Hospitality

Hospitality is not an outside attribute it is an inside attitude and one which can only be shown when we have some sort of peace. Sure - we can look hospitable and sound hospitable - the silver can be shiny and the plates stacked neatly but there will always be some vacancy unless we are secure.

Hospitality seems to require some sort of residence. On a basic level that would be - I live in my house and I can invite you there. But on a meta level it would mean something else. Something more along the lines of I live here, I am here, be here with me.

That is the sort of hospitality which Jesus invites us to - that I am here, be here hospitality. It is not about pretenstion or outward appearances - it is about who we are. And as it is about who we really are it can never be exclusive.

This, of course, is threatening to those who are in hiding from themselves. To suddenly be confronted with a world where simply looking right no longer works is challenging. To be seen as something beyond the carefully cultured front which most of us have is frightening. But that is where we are called - to a world of hospitality.