WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.260 All right, this month in the evening services, 00:00:03.260 --> 00:00:08.259 we are working through the second and third letters of John. 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.140 So we looked at first John a while ago, 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:14.099 and we've come back to finish up John's series of letters. 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:17.019 Derek's looked at second John the past two Sundays, 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.339 and tonight we'll look at the whole of third John. 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:21.940 It's only about 300 words, 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:25.460 so we can look at all of it, I think, in one go. 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:27.820 The apostle John here is very old. 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:31.660 He's very probably the last living apostle. 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:35.820 This is probably in the 90s of the first century, 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:38.020 and in all three letters of John, 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:41.840 he's trying to pass the faith on to the next generation. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:44.260 So John knows he's about to die, 00:00:44.260 --> 00:00:47.700 and he's concerned that the next generation of the church 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:51.140 would have the message that he had received from Jesus. 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:52.500 And so you see that over and over again 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:54.820 throughout the letters, everything that he had seen 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.980 and heard, all the eyewitness accounts, 00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:59.939 he wants to convey that to the next generation. 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:02.859 And so here he's doing that to just one man. 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:05.859 So he writes this letter, you see right there in verse one, 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:08.140 just a one person, Gaius. 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:12.560 And what's the letter, why does he do it, what's it about? 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.259 And I think you could get a pretty good sense 00:01:15.259 --> 00:01:17.579 of the main idea in verse two. 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:20.659 You gotta read it a little bit carefully 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:23.259 because you won't see the main idea at first. 00:01:23.259 --> 00:01:26.420 But he says, I pray that all may go well with you, 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:28.659 and that you may be in good health 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:31.340 as it goes well with your soul. 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:35.840 So he says, I know that it is well with your soul. 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:39.740 And I pray that your body would be as healthy 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:41.040 as your soul is. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:42.340 So that's the prayer he's saying, 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:46.540 I hope that your physical body would match 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:49.540 the health of your heart, your soul. 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:51.820 Now immediately John takes something 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:55.219 that we think of health, how we think of health, 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:57.819 and he flips it upside down. 00:01:57.819 --> 00:02:00.700 When we think of health, we talk about health. 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.179 The primary thing we mean when we say health 00:02:03.179 --> 00:02:05.579 is the physical body, how are they healthy? 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:06.900 Is this person healthy? 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.539 And John here says, my prayer for you is 00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:12.379 only that your body could keep up with your soul, 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:14.099 not the other way around. 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:17.219 So he says, I want your, he's saying, I know Gaius, 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:19.340 how healthy your heart is, your soul, 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:22.340 that you've got amazing spiritual health, 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:25.580 and maybe your body can match that. 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:27.379 And Paul does the same thing, he says it, 00:02:27.379 --> 00:02:31.539 and 1 Timothy 4, he says, physical training is of some value. 00:02:34.420 --> 00:02:36.460 That means you can go to the gym 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:38.460 and know that Paul told you that's good. 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:41.780 Physical training is of some value, Paul says. 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:44.620 But godliness is of value, spiritual health in other words, 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:47.180 is of value in every way for this life and the next. 00:02:47.180 --> 00:02:49.259 So Paul says the same thing, he says, 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:52.020 I do hope your body is healthy, 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:56.580 but spiritual health is much more important. 00:02:56.580 --> 00:02:58.780 So he flips the way we think about it normally on its head, 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.820 and so he writes this letter to talk to Gaius 00:03:01.820 --> 00:03:04.420 about Gaius' own spiritual health, 00:03:04.420 --> 00:03:07.300 and to say, Gaius, you're incredibly spiritually healthy. 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.260 And that means that in modern terms, 00:03:11.260 --> 00:03:13.860 if we were to put it in modern language, 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:15.860 we would say something like, 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:18.620 John is saying here that spiritual health 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:21.660 is actually fundamental, it's a key 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:23.500 to the possibility of happiness, 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:27.060 that it's incredibly difficult to flourish in life 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:28.699 and to be happy and content 00:03:28.699 --> 00:03:32.659 without fundamentally focusing on spiritual health, 00:03:32.659 --> 00:03:34.819 even above physical health. 00:03:34.819 --> 00:03:37.219 And so we learn here in this little letter, 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:39.939 300 words about spiritual health, 00:03:39.939 --> 00:03:42.859 and he doesn't tell us a lot about it. 00:03:42.859 --> 00:03:47.259 I think John mainly just gives us one single mark 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:48.620 of spiritual health. 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:50.579 So let me do that. 00:03:50.580 --> 00:03:53.660 Let's look at one mark of spiritual health, 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:56.900 and we can ask, do you have it? 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:58.220 Do you have spiritual health in your life? 00:03:58.220 --> 00:03:59.380 Well, here's one mark. 00:03:59.380 --> 00:04:00.860 There's more marks than just this. 