WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.560 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:10.620 Join us. 00:00:12.700 --> 00:00:13.300 Amen. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.060 Thank you all. 00:00:15.200 --> 00:00:25.440 Love the picture of gospel community in that song where we are weak people together, together 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.820 leaning on our strong Savior, right? 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:35.859 I've been thinking about that since Derek's sermon last Sunday, how much we all need this. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:43.799 It requires all of us to be a part of this, to be a gospel community, the mutuality of 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:46.140 bearing one another's burdens. 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:54.060 It actually means we have to be willing to bear other people's burdens and we have to 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:57.780 be willing to have other people bear our burdens. 00:00:58.060 --> 00:00:58.119 Right? 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:01.939 And so that requires all of us being in that together. 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:06.640 One anothering like that is a mutual reality. 00:01:06.960 --> 00:01:08.799 Always involves all of us. 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:15.060 When we got home from that service last week, we got home to a very warm house with no air 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:15.480 conditioning. 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.240 It wasn't a great day for that, to be honest. 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:26.699 And by the time we went home from the ice cream sundae later that night, yes, the ice cream 00:01:26.699 --> 00:01:27.859 had cooled us off a bit. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:35.239 But we had a window AC unit already installed by a fellow small group member in our house. 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:40.719 We had another family in the group offering their home for the group to meet in the following 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:42.159 evening in lieu of ours. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:50.700 We had no fewer than nine offers of homes for our family to sleep in if needed. 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:57.659 What a beautiful thing it is to find yourself in an unexpected situation and experience the 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:00.180 love of God in relationship. 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:00.620 Right? 00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:03.680 We all need that. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:08.439 That often looks like sacrificial hospitality. 00:02:09.140 --> 00:02:13.439 Like that welcoming an outsider into your home, into your heart. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:18.419 It's commanded in several passages, actually, in the New Testament. 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:24.800 But this morning we'll read from 1 Peter, our last one another passage. 00:02:25.579 --> 00:02:30.659 We'll take one more look next week at the mission of our gospel community before we leave 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:31.860 this series. 00:02:32.079 --> 00:02:37.300 But this last one another passage has multiple one another's in it. 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:42.819 1 Peter chapter 4, beginning at verse 7. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.859 This is God's holy word. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.639 The end of all things is at hand. 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:54.740 Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:02.759 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:07.319 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:10.159 As each has received a gift. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:17.319 Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 00:03:18.519 --> 00:03:19.739 Let's pray together. 00:03:21.739 --> 00:03:26.859 Father, we give you thanks for these words because we know them to be words of life. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:29.299 And we need that. 00:03:29.300 --> 00:03:36.219 We want our lives individually and corporately to be shaped the way you want them to. 00:03:36.320 --> 00:03:39.080 We believe that you are the source of life. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.540 Help us to believe it again this morning. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:50.380 May our hearts and our lives be directed by you and your word and your spirit more than anything else. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:53.820 Work in us even now to that end. 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:55.799 We ask for Jesus' sake. 00:03:56.379 --> 00:03:56.719 Amen. 00:04:00.799 --> 00:04:06.659 Hospitality has long been a vital practice of God's people. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.199 From the days of the apostles when you would need a place to stay when traveling 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.819 and you could find the home of a brother or sister in Christ you'd never met. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:15.719 Stay there. 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:21.519 Or the next few centuries when church buildings became sanctuaries. 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.779 Places of refuge and respite for many. 00:04:27.100 --> 00:04:31.079 But before we ask what hospitality means for God's people. 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:39.439 Let's remember that we've had a hospitable God well before any of this started with us. 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:44.800 Hospitality is really at the heart of who God is. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:48.379 And thus at the heart of the Bible's story. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:53.500 God's story that we read there is about relationship, isn't it? 