling teacher. Is Jesus able to invite someone 190 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:55,280 over for dinner? No, Jesus is constantly going up 191 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,320 to people and saying I'm coming to your place for dinner. 192 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,880 How would you like that if Jesus showed up and said hey tonight 193 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,280 I'm at your house? So he came down at once and 194 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,480 welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and 195 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,600 began to mutter. He has gone to be the guest of a 196 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,720 Sinner. This is the same thing as the 197 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,120 first story, right? Jesus has gone up to someone 198 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,760 that was despised, someone that betrayed the people, an enemy 199 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:23,840 and he, Jesus went up to him and was like, hey, would you like to 200 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:25,240 have a meal? Would you like to have 201 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,920 relationship? Would you like to to be a part 202 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,120 of my party? And of course the people on the 203 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,520 outside are going what is Jesus do doing? 204 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,280 Does what does he have in common with this tax collector? 205 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,760 Verse 8 But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold 206 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:49,880 Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I 207 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:54,200 have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four 208 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,120 times as much. So look at what is happening. 209 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,520 Jesus has gone over to Zacchaeus's house and is not 210 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,840 just having a meal, but something has happened. 211 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,280 Something has happened in Zacchaeus's heart. 212 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,520 He is completely turning around what we would call repentance, 213 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,840 verse 9. And Jesus said to him today, 214 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:23,520 salvation has come to this house because he too is a son of 215 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,320 Abraham. For the son of man, which is 216 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,480 Jesus's favorite way of referring to himself, has come 217 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:36,520 to seek and to save that which was lost because Jesus went to 218 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:41,000 Zacchaeus's house. Zacchaeus repented Zacchaeus. 219 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,560 Zacchaeus gives back more than what he owes in an act of 220 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:49,840 repentance. And Jesus is able to say today 221 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,120 salvation has come to this house. 222 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:59,920 This is the pattern of Jesus's ministry, eating over and over 223 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:05,440 and over again, so much that in Luke 734 Jesus is talking with 224 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,560 the Pharisees and he says the Son of Man has come eating and 225 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:11,800 drinking. And you say, behold the 226 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,040 gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax 227 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,520 collectors and sinners. Is that the vision you have of 228 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:24,000 Jesus when you think about Jesus is a guy like eating way too 229 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,720 much at the dinner table, drinking, hanging out with those 230 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:29,120 that you don't think should be there. 231 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,880 He was eating and drinking so often that eating and drinking 232 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,480 became a part of his public reputation. 233 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,080 Not a one time event, but a regular practice. 234 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,840 It was a pattern. Eating and drinking with the 235 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:56,160 lost was the primary way that Jesus did ministry, the table 236 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,120 where sinners were welcomed, where outsiders were seen, where 237 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,880 enemies were drawn near, where shame was undone, where 238 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,960 repentance became possible. It was the Kingdom of heaven, 239 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:16,400 created with bread, wine, and laughter and his presence. 1 240 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,160 commentator about the book of Luke says that Jesus is either 241 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,920 on his way to a meal, he is at a meal, or he is leaving a meal. 242 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,440 It is this idea of Jesus continually eating with the 243 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,720 lost, drinking with the lost that we have come to call 244 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:40,280 hospitality. Hospitality was so important to 245 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,520 the ministry of Jesus that the early church could not imagine 246 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,080 following Jesus apart from it. Over and over again in the New 247 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,240 Testament they instruct the church to practice hospitality, 248 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,240 whether it's Romans 15-7. Therefore accept one another. 249 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,640 That word accept can also be translated welcome just as 250 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,600 Christ has accepted us for the glory of God. 251 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,480 So it's not just an instruction for hospitality, but Paul in the 252 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,880 the letter to the Romans is saying that the reason you're 253 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,440 doing hospitality is not just because Jesus did it, but 254 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:18,320 because Jesus did it to you. Okay, first, Peter 49 offer 255 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,400 hospitality to one another without grumbling. 256 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,680 So it's not enough to just have people over, but it's to have a 257 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:30,120 loving disposition towards them. First Timothy 32 Now the 258 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:35,280 overseer is to be hospitable. That means that if you were a 259 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,680 leader in the early church, you were unable to be 1 if you did 260 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,960 not practice hospitality. Hebrews 13 Two, do not forget to 261 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,760 show hospitality to strangers. From the beginning. 