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:03.620 There's more signs, but this is one of them that he gives us. 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.900 So let's look at one mark of spiritual health, 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:10.900 it's opposite, and then one tiny little extra, okay? 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:14.420 So first, the mark of spiritual health. 00:04:14.420 --> 00:04:18.660 All right, Gaius, verse one, who is this man? 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:21.100 And the truth is we don't know. 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:24.100 There are four times in the New Testament 00:04:24.100 --> 00:04:26.060 that the name Gaius shows up. 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:28.700 Paul interacts with three of them, 00:04:28.700 --> 00:04:31.580 but it's very clear that at least two of those three 00:04:31.580 --> 00:04:34.340 are different people from different cities. 00:04:34.340 --> 00:04:37.140 And so it's very likely that we have at least four 00:04:37.140 --> 00:04:39.820 different Gaiuses mentioned in the New Testament, 00:04:39.820 --> 00:04:41.860 at least three, maybe four. 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:45.180 Here, this one doesn't seem to be connected to the Gaiuses. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:48.620 The Gaiuses, yeah, that works, the Gaiuses. 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:51.620 That we see in the other parts of the New Testament. 00:04:51.620 --> 00:04:53.740 And that means that this man is not known, 00:04:53.740 --> 00:04:57.620 he's not a global leader in the movement of the gospel. 00:04:58.459 --> 00:04:59.699 It doesn't, we don't even know, 00:04:59.699 --> 00:05:01.540 it's not even clear here that he's a pastor 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:03.860 or he's a leader in the local church that he's in. 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:06.780 Not at all, he very well may be an ordinary member 00:05:06.780 --> 00:05:09.819 of a local church wherever John is writing to. 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:11.139 We don't have any details. 00:05:11.139 --> 00:05:13.899 We know nothing really about this man. 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:15.259 And that's really important. 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.980 This man is unknown. 00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:23.300 And John's writing the letter first to say something like, 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:25.980 I've met Gaius in a previous ministry 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.779 and I loved him then and I love him now 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:31.860 because I keep hearing about his ministry, his service. 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:34.899 You see it there, verse two, he says to Gaius, 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:37.379 beloved, I pray for you. 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:41.539 So in the Greek text, it says loved one, I pray for you. 00:05:41.539 --> 00:05:43.180 My loved one. 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:44.779 And then he says it again in verse five, 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:47.059 my loved one, Gaius, I pray for you. 00:05:47.059 --> 00:05:49.739 Now, that means one of the simple things 00:05:49.739 --> 00:05:51.699 that John's doing here is he's showing us 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:55.579 that it is no problem for a Christian man 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:58.779 to say to a Christian man, I love you. 00:05:59.659 --> 00:06:01.259 Can you imagine that? 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:03.179 We should try it sometime. 00:06:03.179 --> 00:06:05.299 That's what John says multiple times throughout the letter, 00:06:05.299 --> 00:06:08.899 to a Christian man, to a Christian man, I love you. 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:11.619 And one of the reasons he loves him is because he loves him 00:06:11.619 --> 00:06:13.659 but another one of the reasons is because 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:16.620 of Gaius's spiritual health on display 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:18.780 through the things that he does. 00:06:18.780 --> 00:06:22.100 And so here's the mark, the one mark that John points out. 00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:24.340 What does spiritual health look like visibly? 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:27.460 One thing is this, it's in verses five to eight. 00:06:27.460 --> 00:06:30.020 He says it is a faithful thing you do 00:06:30.020 --> 00:06:34.379 in all your efforts for the brothers, strangers as they are. 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:35.740 Now, it's a little cloudy there 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:39.140 but what he's talking about is Gaius's hospitality. 00:06:40.140 --> 00:06:41.780 So this letter is really written 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:46.699 that every Christian in the rest of the world history, 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:47.979 all the way to the coming of Jesus 00:06:47.979 --> 00:06:50.939 would hear about Gaius's hospitality. 00:06:50.939 --> 00:06:52.299 So he's saying I love you Gaius 00:06:52.299 --> 00:06:55.459 because you have unbelievable hospitality 00:06:55.459 --> 00:06:57.779 and that's a mark of your spiritual health. 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:00.059 And to get exactly what he means, 00:07:00.059 --> 00:07:02.819 you've got to know a little bit about the context. 00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:05.699 So let me do the context in two stages. 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:08.059 One a little more ancient and one right here 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:11.939 and probably in the 90s what it would have been like. 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:13.540 All the way back into the Old Testament, 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:16.540 the time of what we call the ancient Near East, 00:07:16.540 --> 00:07:19.459 travel was very, very difficult. 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:23.019 So people did not travel very much, they didn't move. 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:25.139 There were no Americans living in Scotland 00:07:25.139 --> 00:07:27.060 in the ancient world. 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.939 You couldn't do that and travel was impossible. 00:07:29.939 --> 00:07:33.340 And when you do travel, there are very few hotels. 00:07:33.340 --> 00:07:37.259 So very few ends, hotels anywhere to go to. 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:39.500 So the possibility of travel 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:41.139 depended entirely on one thing 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:45.019 and that was hospitality to strangers. 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:46.060 So the way it would work, 00:07:46.060 --> 00:07:48.379 there was a hospitality code in the ancient world 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:51.779 and it was basically that a stranger comes to the gate 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:54.420 of a city, cities are typically walled, villages, 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:56.019 they're walled. 00:07:56.019 --> 00:07:58.099 You come to the gate and outside the gate, 00:07:58.099 --> 00:07:59.379 there's probably a well. 