Last night I went to the Eucharist at Moot which had the theme of hospitality.
It was great to see everyone again and during the homily I was struck by some of Ian’s words:
‘are we hospitable to the drunkards, the homeless, the prostitutes’

Dictionary.com says hospitable means:

the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.
the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.

My immediate thoughts were ‘yes, I would always treat all with respect’. But … hospitality is so much more. The ‘reception and treatment’ suggests ‘welcoming in’ as you can’t ‘receive’ someone by talking to them on the streets.

Donating on the streets is quite easy, donating money can be done through the warmth and comfort of my sweet smelling home by clicking on a button on my laptop while watching TV and sipping a beer. Campaigning for safer laws is manageable. Hospitality seems to be more than this.

This is a massive challenge that I had not thought fully about before. If being hospitable means opening up the home, my life, my family then that is a massive ask. But … that IS what hospitality is all about, isn’t it? Or is it mission … or both?