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.920 People made to be close to him. 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:00.180 To share in his life with him. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:03.280 Find themselves distant from him. 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:05.280 And facing death. 00:05:06.900 --> 00:05:07.840 So what does God do? 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.120 God works to restore relationship. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:16.879 To welcome the outsider, the stranger, the enemy home. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.720 He moves toward us at great cost to himself. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:22.720 Initially in a tabernacle. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:24.500 And then in a temple. 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:28.379 And then most fully in his son, Jesus. 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:32.800 Jesus comes and eats with outsiders and sinners. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.980 And then at the cross. 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.680 He earns our welcome home, doesn't he? 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:45.580 He earns the open door of God's hospitality for us. 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:49.280 He breaks down the barriers that separate us from God. 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.540 So we can be welcomed into his home, into his family. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:57.180 I love the picture of God as the father of the prodigal son. 00:05:57.180 --> 00:05:57.500 Right? 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:01.439 Who runs out off the porch with his arms wide open. 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:05.220 And embraces the undeserving failure. 00:06:05.840 --> 00:06:10.160 And welcomes him home to the best feast that he's ever tasted. 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:16.840 God reaches down, as it were, to tear the curtain of the temple. 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:21.699 And usher us enemies into his family. 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:24.480 To seat us at his table. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:33.140 And in fact, the table where we feast with him is the picture God gives us of our ongoing relationship with him. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:34.460 Day in and day out. 00:06:34.540 --> 00:06:35.540 Through our lives. 00:06:35.640 --> 00:06:37.980 Until he comes again to bring us to what? 00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:40.379 Not harps and clouds. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.740 The wedding supper of the lamb. 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:45.939 Where we feast with him forever. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:51.720 God's gracious hospitality to his people never ends, does it? 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:01.460 That's the picture of hospitality that must first define our hospitality for us. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:05.600 We have experienced hospitality from our God. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:12.379 And we are to show the same to one another as a foretaste of how we will feast with him forever. 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:19.800 One of my favorite non-biblical pictures of hospitality is in Les Mis. 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.659 But the last minute I decided I'd let the bishop sing it instead of me. 00:07:30.379 --> 00:07:30.860 Hey! 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:37.660 Come and serve, for you are weary. 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:42.580 And the night is cold out here. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.439 Though our lives are very humble. 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:52.639 What we have, we have to share. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.680 There is wine here to revive you. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.659 There is bread to make you strong. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:07.639 There's a bed to rest till morning. 00:08:08.939 --> 00:08:13.680 Rest from pain and rest from long. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:26.620 What we have, we have to share. 00:08:27.819 --> 00:08:36.000 A reality, right, that the ex-convict Valjean won't fully experience until he actually makes off with the silver. 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:37.700 And is caught. 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:42.460 And then is given the candlesticks on top of that. 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:45.879 Gracious hospitality for sure, right? 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:50.540 What we have, we have to share. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:52.960 That's it, isn't it? 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:55.620 So much like God. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:00.680 See, when we talk about our hospitality, 00:09:00.680 --> 00:09:10.740 it certainly is not less than sharing with others the homes and the resources that God has entrusted to us. 00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:12.000 That we might share them. 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:24.900 When Christy and I were newlywed, we headed out to Scotland without really any money and definitely without a clue what we were getting into for my last semester of undergrad. 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:29.679 It was very difficult to find a place to stay from across the ocean. 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:38.860 And we got connected with a Scottish pastor and his wife who immediately said they'd meet us at the airport. 00:09:39.819 --> 00:09:46.000 And then when we got off the plane, we could stay at their house while we looked for another place to stay. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.700 And Kenny and Fiona were so kind to us in that. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.840 Stay here as long as you need, Kenny said. 