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:03.219 You stay at the well hoping that the elders of the city 00:08:03.219 --> 00:08:06.899 or somebody else would come and basically interview you 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:09.620 and give you the right to pass through the gate 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:11.939 and to stay with someone in the city. 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:13.819 And so a lot of times people when they traveled 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:16.339 would actually bring letters of recommendation 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:19.539 and say, you know, at the village 10 miles away, 00:08:19.539 --> 00:08:23.459 I'm known, I'm liked, I haven't committed any big crimes, 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:26.459 you know, you can let me stay here, 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:28.899 but nobody would ever stay more than one, 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:30.859 maybe two nights, that was very typical. 00:08:30.859 --> 00:08:34.059 Now, if you invited somebody to stay, a stranger, 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:36.740 the practice was that you would wash their feet, 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:39.580 you would have their feet washed if you had servants 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:41.340 and you would feed them generously 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:43.820 and then you would send them on their way with something. 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.139 Now, this was the norm and quite often 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:48.539 people did not receive that. 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:51.100 So it was up to the city, up to the elders, 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:52.060 up to the people at the gate, 00:08:52.060 --> 00:08:53.860 whether they were going to give that. 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:58.860 Now, Christianity comes, the God of the Bible comes, 00:08:59.139 --> 00:09:04.060 and the Exodus story takes the entire hospitality code 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:07.659 and raises it up to 10, turns it up to 11. 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:09.979 And the way that that happens is that God 00:09:09.979 --> 00:09:13.099 in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, 00:09:13.099 --> 00:09:16.899 all of these books comes to the Israelites 00:09:16.899 --> 00:09:21.899 and says, you were strangers in a strange land. 00:09:22.979 --> 00:09:24.179 You know, you were in Egypt 00:09:24.179 --> 00:09:26.059 and nobody showed you hospitality. 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:27.979 You were in Egypt and nobody loved you. 00:09:27.979 --> 00:09:31.099 You were in Egypt and nobody invited you to their table. 00:09:31.099 --> 00:09:32.659 So I came for you. 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:36.100 I came to bring you to my home 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:39.299 and to sit you down at my table. 00:09:39.299 --> 00:09:42.259 And so God says, here's the logic of hospitality. 00:09:42.259 --> 00:09:45.779 Love strangers, love the people that come into your city 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:48.419 because I loved you when you were unloved 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:49.339 by everybody else. 00:09:49.339 --> 00:09:51.939 And so it goes like this, Exodus 23. 00:09:51.939 --> 00:09:54.500 You shall not oppress a stranger 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:57.019 for you know the soul of the stranger, 00:09:57.019 --> 00:09:59.819 for you were a stranger in the land of Egypt. 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:04.540 Or Leviticus 19, the stranger who resides with you 00:10:04.540 --> 00:10:06.860 shall be to you as a citizen. 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:08.740 You shall love him as yourself 00:10:08.740 --> 00:10:11.580 because you were a stranger in the land of Egypt. 00:10:11.580 --> 00:10:14.860 And so the New Testament word for hospitality 00:10:14.860 --> 00:10:19.860 is philoxenia, which means the love of a stranger. 00:10:20.420 --> 00:10:22.620 And it comes straight to us from the hospitality code 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:24.060 in the Old Testament. 00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:27.140 Philoxenia, philos means love to love and xenia 00:10:27.140 --> 00:10:29.580 where we get sometimes we'll say xenophobia, 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:33.220 the fear of a stranger, philoxenia, the love of a stranger. 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:35.620 That's the New Testament word for hospitality. 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:37.620 That's the word that gets translated directly 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:39.820 in our English text as hospitality. 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:43.420 And so it's God says, I loved you when you were a stranger, 00:10:43.420 --> 00:10:45.580 so show hospitality. 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:48.700 Now, the specific context, right here in this letter, 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:52.220 80s, 90s, we're somewhere around there in the first century. 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:55.020 The church has been around for 60 years 00:10:55.020 --> 00:10:57.940 and churches are getting planted everywhere. 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.540 Paul goes on a missionary journey back in the 40s 00:11:00.540 --> 00:11:03.140 for two years and he plants countless numbers of churches. 00:11:03.140 --> 00:11:05.380 And what starts to happen is the church planting booms 00:11:05.380 --> 00:11:08.580 all across what we call Europe today and East as well. 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:13.020 Apostles go, they plant a church and then they pick someone 00:11:13.020 --> 00:11:15.540 in that church and says, all right, now you're the pastor, 00:11:15.540 --> 00:11:17.940 you're the elder, you're the deacon, 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:19.740 and none of these people ever went to 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:21.340 Edinburgh Theological Seminary. 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:27.060 And that means that most of the people in the local churches 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:28.659 had no training. 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:30.979 And so Paul might stick around for a month, 00:11:30.979 --> 00:11:32.699 but then he might get run out of the city. 00:11:32.699 --> 00:11:34.139 John might stick around for a month 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:35.939 and he might get booted out. 00:11:35.939 --> 00:11:39.099 Or he might get beaten and put in jail. 00:11:39.099 --> 00:11:41.379 And so you've got these churches all over the place. 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:44.539 They don't have anybody that has been trained 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:49.059 or helped by apostles directly to understand 00:11:49.059 --> 00:11:51.859 how Jesus appears in the whole of Testament, for example. 00:11:52.859 --> 00:11:56.259 And so what that gave rise to was itinerant leadership. 00:11:56.259 --> 00:11:59.500 So what we see all across the New Testament and hence 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:02.059 is that by the late first century, 00:12:02.059 --> 00:12:06.139 people are traveling around to help these churches. 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:07.819 And they're coming and saying, 00:12:07.819 --> 00:12:10.139 let me come and stay with you for three months 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.379 and I'll help you, I'll help your elders get on their feet. 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:13.779 I'll help the people read the Bible 00:12:13.779 --> 00:12:16.139 and understand the Old Testament, et cetera. 