Hospitality

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, August 31, 2025: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16;
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers“, our selection from the letter to the Hebrews begins. After all, “by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it“. Harking back to the story of Abraham, the writer offers a somewhat manipulative version of hospitality. You do it not because it is right, and in the desert necessary, but because you might win the divine lottery.

Jesus in the gospel is also concerned with hospitality, but I don’t think he’d be happy with the writer of Hebrews’ take on it. Jesus was headed to a meal at the house of a pharisee–a wealthy and important man. When he arrived, he watched how people claimed their places. Everyone wanted the most important seat. His was a hierarchical society, where people sat in order of rank. So Jesus offered his complete guide to being a guest or a host.

In his parable, those who claim the most important seats are in danger. What if someone more important has been invited? Then you will be shamed by having to move down. Much better to choose a low seat, and be invited to move up. So one part of the story is “don’t assume you’re the most important person”.

But there’s a second part of the parable, and that is more challenging. Jesus talks to the hosts. The tradition of hospitality in Jesus’ world was part of the economy of patronage. I invite you, you invite me back. Or I invite you, and you do me a favor that you control. Hospitality is not a free gift, but one with implicit strings attached. And Jesus says no to that. He tells hosts not to invite people “in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.” Instead of a quid pro quo economy, Jesus offers one of genuine hospitality, where you offer a gift with no thought of recompense. Invite, he says, “the poor, the cripped, the lame and the blind“. They may not invite you back, but you will be rewarded in heaven.

We talk a great deal about the value of hospitality. Our website says that we welcome everyone. But we don’t entirely mean that, and I think most Christians who say something like that don’t entirely mean it. We would like to welcome everyone no matter what. But if we are honest with ourselves, what we are comfortable with is welcoming people who want to be with us, probably someone like us. We know welcoming others will change our community, but we kind of hope, “not too much”. Too much change makes us a bit uncomfortable. But Jesus suggests another model, where welcoming people changes the host. We all know this from our friendships: our friends change us, and we change them. Relationships open new doors. True hospitality requires letting go of some of the control.

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it“. In the model Jesus suggests, we may entertain angels. But we could also be the poor, the lame and the blind, and be angels for others.