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:58.779 A couple weeks later, the best food we had had was at their table. 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:09.639 The only community that we knew in a very lonely place was the sweet fellowship of their 30-member church that we'd gotten to know. 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:13.399 And we couldn't find a flat we could afford at all. 00:10:14.659 --> 00:10:20.240 So sheepishly, but a bit desperately, I went back to Kenny and said, 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:23.879 Hey, so you know, you said as long as you need. 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:29.319 What if as long as you need was four months? 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:32.760 Do you still mean that? 00:10:34.040 --> 00:10:36.640 Without hesitation, he said, absolutely. 00:10:37.900 --> 00:10:43.060 This home is God's home and you're always welcome in it. 00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:52.120 Four months later, those days in that home tremendously impacted this young couple. 00:10:54.100 --> 00:10:58.820 And that congregation's hospitality extended far beyond us, beyond other Christians. 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:00.580 I'll share with you about that next week. 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:07.840 But today, show hospitality to one another. 00:11:09.040 --> 00:11:19.560 See, your home as God's home to be employed for his kingdom, for his family, to welcome his family in. 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:25.940 And if you haven't already learned this about our family, we are weird. 00:11:25.940 --> 00:11:28.820 Y'all, we just are. 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:35.720 We find our identity and our eternal value in the image of God implanted in us. 00:11:35.920 --> 00:11:47.620 And we find our value and our identity and our eternal hope in the life and death and resurrection of the Son of God 2,000 years ago for us. 00:11:47.880 --> 00:11:49.240 And that's who we are. 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:52.000 Y'all, that sounds weird to many. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.659 We can be a strange bunch. 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.919 Jesus is what unites us in this family. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:23.819 So our family gospel community includes people of all races and colors, wealthy lawyers and impoverished single mothers, special needs kids, youths struggling to fit in, cool kids, adults in midlife crisis, older people struggling to feel like themselves because their minds and bodies don't work like they're used to. 00:12:23.820 --> 00:12:27.300 All kinds of people in between all kinds of people in between all of those. 00:12:28.420 --> 00:12:33.480 And it's that way because God wouldn't have it any other way, would he? 00:12:34.800 --> 00:12:38.820 He went out and chose the foolish people, he says. 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:40.240 The weak people. 00:12:40.640 --> 00:12:41.700 The lowly people. 00:12:41.800 --> 00:12:44.000 He wanted them to be in his family. 00:12:44.260 --> 00:12:49.700 He sent his son to go invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame to his banquet. 00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:51.160 So that's who we are. 00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:53.640 If you're in that family, welcome. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:55.300 That's who you are. 00:12:57.020 --> 00:12:58.120 God's family. 00:12:58.820 --> 00:13:07.340 Gospel community doesn't just minister to the least, the left out, the lonely. 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:14.139 It's made up of the least and the left out and the lonely. 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.000 Loved by him. 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:20.620 We now love and learn from one another. 00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:30.759 So when you read, show hospitality to one another, that's who it's talking about. 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:37.120 It means having all those people in your home and in your family. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:43.319 See, the word for hospitality is actually kind of a compound word in Greek. 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.720 It works like we know the word philosophy. 00:13:46.939 --> 00:13:50.980 Philo, meaning love of Sophia. 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:54.399 In that case, meaning wisdom, philosophy, love of wisdom. 00:13:54.740 --> 00:13:57.399 The word for hospitality is similar. 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:15.340 Philo, meaning love of xenos, meaning stranger, foreigner, outsider, guest, love of stranger. 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:23.179 Because of God's hospitality, our family is full of outsiders and strangers. 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:28.319 Pastor Ray Cortese came here a few years ago for a conference. 00:14:28.479 --> 00:14:29.699 He talked about hospitality. 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:33.319 And he said something that only a guest preacher should ever say. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:34.979 So I'm just quoting him. 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:40.500 Quote, in your church, there are people you don't know and people you don't want to know. 00:14:42.719 --> 00:14:43.239 Yikes. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:52.019 That's why stranger love is required of us. 00:14:52.019 --> 00:15:01.600 You recall the beginning of this summer we talked about the loneliness epidemic in our culture that we said was alive and well in church communities too. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:09.360 I shared that over 20 years recently the rate of having people in our homes for a meal dropped in half. 00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:13.819 Forget the statistic if you don't like those. 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:15.420 Just ask your own heart. 00:15:15.420 --> 00:15:25.240 Does your home, your food, your money, your time fit in what we have we have to share? 