262 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,280 The church could not imagine apprenticeship to Jesus without 263 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:58,960 hospitality, whether that's Jesus, the generation of the 264 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,480 church right after him and then continuing on into church 265 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,040 history, right. If we look at if we look at the 266 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:11,160 the early church for the 1st 300 years or so, evangelism did not 267 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,160 happen from like the pastors or leaders of the church giving 268 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:17,240 really good teachings. You wouldn't like be hanging out 269 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,359 at your your work stable and look at Rob the horse salesman 270 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:23,520 and say, hey, Rob, you want to come to church with me? 271 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,839 And he would say, yeah, I guess no. 272 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,440 Because to do so, you would be persecuted, right? 273 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,880 Rob could turn you into the the guards and you would be in 274 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,560 prison for inviting them to church. 275 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,360 So the primary way of evangelism was ordinary people over 276 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,680 ordinary meals. It would be you inviting Rob 277 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:48,160 over to your house for dinner and feeding him good food and 278 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,480 being present to him in loving ways. 279 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:55,680 And through that, Rob is exposed to Jesus. 280 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,560 It is that what made Christianity such a powerhouse 281 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,000 in the early church? Think about it for a minute. 282 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,000 The early church was considered to just be the small group, this 283 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:12,360 the small religious sect. And a few 100 years later, over 284 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:16,120 half of Rome was Christian. Why? 285 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:19,920 Because of the practice of hospitality. 286 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,960 So if hospitality is that important, we need to have a 287 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:31,240 clear picture of what it is. So let's start with a quote. 288 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,520 I like quotes. Do you guys like quotes? 289 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:34,880 Anyone else like quotes? Yeah. 290 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,480 There we go. OK, so Madeleine Engel is an 291 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,480 American writer. And she says we draw people to 292 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,080 Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, 293 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,360 but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with 294 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,120 all their hearts to know the source of it. 295 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,920 Hospitality is an act by which you bring a revelation of Christ 296 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:03,000 to those who are far from Him. It's our presence, church 297 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,240 definition that hospitality is intentionally creating safe 298 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:11,320 space for friends, strangers, and enemies to experience the 299 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:16,800 love and presence of Christ. At its core, hospitality is the 300 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,800 creation of space. It is making room for people to 301 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:26,440 encounter God. So let's take a deeper look 302 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,000 where we've described what hospitality is, but I want to 303 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,240 give you kind of four pictures. 4 dimensions of hospitality. 304 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:39,040 First, hospitality turns strangers and enemies into 305 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:43,000 friends through the love of God. I want you to think from, I want 306 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,880 you to take yourself back to high school, unless you were 307 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,480 home schooled. I'm sorry, I'm I'm there with 308 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,960 you. You have your tray in hand and 309 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:52,960 you're trying to decide who you're going to eat with. 310 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,800 Who are you looking to eat with? You're looking to to sit with 311 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,480 friends, right? Or maybe you're, you're a 312 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,320 football player, you're looking to sit with the other football 313 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:04,840 players. You're looking to eat with 314 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:11,760 people that are like you. And we never outgrow that, do 315 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,800 we? We're constantly trying to hang 316 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,640 out with people that are like us. 317 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,320 The only thing is that you and I are getting better at hiding it. 318 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,400 We sit with people that like us, we sit with people that vote 319 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,440 like us, parent like us, worship like us, and that make us 320 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,600 comfortable. And I'm not saying that it's bad 321 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,400 to necessarily do that, not saying it's bad to eat with 322 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,680 friends. But what I am saying is that 323 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,840 that's not the vision of hospitality that Jesus had. 324 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,040 Think about Matthew 5 for a moment. 325 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,880 It's a part of the Sermon on the Mount. 326 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,600 Jesus is best teaching where he gives a vision of what the 327 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,720 Kingdom of heaven looks like in daily life. 328 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,720 And he talks about enemy love. And he says that hey, the the 329 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,640 pagans, those that don't follow me, that don't believe in God, 330 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,800 they hang out and they love people that are like them. 331 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,360 So if we just do that, how are we any different? 