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:18.259 So this is what's happening. 00:12:18.259 --> 00:12:21.299 Imagine tonight you go home 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:24.580 and somebody knocks on your door, 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:28.340 nine, 10 p.m. and they're filthy 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:30.580 and they say, my name's Barnabas. 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:35.220 And I'm here to support the work of the way, 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:36.620 the movement of Jesus. 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:39.259 And I need a place to stay. 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:40.700 Can I stay with you? 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:42.700 And I plan to be here for three months. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:45.220 And what are you gonna say? 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:47.780 You're gonna say, stranger danger, right? 00:12:47.780 --> 00:12:49.780 I have no idea who you are. 00:12:49.780 --> 00:12:51.780 You're coming and you're knocking on my door late at night. 00:12:51.780 --> 00:12:53.220 You're filthy. 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:54.980 You're not gonna be open to it, right? 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:57.379 Now, it's a different time and a different place 00:12:57.379 --> 00:12:59.379 and hospitality doesn't work the same everywhere. 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:01.420 But John is writing this letter saying, 00:13:01.420 --> 00:13:04.180 every person who came and knocked on guys' door, 00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:08.340 he said, come in, I've got dinner ready for you. 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:10.620 Here's your tea, here's your coffee. 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.980 Verse six, here's how John puts it. 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.940 He says, you will do well to send these brothers 00:13:15.940 --> 00:13:19.460 on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:20.300 You know what he's saying there? 00:13:20.300 --> 00:13:22.820 He's saying, what's sending somebody on their way? 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:24.300 In a manner worthy, he's saying, 00:13:24.300 --> 00:13:26.300 send them with good supplies. 00:13:26.300 --> 00:13:29.140 Don't give them scraps, give them good food, 00:13:29.140 --> 00:13:31.140 give them a backpack, send them on their way 00:13:31.140 --> 00:13:32.540 when they finally leave your church 00:13:32.540 --> 00:13:34.700 with good supplies and good materials. 00:13:34.700 --> 00:13:37.900 And he's saying, guys did this every single time 00:13:37.900 --> 00:13:40.340 people came to his door, he was hospitable. 00:13:41.540 --> 00:13:44.379 That means that this letter is saying to us very simply 00:13:44.379 --> 00:13:47.100 that one of the marks of spiritual health is hospitality. 00:13:48.300 --> 00:13:52.340 And hospitality in this letter is specifically loving 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:55.220 Christians from other places. 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:58.740 If we were to make it as specific as possible to third John. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.660 But really it's broader than that, of course, you know, 00:14:00.660 --> 00:14:02.500 it's opening your life to people 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:04.620 and it's opening your life to Christian friends, 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:07.460 Christian strangers, but also to people outside the church 00:14:07.460 --> 00:14:09.019 as well. 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:11.420 Let's get super practical, how can you do it today? 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:15.620 Let me just say three things very fast that you can do. 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:17.780 One, you can invite people. 00:14:17.780 --> 00:14:20.259 First, invite, hospitality means inviting people 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:21.700 into your personal space. 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:25.060 Your home in particular, but not just your home. 00:14:26.140 --> 00:14:28.100 So here's a way to think about it. 00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:32.940 Take somebody out to coffee because you want to listen 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:36.540 to them, to their story and understand how you might 00:14:36.540 --> 00:14:38.980 can walk alongside them in their spiritual life. 00:14:40.140 --> 00:14:43.020 Take your colleague, identify colleagues 00:14:43.020 --> 00:14:44.700 that you might could take out to lunch 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:46.140 and say, I wanna pay for this. 00:14:46.140 --> 00:14:47.420 I wanna take you out to lunch, I wanna pay for it, 00:14:47.420 --> 00:14:48.820 I wanna get to know you more. 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:53.140 Invite your neighbors, the people in the flats around you, 00:14:53.140 --> 00:14:54.780 into your home, into your front garden, 00:14:54.780 --> 00:14:58.740 into your back garden, all the way into your dining table. 00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:00.980 Because you're asking the question, 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:02.860 who needs to be reached out to today 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:04.580 because they're lonely? 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:06.860 Who needs to, a coffee because they're anxious 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:07.940 and they're depressed? 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:12.379 Who in the flats around me needs a bacon roll 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:15.740 and an evening of laughter because they don't have 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:16.700 any hope left? 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:21.060 And simple, the first thing is just hospitality 00:15:21.060 --> 00:15:23.420 is asking people into your space, 00:15:23.420 --> 00:15:25.980 whether that space is over the table at the cafe 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:27.980 or all the way into your dining room. 00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:30.100 The second thing is inviting people not only 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:33.500 into your physical space, into your table space, 00:15:33.500 --> 00:15:35.540 but also into your spiritual spaces. 00:15:36.620 --> 00:15:39.700 And so that means that the real hope of hospitality 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:41.700 is not just feeding people's material needs, 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:44.100 but actually caring for their souls. 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:46.020 That's the ultimate goal. 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:48.740 And so true health, we see in this letter, 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:49.579 what is true health? 00:15:49.579 --> 00:15:51.299 True health is spiritual health, not physical health. 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:53.659 And so real hospitality is about spiritual health, 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:54.980 not just physical. 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:57.100 And so that could mean simply this, 00:15:57.100 --> 00:16:01.419 hospitality includes inviting people to church, 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:03.899 inviting people into spiritual spaces 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.659 like a small group, a prayer meeting, 00:16:06.659 --> 00:16:09.500 a group where you put Christian friends 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:13.419 and non-Christian friends together to share spaces. 