00:15:27.260 --> 00:15:32.460 Or is it possible you're just a bit more protective than that? 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:45.860 The upside, by the way, of that downturn in those numbers is that it means that much more these days to be invited into someone's home. 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:53.620 And God answers our loneliness with gospel community that brings us together. 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:59.860 Who would feel the welcome of God in a new way if you invited them over for lunch today? 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:09.600 Who do you know who might struggle to feel that the Father is running toward them with open arms and you could help? 00:16:11.539 --> 00:16:14.320 Who would you think might be hard to open your door to? 00:16:15.419 --> 00:16:16.399 Maybe start there. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.860 That might be loving the stranger for you. 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:23.560 That's God's design for His church, y'all. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:24.919 That's the way He wants us to work. 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:28.399 It's not just showing up to say hello once a week to a few people. 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:29.539 It's just not. 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:32.820 He designs us to be so much more than that. 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.779 To be sharing our homes and our lives together. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:39.860 Breaking bread together in each other's homes. 00:16:40.060 --> 00:16:43.080 That's what He sets His church up to be like. 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:48.659 That's the community God is calling us and making us to be. 00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:53.560 One last thing on our homes. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:02.840 It's important for us to have our horizon of hospitality broadened, if you will. 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:05.880 It must go beyond Martha Stewart. 00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:11.240 Kids, some of you have been wondering how Martha Stewart was going to make it onto the words for this morning. 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:11.700 There you go. 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:15.380 It's got to go beyond that. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:18.180 Ask yourself honestly this question. 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:25.920 Is my hospitality for myself or for those I'm welcoming in? 00:17:28.860 --> 00:17:37.759 Do you know you can make someone feel very unwelcome, even in your home, by making them eat off of China plates worth more than they make in a month? 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:42.480 Or that their kids aren't okay to walk in your dining room? 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:53.480 Now listen, I'm not saying you can't vacuum before someone comes over or fix nice meals. 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:59.579 Please, it's very important you hear me on this because about 40 of you are going to Sandy Newby's house for lunch today. 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.940 And it is unlikely to be terribly messy when you get there. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.860 And you are very unlikely to want to skip dessert. 00:18:07.579 --> 00:18:07.799 Okay? 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:10.220 That's the best advice I know to give you. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:16.379 Y'all, preparing for guests can be a great way to honor them, can't it? 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:18.819 Please hear me on that. 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:23.379 But, but, sometimes that's for ourselves. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.180 We have to ask our hearts. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:30.180 Sometimes, warm hospitality looks different. 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:39.039 Some of the warmest hospitality I've received, where I've felt most welcomed and most honored, has been on dirt floors in one-room homes in India. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:47.240 Some of the warmest hospitality our family has received has been from people who had some toys on the floor when we came in. 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.900 And dinner was actually running a little bit late and it wasn't going to be all that much. 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.640 But they cared about us intently. 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.340 They listened to us sharing. 00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:04.180 And we left feeling we were their family, not their inferiors. 00:19:05.560 --> 00:19:06.140 Right? 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.500 The hospitality was about us. 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:11.700 Not about them. 00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:17.680 That's actually what happens when you open your home, isn't it? 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:23.519 It's one of the reasons we're commanded to because it doesn't just invite people into your home. 00:19:23.600 --> 00:19:29.860 The idea, the heart behind it is it invites people into your life, which can be a bit uncomfortable. 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:31.160 Can we be honest? 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:36.820 That's actually the heart of hospitality. 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:48.599 Some of you have been at our dinner table and you have learned intimate, embarrassing facts about our family. 00:19:49.859 --> 00:19:52.079 Because our girls, they'll share. 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:52.939 They'll tell you. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.659 They'll tell you the dirt on mom and dad. 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.039 Kids are really honest sometimes, aren't they? 