332 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:13,360 Jesus says if you only love those who love you, where is 333 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:16,880 your reward in that? Even tax collectors do that. 334 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,080 The way of Jesus opens the table outwards. 335 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,160 Justin Whitmore, early in his book on rule of life, says 336 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,400 cultivating rhythms of the table must not pull us away from the 337 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,520 outsider. A redeemed table is one that 338 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:39,040 invites outsiders in. The heart of hospitality is 339 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:44,800 looking out for the stranger, for the lost, for maybe those 340 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:50,440 that we don't want relationship with and welcomes them in #2 341 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,480 Hospitality is about love, not results. 342 00:21:54,320 --> 00:22:00,560 Hospitality is all about love of God and love of neighbor, OK? 343 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:06,000 It has nothing to do with what you get out of the relationship, 344 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,080 OK? How many of us have been to a 345 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:10,680 dinner where someone tried to sell us something? 346 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,400 Oh, it's an uncomfortable app in the room. 347 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,920 What Jesus is saying is that's not, that's not really 348 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,440 hospitality. And sometimes it's not just 349 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,160 money, right? It's not just like someone 350 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:25,720 trying to literally sell you something. 351 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,160 Sometimes we're just trying to create a relationship, so maybe 352 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,840 we can borrow something of theirs, or maybe increase our 353 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,920 influence or maybe do better at work. 354 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:37,960 But all of that has to do with you. 355 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:42,120 It doesn't have to do with the other person or God. 356 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,640 Think about this for a moment. What does Jesus say is the 357 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,760 greatest commandment? Go ahead and shout it out if you 358 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,080 know it. I heard, I heard a couple love 359 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,280 God, right. Jesus has the lawyer come to him 360 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,520 and he says, Jesus, what is the most important commandment? 361 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,040 And Jesus says, well, love the Lord your God with all your 362 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,960 heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your 363 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,480 mind, which if you were a good Jewish man, you would know is 364 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:10,280 the Shema, a daily prayer that you learned as a little boy that 365 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,840 you would say three times a day that would keep you anchored. 366 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,320 And I need to love God, love God, love God, love God. 367 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,440 But Jesus then anchors another commandment to it. 368 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,880 He says, and love your neighbor as yourself. 369 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,600 This was revolutionary. He's saying that the love of God 370 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,360 has to flow into the love of neighbor. 371 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,920 Spiritual formation. Us becoming like Christ does not 372 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,120 just make us good lovers of God. It has to flow into US becoming 373 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:45,480 people of love for the sake of others. 374 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:52,320 Christian hospitality has to be different than the way the world 375 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,720 practices hospitality. And I know that hospitality is 376 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,760 kind of like a buzzword, especially if you work in the 377 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,720 service industry. I worked in a hotel and we 378 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,320 constantly talked about hospitality. 379 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,760 But The thing is, at the end of the day, it's not Christian 380 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:10,840 hospitality because I, as an employee of a hotel, am trying 381 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:16,760 to get your money right. A cafe shows you hospitality, 382 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,840 but if you leave without paying for your drink, they're not 383 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:24,720 going to respond very well. Right There was this time Missy 384 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,680 and I before we were married. We were dating and I had AI had 385 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,600 an old mentor friend reach out to me and ask us to dinner and I 386 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:38,200 was so excited. Her and her husband were were so 387 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,920 kind all of the time. They were the kind of people 388 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,480 that were just like completely present to you. 389 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:44,840 Have you ever met someone like that? 390 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:47,640 Like you feel like there is nothing else that matters except 391 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,040 you when you are talking to them? 392 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,040 And they were movie lovers. I'm a movie lover. 393 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,520 So I was really looking forward to going over to their house for 394 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:55,640 dinner. We were having spaghetti. 395 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,680 It was before I was gluten free. So good. 396 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,000 Miss You was a little apprehensive. 397 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,120 She was like, why are they asking us to dinner? 398 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:07,480 It's been like 3 years since you've seen them. 399 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,120 And I was like, let's not worry about it Let's go have spaghetti 400 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:12,560 and a great meal and enjoy their presents. 401 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,040 And we went over and it was some of the best spaghetti I've ever 402 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,400 had. Like not just like I do 403 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,120 spaghetti with like a little bit of butter and salt, but like it 404 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:26,520 had like Italian seasoning red Peppers, meatballs. 405 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:27,920 I don't even know how to make a meatball. 