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:17.339 Matt Steven Chan, I think that's his first name, Chan, 00:16:17.339 --> 00:16:19.740 he writes, he talks in his book about evangelism, 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:21.259 about mixing your universes. 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.419 Hospitality should mix Christians 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:24.979 and non-Christians together. 00:16:24.979 --> 00:16:26.779 And that's probably what Gaius was doing 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:28.979 all the way back here in the first century. 00:16:28.979 --> 00:16:33.219 Third, finally, invite people into your personal space 00:16:33.219 --> 00:16:35.059 and invite people into your spiritual space. 00:16:35.059 --> 00:16:39.019 And lastly, look for those people who are especially in need, 00:16:39.019 --> 00:16:41.980 physically, emotionally, and spiritually, 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:44.820 and reach out to them first and above all. 00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:49.659 No fine dining, no silver, peanut butter and jam, 00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:53.460 bacon rolls, and an open life. 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:55.300 And that's it, that's Christian hospitality. 00:16:55.300 --> 00:16:59.060 Now, one recent book a few years ago about hospitality, 00:16:59.060 --> 00:17:00.860 the gospel comes with a house key. 00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:03.420 This is how the author defines it. 00:17:03.420 --> 00:17:07.059 Hospitality is a movement of the heart towards others 00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:10.980 that seeks to make strangers into neighbors 00:17:10.980 --> 00:17:12.940 and neighbors into the family of God, 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:15.779 to move people from stranger to neighbor 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:16.900 to the family of God. 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:20.140 It's a call upon the Christian life, 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:20.980 it's one of the marks. 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:22.299 It can be done in lots of ways, 00:17:22.299 --> 00:17:24.299 it has to be done in wisdom, 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:25.940 but it is a calling that we have. 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:28.500 Now, the opposite, secondly, briefly. 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:32.220 The opposite of spiritual health in this little letter, 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:34.660 the opposite of hospitality is deotrophies. 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:37.900 So we see that this is a compare and contrast letter. 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:39.900 The first half is about Gaius, 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:41.259 and then it gets to verse nine, 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:43.660 and then he starts talking to deotrophies. 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:44.500 So you see in verse nine, 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:47.100 deotrophies is the opposite. 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:49.860 It says, I've written something to the church, 00:17:49.860 --> 00:17:51.019 John writes verse nine, 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:53.660 but deotrophies likes to put himself first. 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.300 He doesn't even acknowledge the authority of the apostles. 00:17:57.300 --> 00:17:59.620 So, deotrophies is the opposite, 00:17:59.620 --> 00:18:01.460 because he says he puts himself first, 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:04.900 he rejects authority, he won't work with others, 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:07.500 and he doesn't ultimately care about the church at large, 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:10.299 he just cares about his local presence. 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:12.420 And so just a couple details here. 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:16.299 It says that deotrophies refuses any authority 00:18:16.299 --> 00:18:18.579 from outside his own person. 00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:21.140 So deotrophies is a church leader. 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:22.859 So we don't know that Gaius is a church leader, 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:24.299 but deotrophies definitely is, 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:27.019 probably the minister wherever Gaius lives, 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.380 maybe in the church that Gaius is a part of. 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:31.460 So he's saying that there's this guy, Gaius, 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.740 who's just a humble, hospitable servant in the local church, 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:37.140 and may his name be known forever in the word of God 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:38.300 for his service. 00:18:38.300 --> 00:18:40.460 Deotrophies is the minister. 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:43.980 He's the leader, and he's the exact opposite. 00:18:45.060 --> 00:18:46.780 And he refuses authority. 00:18:46.780 --> 00:18:49.940 He's the kind of guy that if he was building 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:52.020 a church website for his local church, 00:18:52.020 --> 00:18:54.300 it would have something on the homepage 00:18:54.300 --> 00:18:58.140 like we are the true church of Scotland. 00:18:58.140 --> 00:19:00.460 Dot, dot, dot, everyone else is wrong. 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:02.220 Something to that effect. 00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:03.620 This is the kind of man deotrophies is. 00:19:03.620 --> 00:19:05.259 And it says secondly that in verse 10, 00:19:05.259 --> 00:19:09.099 he speaks wicked nonsense about the apostles and others. 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:10.660 So he's a religious gossip. 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:13.500 And then right after that it says he refuses 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:15.339 to welcome any of the strangers. 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:18.140 So if strangers come into the city, 00:19:18.140 --> 00:19:21.099 he actually goes around and kicks them out 00:19:21.099 --> 00:19:22.500 and says we don't need your leadership, 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:25.700 we don't need your advice, we've got it covered. 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:28.059 And that means ultimately that we're getting a picture here 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.859 that deotrophies is self-interested 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:34.819 because he's interested in platforming himself. 00:19:34.819 --> 00:19:36.379 So this is the opposite of hospitality 00:19:36.379 --> 00:19:37.220 according to this letter. 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:39.859 The opposite of hospitality is a self-interest 00:19:39.859 --> 00:19:43.059 that seeks to platform or to market oneself 00:19:43.059 --> 00:19:44.899 in the midst of the religious context. 00:19:45.939 --> 00:19:46.939 That's deotrophies. 00:19:46.939 --> 00:19:50.259 He's insular and he wants to protect his brand. 