The laws of hospitality at heart of Christianity

In chapter 10 of the Matthew Gospel and chapter 10 of the Luke Gospel, it is reported that Jesus sent out disciples to the towns and villages of Galilee. They were to declare peace and the coming of the kingdom of God.

They were to take no provisions with them. They were to take no purse, no bag, no staff, no extra clothing, no money and no sandals. In other words they were to take nothing with them but the clothes on their backs.

As they went to a household or to a community, they were to be completely dependent on the hospitality that was offered. If hospitality was not offered, it was a signal that no faithful son of Israel lived in that place.

“Shake the dust from your feet and continue on your way.” Very clearly Jesus was willing to define the religious commitment of a Jew by whether he/she practiced hospitality.

The practice of hospitality is a key provision of Old Testament law. It is related to the command to love one’s neighbor. In Jesus’ practice of his faith, only love of God rated ahead of love of neighbor.

In the book of Leviticus, as translated into English, the word “hospitality” is never used. The key word that is used many times in Leviticus is “sojourner.” Who were the sojourners, and how were they to be treated? Hospitality was the answer.

Sojourners were people who, for any reason, had been disconnected from his/her family or tribe. They were people who were constantly on the move in their attempt to survive. They had become rootless. They were truly lost.

The drive of Leviticus law was to restore the stranger and sojourner to their place in the community. In Leviticus the children of Israel are reminded that they were once sojourners and strangers in the land of Egypt. Just as God had taken the children of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and restored them with a gift of land of their own, so the faithful Israelite was to restore the strangers and sojourners to their rightful place in community.

The book of Leviticus has a bad reputation among modern believers, particularly among some Christians. It is true the book has some strange behavior codes that address hairstyles, dietary rules, dress codes, and sexual conduct.

In a modern world, many of the laws for daily living found in Leviticus make no sense and should be ignored. However, some of the Leviticus codes are models for modern living.

A careful reading of Leviticus witnesses to God’s concern for the sojourner and the stranger. As stated in Leviticus, God’s goal is restoration of the sojourner and the stranger.

The intent of Leviticus law cannot be accomplished until shalom (peace) is achieved and everyone is made whole by restoration to community. Restoration of people through hospitality is at the very heart of the practice of Judaism and Christianity.

I am a child of the Great Depression. Desperate people abounded in the 1930s. The house in which I grew up was near the railroad tracks.

Poverty-stricken and rootless men were on the move. They road “the rails” of the freight trains that moved through my central Illinois town. As the trains moved through small towns, hungry and homeless men jumped off the trains and went from door to door begging for food.

Dirty, unkempt, hungry men were not an unusual sight at our back door. My Mother never refused a sojourner.

I grew up with four sisters and two brothers. Every bed in the house held at least two persons each night. There were no extra beds.

It was not unusual for us to host sojourners. They slept on a couch or on the floor. Typically they were relatives or a friend of a relative who was “down on their luck.”

Refusing hospitality to a sojourner was not an option. We were Christians.

The particulars of the lives of sojourners change from generation to generation and from culture to culture. They are tied together by the phenomenon of being homeless, disconnected, on the move and hungry.

Today’s profile is particularly ugly: alcoholics, drug addicts, people with long-term mental illnesses, abandoned children, people being released from prisons. The stream of sojourners continues.

In preparing this column, I reread the book of Leviticus. I also reviewed in my mind the life and teachings of Jesus. He was both the friend of all sojourners and a sojourner himself.

I reviewed the advice of the author of the book of Hebrews. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated….”

The writing of this column was triggered by the prisoner exchange that recently took place. I have nothing but disgust for those who want to dwell on what bad people are involved and what they have done in the past.

None of the men involved will be helped with judgment and condemnation. They need restoration. I hope they each will be welcomed home by family, friends and community.

Hospitality is the finest tool that Jesus and the traditions of Israel have placed in our hands. We need to use it graciously and often.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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