406 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,040 Garlic bread. Come on, I'm making my my celiac 407 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,280 heart really sad. We had a great conversation. 408 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:39,840 We talked about movies. We talked about what we had 409 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,160 seen, what we had loved. It was so fun. 410 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,720 And at the end of the meal, my old mentor said, hey, I got 411 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:48,080 something to show you. You want to go watch? 412 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,320 And as a movie lover, I'm like, let's go, let's go watch. 413 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,200 We go ahead and we sit down and he begins to show us a 414 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:05,040 commercial for a pyramid scheme. How do you think I felt in this 415 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,480 moment? I felt sad. 416 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:10,120 I felt like I actually didn't quite matter. 417 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,600 And I had to look at my future wife and say, you were right. 418 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,200 What they were doing was not actual hospitality. 419 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,120 It didn't actually foster love in our relationship. 420 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:26,440 In fact, all it did was drive us away. 421 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,920 The litmus test of hospitality is our motivation. 422 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,680 Am I making space for love or am I making space for something 423 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:44,800 else? My friends, God will not share 424 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:50,240 space with our agendas. Let me say that again. 425 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:52,520 God won't share space with our agendas. 426 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,000 If you are entering into a relationship with someone, if 427 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,720 you're trying to createspace for them to experience the love and 428 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:05,240 presence of God and you have another agenda, God will not 429 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:10,000 meet you there. God's call is to love him and 430 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:17,040 our neighbor dimension 3. When we practice hospitality, we 431 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,520 image God the story of Scripture. 432 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,640 Spoiler alert, I know some of you are like Bible and a year 433 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,440 fans and I'm going to spoil scripture for you. 434 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,440 The entirety of scripture is the story of God trying to have 435 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,320 relationship with his people. It's God trying to be present to 436 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,400 his people, whether it's Genesis 1 and 2 or God creates a garden 437 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,200 so he can have relationship with us so that we can work with him 438 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,800 so that he can see us face to face. 439 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:49,760 And then the fall happens, right? 440 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,520 And God is trying to find a way to get back to his people. 441 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,160 He goes through the family of Abraham. 442 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,040 You think of like the story of of Moses and the slaves in Egypt 443 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,520 and the go to Mount Sinai and Jesus invite or God invites 444 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,800 Moses up on the mountain with a bunch of his buddies and what 445 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,800 does God do with them? He has a meal with them. 446 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,120 The Tabernacle is just a space at the tent that God uses to be 447 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,800 with his people. The temple is just a place that 448 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,280 that God makes so that he can be present to his people. 449 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,920 The reason that Jesus comes is so that Jesus can be with his 450 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,120 people. The reason the Holy Spirit comes 451 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:30,840 is so that God can be in us. The reason the church starts is 452 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:35,880 so that we can be God's presence in our world. 453 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:42,160 The whole story of Scripture is this, the story of God making 454 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,160 room to be with us. It is what Dallas Willard called 455 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:50,120 the with God life. Karen Burton Mains writes. 456 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,680 The essence of hospitality is a heart open to God with room 457 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,360 prepared for the guestiveness of the Holy Spirit that welcomes 458 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,040 the presence of Christ. This is what we share with those 459 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:06,480 whom we open our doors. We give them Him. 460 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,880 In hospitality, we do not merely give people food. 461 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,720 We don't give them a good time. Our goal is to create space for 462 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:22,600 an encounter with God himself. Hospitality is US joining God in 463 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,080 his mission. It's US imaging God. 464 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,240 Finally, hospitality has nothing to do with presentation. 465 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,560 It has everything to do with presence. 466 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,920 Christine Pole, she has a book on hospitality, says hospitality 467 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:41,200 is not so much a task as a way of living our shared lives and 468 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,440 of sharing ourselves. Listen, I get that hospitality 469 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,840 is kind of hard. I'm preaching this message. 470 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,160 Let me tell you guys, I've been studying for this message for 471 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,000 two or three weeks and I've been convicted the entire time. 472 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,240 I literally have had things that I'm supposed to go to that I 473 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:02,480 struggled with that I was like, I don't want to go or I don't 474 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,240 want to have people over. My house is not clean enough. 475 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:10,800 I'm not enough good enough cook. We have a small apartment. 