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:11.180 And if we weren't okay with our lives being exposed like that, we shouldn't have invited you into our home and to our dinner table. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:14.500 It's what happens. 00:20:14.899 --> 00:20:22.740 And this passage actually shows us that hospitality goes beyond how you open your home to how you open your heart. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:24.440 Look at verse 9 again. 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:26.779 Show hospitality to one another. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.599 That's a pretty normal command, right? 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:31.079 You expect to see something like that. 00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:32.980 There's lots of commands in 1 Peter. 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:35.259 This one all of a sudden has something at the end. 00:20:35.679 --> 00:20:40.059 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 00:20:43.139 --> 00:20:45.500 Without grumbling. 00:20:49.199 --> 00:20:52.819 Don't just have people in your home because you're supposed to. 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:57.879 Actually love the stranger from your heart. 00:20:57.879 --> 00:20:59.579 With no regret of the cost. 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:02.279 With no complaining about the sacrifice. 00:21:03.500 --> 00:21:07.500 The hospitable heart says not, I'm better than you. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.399 But I value you. 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:17.839 It's the kind of intentional, sacrificial relationships we've been talking about all summer. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.439 Not where you fix the other. 00:21:20.439 --> 00:21:28.720 But as our offertory this morning said, if you're looking for something broken, I am. 00:21:28.939 --> 00:21:37.839 If you're tired of feeling alone in your brokenness, I'll open my heart and my life so that you'll know you're not the only one who struggles. 00:21:38.579 --> 00:21:44.579 You're not the only one who feels weak, who gets tired, and will together look to our strong Savior. 00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:44.939 Amen? 00:21:45.699 --> 00:21:47.819 Isn't that what you, don't you need people in your life like that? 00:21:49.439 --> 00:21:51.319 Don't you have enough who can tell you how to do it? 00:21:52.379 --> 00:21:53.839 I mean, advice is nice sometimes. 00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:55.799 Welcome in. 00:21:56.539 --> 00:21:57.939 Let's look to Jesus together. 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:04.220 Hospitality is a heart issue, isn't it? 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:11.240 Just like we've been asking, is opening my home for me or for those I'm welcoming in? 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:20.759 Is my hospitality to show that I'm strong or to join others in weakness and need for Jesus? 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:31.599 See, a gospel community is one where the outsider is welcomed in because that's the way God started the community after all, right? 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:37.500 Welcoming us outsiders in so we keep doing that with one another. 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:45.039 Stranger love to the least of these in the name of Jesus, to those left out and lonely. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:23:01.119 Because we are aware of our own weaknesses and dependence upon God, we want to introduce fellow sinners to the great physician in whom the broken and hurting find refuge and a home. 00:23:01.740 --> 00:23:02.880 We're committed to that. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:13.220 If we're going to show hospitality the way our God has shown hospitality to us, that involves actually leaving our homes, doesn't it? 00:23:14.260 --> 00:23:20.880 Not just decorating the house and inviting someone over, but leaving our homes and entering into their lives. 00:23:22.260 --> 00:23:24.380 Not merely inviting them into ours. 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:27.360 That's what Jesus did, right? 00:23:28.800 --> 00:23:30.300 He left his home. 00:23:30.840 --> 00:23:32.980 He made his dwelling among us. 00:23:33.060 --> 00:23:40.040 He took our sorrows upon himself because he loved and valued us. 00:23:40.760 --> 00:23:45.580 You know how much the Bible talks about that being the model for our relationships together in community? 00:23:45.820 --> 00:23:47.500 It is all over the place. 00:23:47.500 --> 00:23:56.240 Just as Jesus let go of the comforts of heaven, consider others better than yourselves. 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:58.700 In other words, treasure them. 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:02.099 Even when you think or your instincts tell you they're beneath you. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:03.599 Because they're not. 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:08.220 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.380 It's several times in the New Testament. 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:12.339 We didn't even get to preach that one in this series. 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:13.880 But why is it there? 00:24:13.880 --> 00:24:18.240 It seems strange to us, but the heart behind it is honor. 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:19.900 Welcome. 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:24.100 Communicate the value of one another. 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:29.180 Wash one another's feet, Jesus says. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:34.800 Not only have me over for dinner, but tangibly demonstrate that I'm valuable to you. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:39.640 Our passage this morning, use your gifts to serve one another. 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:56.520 In other words, have a hospitable heart that sees others as greater than yourself and therefore makes them, even in their weakness and brokenness, feel safe and at home with you. 00:24:57.220 --> 00:24:57.960 I'm not alone. 