00:19:50.259 --> 00:19:53.179 You know, his problem would be something like this. 00:19:53.179 --> 00:19:58.139 If revival, if God chose to bring revival to Edinburgh 00:19:58.139 --> 00:20:00.619 and revival broke out at the Baptist church 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:03.339 down the road, would we be okay with it? 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:05.299 And deotrophies would not be. 00:20:05.299 --> 00:20:07.459 He would not wanna go and support what's going on 00:20:07.459 --> 00:20:08.939 wherever God might be doing it. 00:20:08.939 --> 00:20:10.819 He's not interested in the church. 00:20:10.819 --> 00:20:13.500 He's interested in the market of the church, 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:16.339 which is to platform his own self. 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:19.019 Hospitality in other words is giving 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:22.619 without need for any reciprocation, 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:26.019 any public honor to be known at all. 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:28.059 It's covenantal in that way. 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:29.740 It's covenant love. 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:32.500 Deotrophies instead treats every interaction 00:20:32.500 --> 00:20:34.299 like the market. 00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:36.900 Every interaction is to get something back 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:39.859 in order to raise his personal platform. 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:43.980 Now, it has never been easier in all of church history 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:46.420 to be like deotrophies than 2023. 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:51.259 And it's never been harder to be like Gaius than 2023. 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:56.700 And let me address this by taking the log out of my own eye 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:59.779 instead of the stick out of all of the rest of our eyes. 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:03.019 It's never been harder to be a minister 00:21:03.980 --> 00:21:07.980 that lives more like Gaius than deotrophies in 2023. 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.940 So let me talk about ministry for just a second. 00:21:11.940 --> 00:21:13.859 Because of the Enlightenment. 00:21:13.859 --> 00:21:16.619 The Enlightenment came in the 18th century right here. 00:21:16.619 --> 00:21:19.059 It began largely here in Edinburgh, 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:21.220 on these streets right out here. 00:21:21.220 --> 00:21:23.859 And the Enlightenment shifted our perspective 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:27.859 from communal service to individualism. 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:30.979 And in individualism, we care more about our individual rights 00:21:30.979 --> 00:21:31.979 than the community. 00:21:31.979 --> 00:21:35.099 We care more about identity development and platforming 00:21:35.099 --> 00:21:39.099 than about the institutions that we were made to support. 00:21:39.099 --> 00:21:42.099 And so in an individualist context, 00:21:42.099 --> 00:21:47.099 institutions become platforms for personal performances 00:21:47.099 --> 00:21:49.259 instead of part of the mission. 00:21:50.259 --> 00:21:54.099 And what that means is that it's incredibly tempting 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:57.779 in 2023 in an individualist context 00:21:57.779 --> 00:22:00.500 for ministry to become a platform 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:05.019 to create a market out of the church 00:22:05.019 --> 00:22:08.420 where individuals seek to raise their own profiles. 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:09.259 That's incredibly tempting. 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:12.539 It comes to us in any form, not just ministry. 00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:14.139 Social media makes it much worse, 00:22:14.139 --> 00:22:15.819 but we all know that this is the reality. 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:17.859 And that means that it's never been more difficult 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:19.339 to be like Gaius. 00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:22.500 And it's never been easier to be like deotrophies. 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:24.379 Hospitality is covenant love 00:22:24.379 --> 00:22:26.339 that doesn't want to be known 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:29.299 that's selfless, that's not self-interested. 00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:32.939 And platforming is taking a market interest 00:22:32.939 --> 00:22:34.819 in the church itself 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:38.819 in order to raise up our personal public acknowledgement. 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:42.099 Now that means, and let's move to the close, 00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:43.500 that means when we look at Gaius, 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:45.699 what we're being told here is we have a call in our lives 00:22:45.699 --> 00:22:50.699 to first a Catholic hospitality, Catholic small sea, 00:22:50.699 --> 00:22:53.179 meaning part of what this letter is simply about 00:22:53.179 --> 00:22:55.339 is that we've got to really care 00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:58.819 about what God is doing in all the churches 00:22:58.819 --> 00:23:00.699 where he's sending people, 00:23:01.699 --> 00:23:03.779 people traveling from all over the world. 00:23:04.779 --> 00:23:06.459 You might say you would say that, right? 00:23:06.459 --> 00:23:09.740 But he's saying whatever God might be doing, wherever, 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:10.899 wherever he might be sending people, 00:23:10.899 --> 00:23:13.980 the mission of the church globally across the city 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.619 in the Baptist and Lutherans and Presbyterians 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:18.500 and whatever it may be, we've got to care about. 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:20.179 That's Catholic hospitality 00:23:20.179 --> 00:23:22.059 that we actually care about everything 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:24.220 God might be doing in the church. 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:25.860 That's how Gaius was. 00:23:25.860 --> 00:23:28.100 But the second thing and more personal is 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:30.860 then we have a call here to personal hospitality, 00:23:30.860 --> 00:23:32.220 which is a mark of spiritual health. 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:33.500 And here at St. Columbus, 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:36.019 we have that built right into our vision statement 00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:38.700 that we long by the Holy Spirit's help 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:41.620 to be hospitable people, to Christians, to non-Christians. 00:23:41.620 --> 00:23:43.339 It's covenant love, it's not market interest. 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:44.980 Now let's bring this to a close. 00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:47.700 How do you get this? 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:49.579 How do you become like Gaius? 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:53.460 And you become like Gaius when you experience 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:55.340 covenant love. 00:23:55.340 --> 00:23:57.740 You know, hospitality is just expressing covenant love 00:23:57.740 --> 00:23:59.500 and you become like that only when you've experienced 00:23:59.500 --> 00:24:00.660 covenant love. 00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:03.700 Back in the Exodus story, remember, what did God say? 