476 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,160 That seems like a good reason not to have people over. 477 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:17,760 I don't know if they actually like me. 478 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,160 I'm not that friendly. I don't know what to say. 479 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,680 I don't know how to make it special. 480 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,360 But see, all of these things are what distinguish entertainment 481 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,480 from hospitality. Entertainment. 482 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,160 Ask the question, what can I provide for you? 483 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,720 Hospitality says there is room for you with me. 484 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:40,440 Entertainment is about presentation. 485 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:47,120 Hospitality is about presence. Jesus was the most hospitable 486 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:51,240 person that ever lived and he did not have a home. 487 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:56,800 He didn't have anything to give other than himself. 488 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,920 I think we can all like get in the headspace of Martha in the 489 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,080 story of Mary and Martha, maybe you know it. 490 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,760 Jesus goes to their house to to take a break to enjoy their 491 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,440 presence and marry the little sister. 492 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,160 She sits right down at the feet of Jesus and they enjoy one 493 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,440 another. She's listening to his 494 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,280 teachings. But what does it say that Martha 495 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:20,440 does? It says Martha is anxious. 496 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,560 She's looking all over the place. 497 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,840 She is constantly working. Martha opens up her home, but 498 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,840 Mary is sitting at her feet. Martha is distracted by 499 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,840 everything except actually being with Jesus. 500 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:40,560 Martha is trying to host Jesus without being with Jesus. 501 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,480 Some of us do this. We try to give people a clean 502 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:50,240 house, a good meal, a good time of polished version of 503 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,920 ourselves, but we withhold our presence. 504 00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:00,320 Hospitality is not about the room you prepare, it's who you 505 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:09,680 prepare to be in that room. Hospitality is all about what 506 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,800 you carry with you. You could throw a really good 507 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:21,160 party, great spread, big screen TV, yard games, whatever people 508 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:28,360 like to do. But if you're unpeaceful, if you 509 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,440 are unable to show the love of Christ, if you fail to create 510 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:36,120 that environment where people experience Jesus because you are 511 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:40,240 so far away from like him, then if you have failed at 512 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,360 hospitality, and that's not to bash anybody, this isn't like a 513 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,880 like, Oh no, you haven't done hospitality or you've done 514 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,400 hospitality. The reality is, is that 515 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,560 hospitality is for the other person, but it's also for you. 516 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,760 Because if you're in the space where the Holy Spirit comes, 517 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,600 where the presence of God comes and his love is with that other 518 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,840 person, you are also there. It is in hospitality that we get 519 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,760 a gift as well of the Holy Spirit's presence. 520 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:18,080 Now, I know that like this idea, I think it's beautiful. 521 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,880 Like I think it's beautiful that Christ gave us a practice that 522 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,680 can make strangers or enemies our friend. 523 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,360 A practice where people can really experience, like, I don't 524 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:30,080 know about you, but the idea of evangelism. 525 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:33,320 There's different people of different types, but like 526 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:37,160 evangelism can stress me out. The idea of going and having 527 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,760 just like a dry conversation with someone about Jesus, It 528 00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:45,960 stresses me out and I've seen it go really badly before. 529 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,680 But man, the idea that I can just be present to someone. 530 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,640 I can be a loving presence and invite God into that. 531 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,160 And that's what changes lives, man. 532 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:03,080 That takes the burden off. So what are some of the reasons 533 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,920 that you and I struggle with doing this practice? 534 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,120 Well, if we're honest, we're tired. 535 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,199 A lot of us work a long days, and the idea of having someone 536 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:14,639 over at the end of the day, it exhausts us. 537 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:19,400 A lot of us are hurried. We live in an age where fast 538 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,800 food is eaten more often than not. 539 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:23,960 And why? Because we don't even have time 540 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,719 to plan dinner. If I don't have time to plan 541 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:28,800 dinner for myself, how am I going to plan dinner for someone 542 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,480 else? We're overextended, emotionally 543 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:40,560 spent, We're constantly moving. This is all why hospitality has 544 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,280 to be a practice. Or or it can be, as some writers 545 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:48,440 call, a discipline. Because Christian hospitality 546 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,800 can't be our choice. Because you're going to come to 547 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,199 the day where you don't feel like practicing it. 548 00:34:56,639 --> 00:35:01,640 Hospitality has to be an intentional pre decision to love 549 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:07,280 others, John Ortberg writes. Love and hurry are fundamentally 550 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:11,040 incompatible. Love always has time, and time 551 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,600 is the one thing that hurried people do not have. 552 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:21,640 Our world does not need Christians with a lot of 553 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:27,000 convictions or a lot of opinions for a lot of really hard 554 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:32,440 conversations. We need people willing to open 555 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:40,440 space for the Spirit to work. People for, for the most part, 556 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,480 are not argued into faith, but they are welcomed. 