The practice of hospitality has profound implications for our work and witness as believers. It allows recipients of good hospitality to focus on their mission without stressing about mundane issues. We can only imagine how critical this was for those who followed Y’shua’s instructions. Today’s Holy Nougat, indicates that Y’shua expected that cities would also offer hospitality to the 72. Interesting.
Luke 10:8-9 CEVDCI
[8] If the people of a town welcome you, eat whatever they offer. [9] Heal their sick and say, “God’s kingdom will soon be here!”
Receiving Community Hospitality
We operate from the premise that the 72 were being sent to Jewish cities. In so doing, we remember that after establishing themselves in the Land of Promise, the Israelites were instructed to establish cities of refuge. Those spaces were intended to offer refuge to people in need.
Thus cities were not unfamiliar with hospitality. While the 72 did not fit the criteria for City of Refuge, they were bearers of Good News. It is my hope that the cities were hospitable to anyone in need. (See Isaiah 5:27; Nahum 1:15; Romans 10:15 which suggest that bearers of Good News are to be offered good hospitality.)
Self-Check
Do we harbour unfair expectations of how we want to be received as messengers of God’s salvation?
Deeper Dive
We’ve concluded that when the 72 were being sent, it was to local cities in Israel. When the post-Pentecost apostles and evangelists were sent on missionary journeys however, they were visiting Gentile cities. The culture varied, including food eaten. In Acts 10, Peter was offered unclean food in a vision. God, the Creator of the universe encouraged Peter to eat it three times! While we know that God was giving him a message about offering Gentiles the Gospel of Christ, we hear echoes of Y’shua’s command … eat what was offered to him. And it was God Who was offering Peter the unclean food!
Could it be that as Y’shua sends us forth to fulfill God’s mission, He wants us to receive others hospitality with openness? Not every city offers us a cordon bleu experience. Some will disappoint us. God sometimes sends us to places that are steeped in poverty. Or their food might be different from our cultural palette. (I can start to that). That’s where Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 9:22 applies. We become all things to (or at least eat all things from) all people for the sake of the Gospel.
It might not literally be the food that is offered to us. But the premise holds true. We receive what they can afford without imposing unfair expectations. Especially when we are being received in foreign countries or those with economic disadvantages.
If our priority is sharing the Gospel of Christ which offers salvation to all – believers and unbelievers alike – then little cultural differences must be set aside to keep God as priority. In pairs, small mission trip groups, or alone, let us keep Christ our priority. We must receive our hosts with humility even as they receive us.
Point to Ponder
Could our attitudes to new cultures be hindering others from hearing the Good News of salvation? God’s Spirit can transform us, just as Peter was transformed.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
