Open Heart, Open Home

"The Lord opened her (Lydia's) heart to respond to Paul's message...she invited us to her home."
Acts 16:14-15 (NIV)

Photo by Stacy Richardson

The headline in the women's section of our local newspaper reads, "Everyone should have a place to eat a holiday meal." The article that followed, unfortunately, was Martha Stewart's advice on assigned seating at a holiday meal.

The Bible also has a lot to say about hospitality. Rahab the prostitute opened her home and gave protection to the two spies from Israel. The widow at Zarephath, a poor woman, gave the prophet Elijah food and drink even as famine and drought gripped the land. The Shunnamite woman, a well to do woman, gave the prophet Elisha, a room of his own to use when he came to town. And Lydia, the subject of today's verse, opened her home to the Apostle Paul's ministry team, after she received the gospel message and became a Christian. Her home became Paul's base of ministry operation and eventually housed the Philippian church.

Several principles concerning Biblical hospitality emerge from the study of each woman. In each case, the women extended the "gift of place" to someone in need. The gift of place is not just a physical location- it is that place where one is accepted, affirmed, and allowed to grow. Each woman also made her guests feel welcome, wanted, and worth the trouble. Those 3 "W's"- welcome, wanted, and worth the trouble- are the hallmark characteristics of biblical hospitality. And finally, each woman opened her heart BEFORE she opened her home. Hospitality was a byproduct of her relationship with God, not a means to gain favor with Him.

According to the latest statistics, 80-90% of international students studying here in the United States never see the inside of an American home. We spend millions of dollars sending missionaries to share the Gospel in foreign countries, yet the world is here on our doorstep and never sees the inside of our homes. Consider inviting a foreign student to your Thanksgiving feast. Or how about a neighbor whose family is far away? Is there someone in your church or at your workplace who is lonely, hurting, or grieving? If God has blessed you with a physical space, consider sharing it with someone who needs a place.

Martha Stewart is partially right- Everyone should have a place to eat a holiday meal- not as an assigned seat, but as an assignment from God. Open your heart to God's message and then open your home to others.