557 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,120 They encounter a kind of love they can't explain, a kind of 558 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,080 peace they don't have, a kind of presence that they are starving 559 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,240 for. See, we live in a world of 560 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:03,040 secularism, which means that we, especially if you are a 561 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,360 millennial, you are naturally wondering what actually is going 562 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,360 on, right? So when you get that invitation 563 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,040 to dinner, you're asking why? Why do they want to have dinner? 564 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,400 Why does that person want to have coffee? 565 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,200 What's actually going on? You can't argue with that. 566 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:30,480 Secularism is a mood. What it needs is loving presence 567 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:34,440 to be changed. Moods are not changed by 568 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,240 arguments, but they are changed by presence. 569 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:45,720 The final reason that this is difficult, I think, is because 570 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,360 you and I don't have a vision of hospitality in our lives. 571 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:52,800 I feel like I'm the pastor that always gets to talk about 572 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,000 loneliness, but I think there's a lot of really lonely people in 573 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,920 the room. I think there's a lot of people 574 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:04,120 that that don't feel seen or maybe you feel used by those 575 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,760 around you, like you're a tool and not a person. 576 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,480 And the reality is, is that at the end of the day, the reason 577 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,560 that you and I practice hospitality is because Jesus 578 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:22,560 practiced hospitality first. There is. 579 00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:24,280 Please listen. I know there's a couple of you 580 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,760 that need to hear this. There is a place for you at 581 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,160 Jesus's table. It doesn't matter what you've 582 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,320 done. It doesn't matter what you think 583 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,080 of him. Jesus was eating with the tax 584 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,320 collectors. He can take the heat. 585 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,080 You are welcome at his table. You don't need to have 586 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,320 prerequisites. You don't need to wait to become 587 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,200 the kind of person to sit at that table. 588 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:56,120 Jesus wants to meet you there. Jesus wants, Jesus wants you to 589 00:37:56,120 --> 00:38:03,560 frankly abide. And so my invitation today is, 590 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,240 is twofold. We're going to talk a little bit 591 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,640 about how to actually practice hospitality for a moment. 592 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:15,560 But really first I want you to consider what it means that you 593 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,320 already have been invited to Jesus's table, that he has 594 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,480 already practiced hospitality to you. 595 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:26,480 And what that means is that who are you able to say no to that's 596 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:29,400 going to be at your table? No one. 597 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,880 You didn't earn a place at Jesus table. 598 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,400 That means people don't earn a place at your table. 599 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:40,320 You didn't have to get good enough. 600 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:42,480 You don't have to have the right attitudes. 601 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:45,320 I you don't even have to have all of the right beliefs. 602 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:49,200 You can be arguing with Jesus and Jesus still invites you to 603 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:54,920 sit there. So how do you and I begin to 604 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:01,640 practice hospitality? Well, first we need to just make 605 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,920 room. Following Jesus is much more 606 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:10,280 about emptying your life than it is adding things on top. 607 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,760 Have you ever noticed that? Think about the things Jesus is 608 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:17,280 calling you to do. Sit with him and quiet. 609 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,600 Sit with him and abiding talks to the the rich man and says 610 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,040 give away all of your possessions 'cause they're 611 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:28,040 giving and getting in the way. The way of Jesus is much more 612 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:29,840 about subtraction that it is addition. 613 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,760 So that means when I'm inviting you to practice hospitality, I'm 614 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:35,040 not inviting you to make a more full calendar. 615 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,600 What I'm asking you to do is to open your doors. 616 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,000 You are already eating dinner, correct? 617 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,000 Open your door to someone having dinner with you. 618 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,800 I think my favorite people that I have ever eaten dinner with 619 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:49,800 invited me over into their messy homes. 620 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,440 Maybe you've had someone like that when you were younger, not 621 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,480 married, and you had an older couple that said come on over, 622 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,560 but my kids toys are all over the place. 