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:06.940 You were strangers, you were strangers to me, 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.059 you were alienated, you were wanderers, 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:11.740 and I came for you. 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:13.460 I came to bring you to my table 00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:16.460 and to eat, eat bread and drink wine with you. 00:24:16.460 --> 00:24:17.660 That's what God said. 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:19.940 He said, I came to be hospitable to you. 00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:22.820 Eden was our home with God. 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:27.180 And when we rejected God, we became wanderers, 00:24:27.180 --> 00:24:29.820 we became exiles, we became strangers. 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:33.580 And the whole Bible is about God saying, 00:24:33.580 --> 00:24:36.180 I've come to lay a table for you, 00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:37.940 even when you didn't want it. 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:39.500 That's covenant love. 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.580 That God came to be hospitable to people 00:24:41.580 --> 00:24:43.340 who rejected his hospitality. 00:24:44.340 --> 00:24:46.900 And one of the great moments of this, 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:48.220 it's very subtle. 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:50.380 That I love from the Old Testament is in First Kings, 00:24:50.380 --> 00:24:51.620 First Kings 18. 00:24:51.620 --> 00:24:54.660 Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal. 00:24:54.660 --> 00:24:56.500 They're on top of Mount Carmel. 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:58.980 There are 950 prophets of Baal. 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:02.339 They have a great battle over who the true God is. 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:04.339 Whatever God is real, whether Baal 00:25:04.339 --> 00:25:06.420 or the God of the Bible will bring fire down 00:25:06.420 --> 00:25:09.259 upon the sacrifice on this mountain. 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:10.940 And of course, the God of the Bible comes 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:14.420 and brings the fire down, burns up the bull, 00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:16.620 and the prophets of Baal are proven wrong. 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:21.619 But at the very end, there's Ahab. 00:25:23.299 --> 00:25:24.819 He's the king. 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.979 Ahab is the king who brought all the wicked idolatry 00:25:27.979 --> 00:25:28.899 into Israel. 00:25:28.899 --> 00:25:31.099 He is the one who raised up all the prophets of Baal. 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:33.059 He's the one who caused all this mess. 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:35.699 He's the one who should be ultimately judged. 00:25:35.699 --> 00:25:38.179 And do you know what verse 41 says of First Kings 18? 00:25:38.179 --> 00:25:40.699 God turns to Ahab and says, 00:25:40.699 --> 00:25:43.539 now that the sacrifice has been burned, 00:25:43.539 --> 00:25:47.659 will you come up the mountain and eat and drink 00:25:47.659 --> 00:25:48.980 for the rain is coming? 00:25:50.460 --> 00:25:52.819 Now what that means is that God says 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:56.420 to the most wicked man in all the world at that time, 00:25:56.420 --> 00:26:01.420 now that the sacrifice has paid the price, 00:26:01.539 --> 00:26:05.019 I want you Ahab to come up and meet me on the mountain 00:26:05.019 --> 00:26:06.500 and let's eat bread together. 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:08.779 You see what he's offering? 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:10.460 He's offering hospitality to Ahab. 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:14.460 The most wicked man of the Old Testament perhaps. 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:16.940 And then you come to the New Testament in Luke seven. 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:20.700 And there's this woman that the text says, 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:22.460 she was the woman of the city. 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:25.500 That's idiomatic for she was a prostitute. 00:26:26.380 --> 00:26:30.019 And she comes to a table that Jesus is sitting at 00:26:30.019 --> 00:26:32.620 with Pharisees and disciples together. 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:35.420 And this is a public space. 00:26:35.420 --> 00:26:38.340 She anoints his feet with oil. 00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:40.539 She pours oil over his head. 00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:42.699 She kisses his feet. 00:26:42.699 --> 00:26:44.500 She washes his feet. 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:45.939 She kisses his feet. 00:26:45.939 --> 00:26:49.899 She weeps and her tears pour to clean his feet. 00:26:51.059 --> 00:26:55.500 She's completely lost in the world without hope. 00:26:55.500 --> 00:26:57.339 And no one loves her. 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:59.740 And the Pharisees turn and say, 00:26:59.740 --> 00:27:02.699 do you know that this woman is a sinner? 00:27:02.699 --> 00:27:06.019 And Peter says, do you know that this woman is a sinner? 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:08.059 You see the disciples and the Pharisees, 00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:11.339 both say you cannot eat with her. 00:27:11.339 --> 00:27:13.299 Jesus, you can't break bread with her. 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:14.779 You can't dine with her. 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:15.619 She's a sinner. 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:16.539 She's a prostitute. 00:27:16.539 --> 00:27:18.940 You know what this means for you? 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:20.139 And what does Jesus say? 00:27:20.139 --> 00:27:23.700 He says, when I came to this house, no one washed my feet. 00:27:24.619 --> 00:27:25.460 But she did. 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:27.819 Remember the hospitality code? 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:30.339 Whenever a stranger comes into a home, 00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:32.500 the host should wash the feet. 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:35.419 And he says, none of you washed my feet. 00:27:35.419 --> 00:27:36.700 But this woman did. 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:40.700 And that's because only she understood that God, 00:27:40.700 --> 00:27:45.700 Jesus Christ, came into the world to be hospitable 00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:48.580 to strangers that didn't deserve it. 00:27:48.580 --> 00:27:50.940 She knows that, they don't. 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:56.180 And so she wants to show hospitality to Jesus Christ, 00:27:56.180 --> 00:27:59.779 the God who came to eat with her. 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:00.740 The Pharisees didn't get it. 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:03.340 The disciples didn't get it, but the prostitute did. 00:28:03.340 --> 00:28:04.940 How do you become hospitable? 00:28:04.940 --> 00:28:09.100 By seeing that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world 00:28:09.100 --> 00:28:12.740 because he ultimately wants to have table fellowship 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:13.580 with you. 00:28:14.820 --> 00:28:18.940 God the Son became human. 