Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 1 Peter 4:8-9

 

Few things embrace the good and beautiful in life like gathering around a table and sharing a meal.

 

Many of us can trace our most vulnerable conversations, deepest belly laughs, and most sincere moments of connection to conversations around a table. This is not unusual– God intended hospitality to be powerful. The New Testament of the Bible describes over 30 times when Jesus gathered with his friends, new and old, to share a meal. He spent so much time sharing meals with people and laughing around a table that his critics called him “a glutton and a drunk” in the book of Matthew (Matthew 11:19). Jesus accepted invitations to eat with despised tax collectors, religious leaders, coarse fishermen, and people with bad reputations. There’s no record of Jesus ever turning down a dinner invitation—in fact, once He invited Himself to dinner! (Luke 19:1-10)

 

Feasting together is an act of fellowship and intimacy. It invites people in, says “you belong,” and offers desperately needed daily nourishment for the mind, heart, and body. Dustin Willis explains, “Hospitality is not about entertaining, it’s about engaging… Let’s use our homes to be micro representations of [God’s] final banquet table—Let’s become relentlessly warm and welcoming because we’ve been relentlessly welcomed in Christ.”[1]

 

Scripture reminds us: “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay” (1 Peter 4:8-9).

 

Who needs an invitation to your house for pizza today?

 

[1] Willis, Dustin, and Brandon Clements. “Finally Home.” The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life, Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2017, p.145.