623 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,080 That is a more loving place than a perfect place. 624 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,960 The invitation is not to add to your calendar, it is just to 625 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:09,120 open your doors. But a couple really practical 626 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:13,200 things. First, learn your neighbors 627 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:17,560 names really quick. Think for a moment. 628 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:22,040 Can you name the people that live around you next door 629 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,520 neighbors, people that live behind you, live across the 630 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:26,080 street? Do you know their names? 631 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:28,640 Do you know their stories? Do you know what they do for a 632 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,280 living? We can't start practicing 633 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,520 hospitality until we know who we live with. 634 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,920 And I'll be honest, I'm just as guilty as of this, but I'm 635 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,040 trying. We know the people that live 636 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:41,600 behind us in our apartment building. 637 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,720 We didn't, we we barely know, knew the people that lived 638 00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:49,720 across the way, but we had new people move in during me 639 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:52,280 studying for this practice. So we've been trying to get to 640 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:54,840 know them a little bit. And my wife, my wife is better 641 00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:56,560 at this than I am. She was like, when are we having 642 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:00,040 them over for dinner? I'm like, yeah, I'm so 643 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:01,760 uncomfortable, but that's the idea. 644 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:07,880 If you don't know their names, go ask. 645 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:10,880 It might be a little awkward, but just go over. 646 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,600 The weather is gorgeous. It's the summertime. 647 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:17,000 They're going to be outside. Hey, my name is Patrick. 648 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:20,000 We haven't met. What's your name? 649 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:22,920 Hey, I'm Patrick. Nice weather. 650 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:24,640 Like you guys know how to do this better than I was. 651 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:31,400 I was homeschooled. You have an advantage #2 I want 652 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,680 you to begin praying about who God wants you to have at your 653 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,120 table. I want you to really, really ask 654 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:41,000 God and spend some time and this can be as easy as you sitting 655 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,280 down in your quiet time or just sitting down with a notebook and 656 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,680 pen and ask Jesus, who will you have me over? 657 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:51,040 People will come to mind. And you need to push past the 658 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:53,600 obvious. OK, You need to push past the 659 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:55,240 people that have been over before. 660 00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:01,120 Again, the friends, the family, unless do you have a family 661 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:02,760 member that you need to reconcile with? 662 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:08,000 Is there a hard conversation that you need to have or you 663 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,720 need to just forgive? Is there someone from work that 664 00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:13,040 you don't get along with very well? 665 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:17,560 Is there someone that you have just a blind spot for? 666 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,440 The great thing is you don't need to figure this out by 667 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,720 yourself, but take some time and ask Jesus who are the people 668 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:28,720 that need to be at my table? And if you need a hint, it's 669 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:30,520 going to be people that make you uncomfortable. 670 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:38,520 Practice three practice. 3rd circle hospitality. 3rd circle 671 00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:40,920 hospitality. Rosaria Butterfield has this 672 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:42,960 book called The Gospel comes with a House Key. 673 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:48,800 If you don't know who she is, she was a a gay activist that 674 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:51,560 was doing everything she could to destroy Christianity. 675 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,280 She wrote for for a newspaper and she was at every event, she 676 00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:59,840 was in every Christian's face. She saw on the street corner, 677 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:02,000 She was doing everything she could to get them out of her 678 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,560 town. And so one day her neighbor came 679 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,600 over to her door and invited her over for dinner. 680 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:11,680 And she knew that he was a pastor. 681 00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,040 And she thought, man, this is perfect. 682 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,880 I can get on the inside. I can prove that he's a 683 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:20,320 hypocrite. I can get the inside information 684 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:25,880 about him. And so she went over and she had 685 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:30,200 a lovely time. And then at the end of the meal, 686 00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:31,800 he said, would you like to come over next week? 687 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,920 She said, yeah, I guess maybe I'll have to spend more time 688 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:40,840 with him. Week after week she went, and he 689 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:44,280 let her ask question after question after question. 690 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:50,560 And after a couple years of this weekly practice of eating with 691 00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:55,400 one another, she repented. She accepted Jesus as her Lord 692 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:57,720 and Saviour. And she is now like on the front 693 00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:02,120 edge of evangelism, talking about the need for for for 694 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,920 Christians to just open their doors. 695 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:07,800 Here's the thing about 3rd Circle hospitality. 