What comes to mind when you think about doing Kingdom work? Feeding the hungry? Spreading the Gospel? Praying over people? Baptizing people? Going on a mission trip? These are all great ways to spread the gospel and do kingdom work, but what if I were to tell you hospitality is one of the greatest ways to show what the Kingdom is like.
Hebrews 13:2 “ Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
All to often we don’t invite others into our homes because we don’t know them, the house is messy, I’m to tired, I don’t have anything to drink or eat….these are things that I have done and I know others have done as well. But let me tell you something about the hospitality of others around the world. It stands out from everything I thought I knew about it.
1 Peter 4:9-10 “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
Why are we not doing exactly what the Lord, our Father, Alpha and Omega, Abba, Jehovah, Jireh, Adonai…..wants us to do?
How can a random Grandma in Nowhere(literally in the middle of nowhere), Armenia invite 6 American strangers into her home, share intimate details about her life, offer food, drinks, laughs, worship with her, and pray with her…Please listen to me when I say that is the Lord. How can teams be going across countries and random people let other teams stay for free? House them at no cost? Go out of their way to help provide stuff for us? I do understand that there is a fear of over “christianizing” people’s hospitality but we also need to call it how we see it.
Now I’m preaching to myself with every word. But this should convict everyone to do better. Ask yourself “What is stopping me from inviting my friend over to have dinner? Play some games? Just to hang out?” What is it? There doesn’t need to be an agenda behind asking someone over or out to eat. The only thing behind it needs to be, God says we need to do this.
There are over 50 instances across the 4 Gospels where Jesus entered the homes of people. Inviting people into your home, is the best place ministry can take place. People feel comfortable in their homes. Jesus healed a blind man in a home. Jesus taught parables to his disciples in homes. Jesus told the synagogue leader that his daughter was not dead but asleep adn told her to get up, to walk.
Dang!!!!! There is power in the house of believers, believers have favor when they go into other houses. We have to know our authority that God has given unto us.
The authority of the believer is an aspect of the Christian walk that few believers know much about. Some think that authority over the devil belongs to only a few chosen people to whom God has given special power. It doesn’t; it belongs to all the children of God.
Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us(the whole church) in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
We have to being people into our homes, where we can fight(spiritual battles), where the Lord has blessed a place of peace, have spiritual authority over our home, and serve those who we are called to minister to.
We are called to spread the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ with zeal. It is simply said by Jesus in John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
How are you going to tell someone that they can be free, if you never invite them in to talk about the Good News?
