Hospitality to Total Strangers

 

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1 Peter 4:9 Contemporary English Version

⁹ Welcome people into your home and don't grumble about it.

 

Oliver and Geraldine Lien were the foundation of the Adventist church in Iowa City. Oliver was head elder, and Genevieve was the church treasurer. While we were there, I was elected an elder in the church. She told me that one of the duties of an elder in a small church was to be hospitable to strangers who came into town and called the church seeking hospitality—usually a bed for the night but sometimes just a meal.

One time he passed a call on to me from an older couple who were Adventist missionaries in a far eastern country. They were on furlough and just passing through. They were full of the grace of God and stories of their experiences. They had served there for many years and were quite mystified by modern American life. They drove an old car that looked like it had more than the usual number of miles on it. I didn’t learn how they got the car, or who owned it. They were headed east to visit family and friends and planned to be there for several months.

Having recently returned from five years of mission work in Tanzania, we understood a lot of their feelings and empathized with them fully. We encouraged them to stop by on their way west. They did, indeed, stop by on their way west several months later. They were headed back to their mission field and another three years or more of service. They exuded a glow of the joy of the Lord which they shared liberally with us.

All visitors were not of the same caliber as these. One such stole a sizable sum of cash from my brother, who was also visiting us. He had spoken glowingly of attending his Adventist church back in Texas and sharing in their Sunday church potlucks. That should have warned me that he might be dangerous. Christ spoke of having naïve followers, and I have been made aware that I have fallen into that classification on more than one occasion.

We still rejoice in that special visit from our missionary friends. We value the experience immensely and wouldn’t trade it for anything. In our current situation in a California metropolis, we sense only too well the problems the unhoused bring to our community. What would Christ have done and how would He have lived if He had come to America in the 21^st century?

Lord, thank You for encouraging us to show hospitality even though it backfires on occasion.

 

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[1] https://media.swncdn.com/via/22746-1-pet-4-9-fbjpeg.jpg

Show Hospitality to Strangers?

 

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Hebrews 13:2 Good News Translation

² Remember to welcome strangers in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it.

 

During our stay in Iowa City while I was working on my doctorate, I also served as a church elder for the little Adventist church there. The duties were fairly minimal. Since our pastor had two churches, he would only come to ours every second week. It frequently became my duty to preach a sermon on Sabbaths he wasn’t there. An unexpected, but common duty, one not listed in the Church Manual, was to host Adventist travelers through the state who needed a room for the night. The telephone number of the church was the head elder’s number.

One such traveler was an old couple in a beat-up car. They were missionaries in some far-eastern country who were on furlough and were headed back to the mission-field. We had a very blessed visit with them. They shared lots of stories of faith that moved our hearts and served as fodder for a sermon or two. Evidently, they enjoyed it, too; a couple years later they stopped by on a second furlough, and we had another rewarding evening. Sylvia loved visiting with and hosting them. We shared Christmas letters for several years.

On one occasion, such hosting backfired. A young fellow came in who told us he was a church member from down in Texas. He had the brogue to match. He arrived in time for lunch and ate ravenously. It was obvious why he weighed well over 400 pounds. He made some evident slip ups as he was describing his activities in his home church. For example, he referred to communion as a sacrament; he ate meat at church potlucks—which rarely happens. [My Dad remarked on more than one occasion that if someone really wanted to learn how to prepare vegetarian meals, they should come to a few Adventist potlucks to find delicious dishes.] When he referred to going to church on Sunday, I asked him about it. He quickly added that he was only recently baptized and still used the old terminology, occasionally.

My brother and family happened to be visiting at the time, and we let the visitor take a nap in the room they were staying in. When we went to call him for supper, he had disappeared. Later my brother found that several hundred dollars had been taken from his billfold that had been in the room while the guest was napping. It was a costly way to discover that our guest was not one of God’s angels!

Lord, thank You for blessing us with Your “strangers.” May we not turn away those You send because of one bad experience.

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[1] https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/hebrews-13-2