696 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:09,560 You have three circles. You have friends. 697 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:12,400 Again, not bad. And then you have strangers. 698 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:18,920 But whether it's a tax collector or Rosaria Butterfield who was 699 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:23,280 looking to literally destroy the church, 3rd Circle Hospitality 700 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,560 are your enemies. And this takes some courage. 701 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,520 Do you have the courage to have an enemy over for dinner? 702 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:34,600 Number four, stop overcomplicating it. 703 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,800 Stop overcomplicating it. It's OK if your house is messy. 704 00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:43,040 You can order pizza, right? Most of us like pizza. 705 00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:44,080 I don't. I'm gluten free. 706 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:45,320 That's the third time I've mentioned it. 707 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:52,080 But if you've had gluten free pizza, you understand, make 708 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:56,480 soup, sit down on the porch, go for a walk, get games out that 709 00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,280 you naturally have. You don't need it. 710 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:01,480 You're doing activities anyways. Just invite people over. 711 00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:04,520 One of my favorite things I used to do when I ran young adults 712 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,040 groups is I would be having a movie night because I was going 713 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,520 to watch a movie and I let people come over and eat my food 714 00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:12,600 and watch a movie with me. We watched through all of The 715 00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:17,960 Avengers films, 23 of them. I remember this has nothing to 716 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:20,120 do with the sermon, but I felt so bad for one girl. 717 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:22,080 She never saw one. In her first week we were 718 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,480 watching Avengers Infinity War. She spent the entire time asking 719 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:27,760 questions, but she was still welcome. 720 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,440 She was a stranger to the MCU and I invited her in. 721 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:34,600 Anyways, the point is, don't overcomplicate it. 722 00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:38,200 Just open your doors. Finally, just be present. 723 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,600 Put your phone away. Put your phone away. 724 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:49,000 Patrick, put your phone away. I don't know about you, but when 725 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,560 things feel awkward, I go to my phone. 726 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,480 When I'm uncomfortable, I go to my phone, put it away, get a 727 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,920 box, put it on the wall, hide it, give it to your wife and say 728 00:45:57,920 --> 00:45:59,080 put it in your purse, I don't need it. 729 00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,840 And look at the person you're sitting with and listen. 730 00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:06,880 There is an art to actually sitting and listening to people. 731 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,840 Consider, am I listening to what this person is saying or am I 732 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:18,280 thinking about my response? You can change people's hearts 733 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,240 by just listening. You don't need to argue. 734 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:23,440 God doesn't need you to defend him. 735 00:46:24,240 --> 00:46:25,920 He's got it. He's not worried. 736 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:30,600 Sit and listen to the other person and show compassion. 737 00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:40,720 People need hospitality. So in closing, there's this 738 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:42,320 really good. It's an old book. 739 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,280 It's called The Serious Call to a Devout in Holy Life. 740 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:46,400 How many of you want to read that? 741 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:52,800 That sounds great, right? And he has this description of 742 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,360 hospitality that's stuck with me over and over again. 743 00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:57,440 I wrote it on a note card and every time I would sit down to 744 00:46:57,440 --> 00:46:59,480 work on my sermon, I'd pull it out and look at it. 745 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:02,680 It's beautiful. And so I want you to, as you, as 746 00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:06,440 you listen to this, there's two ways I want you to think about 747 00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:10,400 it. The first one is, is God calling 748 00:47:10,400 --> 00:47:14,000 me to to do any of these? Is there a person in my life 749 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,280 that I need to practice one of these things with? 750 00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,360 But the second, I want you to listen or I want you to read 751 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,600 this list and I want you to consider Christ towards you. 752 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:32,400 I want you to consider Christ's posture towards you because we 753 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:40,080 do not createspace for the stranger or the enemy to meet 754 00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:42,680 the love and presence of God just because we feel like it. 755 00:47:43,840 --> 00:47:47,360 We do it as a response. Because Jesus found us first. 756 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:50,680 He invited us to His table first. 757 00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:58,320 Condescend to all the weakness and infirmities of your fellow 758 00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:01,280 creatures. Cover their frailties, love 759 00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:05,080 their excellencies, encourage their virtues, relieve their 760 00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:09,280 wants, rejoice in their prosperities, compassionate in 761 00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:12,960 their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their 762 00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:17,200 unkindness, forgive their malice, and be a servant of 763 00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:22,760 servants. To quote The Mandalorian, this 764 00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:27,960 is the way. Jesus is not looking for you to 765 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:30,200 be really good at arguing. He's not looking for you to have 766 00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:34,240 it all figured out. Jesus is looking for available 767 00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:40,600 people. Jesus is looking for people that 768 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:42,240 createspace for his presence.