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:21.019 Jesus Christ became homeless 00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:24.180 because he wanted to have table fellowship with you. 00:28:24.180 --> 00:28:26.779 Jesus Christ became the ultimate wanderer 00:28:26.779 --> 00:28:28.700 because he wants to eat with you. 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:31.900 Jesus Christ became exiled to the uttermost. 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:35.340 On the cross, he was exiled, he became the ultimate stranger 00:28:35.340 --> 00:28:36.860 to God the Father himself, 00:28:36.860 --> 00:28:40.340 because he wants to break bread and drink wine with you. 00:28:41.340 --> 00:28:42.620 How do you become hospitable? 00:28:42.620 --> 00:28:44.580 It's when you've experienced that covenant love. 00:28:44.580 --> 00:28:47.820 Only when you've experienced covenant love can you give it. 00:28:47.820 --> 00:28:51.460 And you experience it by seeing what Jesus has done for you. 00:28:52.460 --> 00:28:55.540 You open your personal home and your spiritual home 00:28:55.540 --> 00:28:57.620 because Jesus did. 00:28:57.620 --> 00:28:59.340 That's the reason. 00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:03.339 Now, I said the mark of spiritual health, hospitality, 00:29:03.339 --> 00:29:06.619 the opposite deotrophies and one little extra bit at the end. 00:29:06.619 --> 00:29:07.859 Here's the little extra bit at the end 00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:09.259 and we'll close with this. 00:29:10.539 --> 00:29:15.539 John gives us one more tiny, big mark of spiritual health. 00:29:16.659 --> 00:29:17.779 And here it is in verse four 00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:20.819 and we'll only take two minutes on it. 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:22.259 And he says in verse four, he says, 00:29:22.259 --> 00:29:23.859 I have no greater joy. 00:29:23.859 --> 00:29:25.379 Maybe this is why he writes the letter. 00:29:25.379 --> 00:29:27.139 I have no greater joy than to hear 00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:29.580 that my children are walking in the truth. 00:29:29.580 --> 00:29:33.580 He writes the letter because he wants all of us to know 00:29:33.580 --> 00:29:36.140 how well Gaius was doing walking in the truth 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:38.700 and that this is a mark of spiritual health, hospitality. 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:41.180 Gaius had it by the grace of Jesus. 00:29:42.100 --> 00:29:43.660 But John says, you know, I write this letter too 00:29:43.660 --> 00:29:47.220 because I don't find it any more joy in life. 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:48.740 This is the biggest joy I get 00:29:48.740 --> 00:29:52.740 than to see the people that I've ministered to in the past, 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:57.259 hearing years later that they are walking in the faith 00:29:57.259 --> 00:30:00.099 and growing and growing and being hospitable people. 00:30:00.099 --> 00:30:03.220 He calls Gaius here his child. 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:06.859 Now, does it give you joy? 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:07.859 Here's a mark of spiritual health. 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:12.859 Do you take joy in seeing the children walking in the faith? 00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:16.740 Maybe for you, that's biological children. 00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:19.740 You long for your biological children to walk in the faith. 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:21.980 Maybe for you, that's covenantal children. 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.019 Maybe for you, that's children and John's sense 00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:25.940 that these are people that you've loved on, 00:30:25.940 --> 00:30:28.259 you've ministered to, you've shown hospitality to, 00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:30.900 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:34.099 and you hear a story of what they're doing now, 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:35.660 walking in the faith, somewhere else 00:30:35.660 --> 00:30:36.980 on the other side of the world. 00:30:36.980 --> 00:30:39.740 And John says, nothing makes me happier than that 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:41.099 to hear these stories. 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:45.339 You know, it's as if John is saying, you know, 00:30:45.339 --> 00:30:47.740 I don't care, can we say this? 00:30:47.740 --> 00:30:51.220 I don't care if my son, my daughter, 00:30:51.220 --> 00:30:54.700 my sons and daughters, and you could say that to me, 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:55.779 and all of us could say that to each other. 00:30:55.779 --> 00:30:57.940 I don't care if my biological children 00:30:57.940 --> 00:30:59.819 or covenant children are digging ditches 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:01.539 the rest of their life. 00:31:01.539 --> 00:31:02.380 You know, I don't care if they're doing 00:31:02.380 --> 00:31:06.299 the most menial, unimportant job in all the world. 00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:09.700 I could care less if they're walking in the truth, 00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:13.860 if they're hospitable people because of Jesus Christ. 00:31:13.860 --> 00:31:15.940 And John says that that's what makes me most happy 00:31:15.940 --> 00:31:16.900 in all the world. 00:31:18.100 --> 00:31:18.940 Is that you? 00:31:18.940 --> 00:31:20.820 Can you say that? 00:31:20.820 --> 00:31:25.820 Hospitality and the joy of seeing other people 00:31:26.299 --> 00:31:31.299 walk in truth is birthed in hospitality received. 00:31:33.660 --> 00:31:37.220 And so when you know that Jesus Christ was on the cross 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:42.100 and it was you that was his joy as he died, 00:31:42.100 --> 00:31:45.740 it was you that gave them the endurance to suffer 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:49.059 because he wanted to be hospitable to you, 00:31:49.059 --> 00:31:51.299 that can make you a hospitable person. 00:31:52.859 --> 00:31:54.460 Let's pray together. 00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:59.460 Lord, we pray, Father, that we would see Christ's hospitality 00:32:01.299 --> 00:32:04.220 to us tonight, the love of Jesus for us, 00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:06.660 and that that would make us into people renewed 00:32:06.660 --> 00:32:09.059 in this call to love strangers. 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:11.539 And so we know, Lord, that we're called to love Christians 00:32:11.539 --> 00:32:13.779 and Christian strangers, Christian friends, 00:32:13.779 --> 00:32:17.740 and non-Christians, people that are human beings, 00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:20.579 love human beings, that's what you call us to. 00:32:20.579 --> 00:32:25.099 So help us to look for those in need around us, 00:32:25.099 --> 00:32:26.740 help us to be moved in our hearts, 00:32:26.740 --> 00:32:29.700 to really desire to open our spaces, 00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:31.980 our spiritual spaces, our physical spaces 00:32:31.980 --> 00:32:34.500 to people in our lives. 00:32:34.500 --> 00:32:38.500 So give us Philoxenia, love of stranger, hospitality, 00:32:39.379 --> 00:32:42.700 and give us joy in hearing the stories of those 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:46.180 who have walked in the truth since we've first met them. 00:32:46.180 --> 00:32:48.539 And so we pray, Lord, that you would work these truths 00:32:48.539 --> 00:32:50.660 deep into our heart tonight. 00:32:50.660 --> 00:33:14.660 We pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.