00:24:58.100 --> 00:25:02.040 Even at my low point, because she's down here with me. 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:03.399 No better than me. 00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:04.940 No higher than me. 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:07.899 But entering my life to pull me in. 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:09.480 To welcome me home. 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:12.379 That's what God in Christ has done for us, right? 00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:14.220 He's reached down. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:15.899 He's welcomed us in. 00:25:16.299 --> 00:25:19.119 He's given us dignity and value. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:26.659 I got a phone call this week from a man I've never met before. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.539 And I wasn't sure why he wanted to talk to me. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.439 But I said, yeah, you know, I'd love to talk to him. 00:25:34.919 --> 00:25:36.259 Ask when I can call him back. 00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:43.279 When I got on the phone, he said, my mom has been a member of your church for many years. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:49.779 She's been homebound, actually, for the last few years, so she can't ever come on Sundays. 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:57.359 And I was just calling because I wanted you to hear how thankful I am for how y'all love her. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:04.940 Her connection to your church is so valuable, he said. 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:07.599 He said, she's battling Alzheimer's. 00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:10.779 She's struggling to remember things. 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:17.720 But she prays for you, pastor, and for your church all the time. 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:21.899 When people visit her, I always hear about it. 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:24.599 Especially if they bring kids or donuts. 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:26.339 I hear about that twice. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:36.200 He said, from a son who lives out of town, I thought you should hear how much it means that mom is a part of that community. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:48.819 She's not able to come to your home for a fancy dinner and tell you how beautifully decorated your home is. 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:55.120 But you can still show her hospitality from the heart. 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:56.000 Right? 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:03.259 As you move into her life and value her the way that God does. 00:27:03.259 --> 00:27:18.519 See, the beauty of gospel community is that even when she doesn't remember it, and she often doesn't, she's as valuable to God as you or I, even when she doesn't know it. 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:27.220 The beauty of gospel community is that her prayers have helped me more than my visits have helped her. 00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:29.339 You ought to say amen to that. 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:30.639 That's true. 00:27:32.639 --> 00:27:33.139 Hospitality. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:38.579 Stranger love is something we all need. 00:27:38.579 --> 00:27:44.339 And something we are particularly called to show to those who are most outside. 00:27:45.199 --> 00:27:48.699 Who would most struggle to come in and feel at home. 00:27:49.199 --> 00:27:56.699 One another in hospitality and God's family goes beyond how many nights a month you've had your easy friends over to your home. 00:27:56.700 --> 00:28:04.380 It moves you out of your comfortable people and places to those most struggling. 00:28:04.819 --> 00:28:07.819 To feel the welcome of our hospitable God. 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:08.980 Because that's what it's about. 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:11.279 We're experiencing that together. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.420 We're sharing that with each other. 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:16.860 And that's hard because we'd all rather do it in the comfortable ways, wouldn't we? 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:17.880 I would. 00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:21.740 But God says there's something beautiful that's going to happen. 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:23.920 Even if it's uncomfortable. 00:28:24.560 --> 00:28:32.300 The hospitable gospel community values and welcomes orphans into their families. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:37.500 Youths who can't seem to fit anywhere else into their friend groups. 00:28:38.340 --> 00:28:41.280 Homebound widows into their weekly routines. 00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:44.060 Challenging kids into their play groups. 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:46.980 Lonely couples into their small groups. 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:49.940 Recovering addicts into their kitchens. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:53.059 Y'all this is where life is. 00:28:53.259 --> 00:28:55.059 I promise that's what it looks like. 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:56.799 On the authority of God's word. 00:28:57.099 --> 00:28:58.960 That's where he says you'll find life. 00:28:59.559 --> 00:29:01.160 And it's scary to us. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:03.120 Because it feels uncomfortable. 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:05.660 And he says you can trust me on this. 00:29:06.819 --> 00:29:08.759 This is where life is. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:13.019 And living together like that. 00:29:13.019 --> 00:29:17.619 Derek asked you last week if you'd carved out time for it. 00:29:18.579 --> 00:29:19.680 Have you done that? 00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:21.799 Is it that important? 00:29:22.099 --> 00:29:23.079 God says it is. 00:29:25.139 --> 00:29:30.460 If you don't know where to start with following God's command to show hospitality to one another. 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:37.259 Start there with those who seem as outsider to you as you were to God. 00:29:37.259 --> 00:29:39.900 And move toward just one. 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:46.019 There's a lot of community in the world. 00:29:46.099 --> 00:29:47.339 Lots of places to find it. 00:29:50.619 --> 00:29:52.079 Have community they say. 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:53.099 It's worth it. 00:29:53.339 --> 00:29:54.220 It pays off. 00:29:54.220 --> 00:30:01.599 Invest in those relationships where eventually they'll give back to you. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.219 It'll benefit you later. 00:30:05.199 --> 00:30:05.859 People say. 00:30:07.719 --> 00:30:11.779 Y'all gospel community goes so far beyond that. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:17.259 The world says scratch someone's back who will scratch yours tomorrow. 00:30:18.579 --> 00:30:18.740 Right? 00:30:19.419 --> 00:30:24.959 Jesus says when you give a feast invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. 00:30:25.139 --> 00:30:28.139 And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you. 00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:31.580 For you will be repaid at the resurrection. 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:37.280 Gospel community says Jesus has carried all my burdens. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.900 He's poured himself out for me to overflowing. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:49.620 Jesus has welcomed me in so completely that I am delighted to carry your burdens. 00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:51.420 To welcome you in. 00:30:51.820 --> 00:30:55.500 I'm delighted to do that whether you can pay me back at all. 00:30:55.500 --> 00:31:00.079 Whether you will ever be able to welcome me into anything or not. 00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:03.240 I'm delighted to do that for all of you. 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.099 Particularly those of you that Jesus has already welcomed into this family to. 00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:10.680 That's what it means to be a part of this family. 00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:14.240 You don't pay me back. 00:31:15.539 --> 00:31:17.640 That's why it's called a community of grace. 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:23.580 I want to be part of a community that loves like that. 00:31:23.620 --> 00:31:24.480 I hope you do too. 00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:27.300 We're not perfectly that yet. 00:31:28.080 --> 00:31:30.720 But God is making us into it. 00:31:31.280 --> 00:31:36.340 He's teaching us how to keep loving one another earnestly. 00:31:36.339 --> 00:31:43.980 Next week we'll talk again about how God uses that kind of community. 00:31:44.919 --> 00:31:46.759 To raid hell. 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:49.019 For many more enemies. 00:31:49.939 --> 00:31:50.939 And outsiders. 00:31:51.959 --> 00:31:53.339 And lonely people. 00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:54.779 Far from his family. 00:31:54.919 --> 00:31:57.399 That he intends to welcome home. 00:31:57.759 --> 00:31:58.939 To his table. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:01.899 I'm looking forward to talking about that too. 00:32:01.959 --> 00:32:05.339 In the meantime let's love one another earnestly. 00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:07.119 From the heart. 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:08.099 Let's pray. 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:19.039 Father we like external checklists more than we like commands about our hearts. 00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:25.000 Would your spirit soften our hearts to hear. 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:28.399 And to receive. 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:30.679 And to believe. 00:32:31.819 --> 00:32:34.220 That this is what you've designed us for. 00:32:35.339 --> 00:32:39.500 That we'll know life like we've never experienced it before. 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:41.619 When we live in this kind of community. 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:46.039 Father forgive us for caring more about ourselves. 00:32:47.679 --> 00:32:48.919 Than about the stranger. 00:32:50.099 --> 00:32:51.659 That you've called us to love. 00:32:52.159 --> 00:32:52.779 Show us. 00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:55.439 What that stranger love looks like. 00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:56.480 Open our homes. 00:32:56.959 --> 00:32:58.519 And open our hearts. 00:32:58.519 --> 00:33:01.519 That others might experience. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:02.619 Your welcome. 00:33:03.339 --> 00:33:04.279 Through us. 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:07.019 Help us. 00:33:07.700 --> 00:33:09.480 Father as we come to you. 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:10.720 We need your help. 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:12.420 And ask for it in Jesus name. 00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:13.319 Amen. 00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:31.920 Hand of heaven. 00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:32.839 Jake. 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:33.660 We need your help. 00:33:33.720 --> 00:33:34.279 Lord Jesus. 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:34.619 Amen. 00:33:34.779 --> 00:33:35.920 Amen. 00:33:38.139 --> 00:33:38.700 Amen. 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:39.000 Amen. 00:33:39.059 --> 00:33:39.259 Amen. 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:39.639 Amen. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:48.440 Amen. 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:52.839 Peace. 00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:53.400 Amen. 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:54.139 Amen.