Bible Text: Hebrews 13:2 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | \u00abDo not for\u00adget to show hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to stran\u00adgers, for in this way some have given shel\u00adter to angels wit\u00adhout rea\u00adli\u00adsing it!\u00bb (Hebrews 13:2). The Greek word used in the Bible for hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty lite\u00adral\u00adly means love for the stran\u00adger. Such hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is not only gas\u00adtro\u00adno\u00admy, but also a spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal event.<\/p>\n
\tWhat did you under\u00adstand by hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty until now? How has your under\u00adstan\u00adding been broa\u00adden\u00aded by the sermon? Bible Text: Hebrews 13:2 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | \u00abDo not for\u00adget to show hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to stran\u00adgers, for in this way some have given shel\u00adter to angels wit\u00adhout rea\u00adli\u00adsing it!\u00bb (Hebrews 13:2). The Greek word used in the Bible for hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty lite\u00adral\u00adly means love for the stran\u00adger. Such hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is not only\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[23],"wpfc_sermon_series":[53],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","wpfc_sermon_series-willkommen-daheim","wpfc-sermon-single","post-2412","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nRab\u00adbi Shmu\u00adel of Bry\u00adsow was one of the most respec\u00adted men of his Hasi\u00addic faith. And he was rich. One day a lar\u00adge group of mer\u00adchants came to Bry\u00adsow just befo\u00adre the Sab\u00adbath, so they deci\u00added to stay in town for the holi\u00adday. They came to Rab\u00adbi Shmu\u00adel and inqui\u00adred if they could stay in his house and share the Sab\u00adbath meal with him. Rab\u00adbi Shmu\u00adel repli\u00aded that he could offer them both, but only for a fee, and then he even men\u00adtio\u00adned a rather high sum that they would have to pay for their stay. The tra\u00advel\u00adlers were dis\u00adcon\u00adcer\u00adted that a Hasid would demand pay\u00adment for the bene\u00adfit of hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, but sin\u00adce they had no choice, they accept\u00aded his offer. And so the mer\u00adchants ate and drank their fill over the Sab\u00adbath, even deman\u00adding fine wines and sel\u00adec\u00adted dis\u00adhes as pay\u00adment for the high pri\u00adce they would have to pay. Nor did they hesi\u00adta\u00adte to make all kinds of spe\u00adcial requests. When the Sab\u00adbath was over and the mer\u00adchants wan\u00adted to con\u00adti\u00adnue their jour\u00adney, they ente\u00adred Rab\u00adbi Shmuel\u2019s stu\u00addy to pay the agreed sum. But the rab\u00adbi burst out laug\u00adhing: \u00abDo you think I have lost my mind? How could I accept money for the pri\u00advi\u00adle\u00adge of offe\u00adring hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to tra\u00advel\u00adlers?\u00bb The mer\u00adchants loo\u00adked at each other uncom\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00addin\u00adgly, \u00abThen why did you accept us only on the con\u00addi\u00adti\u00adon that we pay you hea\u00advi\u00adly?\u00bb Then Rab\u00adbi Shmu\u00adel explai\u00adned, \u00abI was afraid that you might be embar\u00adras\u00adsed to eat enough or drink the best wines if you only felt like my guests. And \u2013 be honest, was\u00adn\u2019t I right?\u00bb
\nIt\u2019s not just this spe\u00adcial Jewish humour, but we Swiss can also empa\u00adthise with it very well. In our part of the world, we don\u2019t like to be given pres\u00adents, do we? For exam\u00adp\u00adle, meti\u00adcu\u00adlous lists are kept of what and how much each per\u00adson gave the boy for his con\u00adfir\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon. Neigh\u00adbour M\u00fcl\u00adler, CHF<\/span> 20, and a dark blue wash\u00adcloth-towel set with his name on it. Then, a few years later, when neigh\u00adbour M\u00fcller\u2019s daugh\u00adter has her own con\u00adfir\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon, a packa\u00adge with a pink wash\u00adcloth-towel set and the exact amount of CHF<\/span> 20.45 flut\u00adters into the mail slot of the neighbour\u2019s house (adjus\u00adted for infla\u00adti\u00adon, of cour\u00adse). Just don\u2019t be in anyone\u2019s debt.
\nToday it\u2019s about hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. And the\u00adre are both sides to it: The side of the host and also the side of the guest. What makes a good host? What makes a good guest? Rab\u00adbi Samu\u00adel would ans\u00adwer the second ques\u00adti\u00adon: \u00abA good guest is someone who likes to be trea\u00adted well and does not always secret\u00adly cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adte what it will take to be even again. And what then makes a good host?
\nBe generous
\n\u00abDo not for\u00adget to show hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to stran\u00adgers, for in this way some have shel\u00adte\u00adred angels wit\u00adhout rea\u00adli\u00adsing it!\u00bb (Hebrews 13:2). To be hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adble requi\u00adres a big heart. The word xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia lite\u00adral\u00adly means love of stran\u00adgers. Hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty means being kind to stran\u00adgers, ope\u00adning one\u2019s heart and home to others.
\nSo hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is not shown by how I enter\u00adtain my fri\u00adends, but how I tre\u00adat stran\u00adgers. Jesus says to a host in a para\u00adble: \u00abWhen you invi\u00adte guests to lunch or din\u00adner, do not invi\u00adte your fri\u00adends, brot\u00adhers, rela\u00adti\u00adves or rich neigh\u00adbours. For they will repay you by invi\u00adting you as well. Rather, invi\u00adte the poor, the cripp\u00adled, the para\u00adly\u00adsed and the blind. At the resur\u00adrec\u00adtion of the god\u00adly you will be hap\u00adpy, for God will reward you for invi\u00adting peo\u00adp\u00adle who could not repay you\u00bb (Luke 14:12\u201314).
\nIt often goes like this: Fritz invi\u00adted me to his bir\u00adth\u00adday, so next time I\u2019ll invi\u00adte him to my bir\u00adth\u00adday too. Xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia, as the Bible under\u00adstands it, does not only mean the cul\u00adti\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon of the cir\u00adcle of fri\u00adends, but cle\u00adar\u00adly goes bey\u00adond that. I have only faint memo\u00adries of the time when we came to Seon 20 years ago as a stran\u00adge litt\u00adle fami\u00adly. But I still remem\u00adber some of the peo\u00adp\u00adle who hel\u00adped with the moving. I was very impres\u00adsed when Phil\u00adip\u00adpe E. invi\u00adted Sil\u00advia and me to their small group during the first ser\u00advice. Xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia obvious\u00adly lea\u00adves a las\u00adting impression.
\nElse\u00adwhe\u00adre, Jesus speaks of the works of mer\u00adcy in the con\u00adtext of the last jud\u00adge\u00adment: \u00abI was a stran\u00adger and you invi\u00adted me into your house\u00bb (Matthew 25:35b). Tho\u00adse addres\u00adsed had no clue what he was tal\u00adking about. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre they ask when this hap\u00adpen\u00aded. Jesus repli\u00aded: \u00abI assu\u00adre you: Wha\u00adte\u00adver you did for one of the least of the\u00adse brot\u00adhers and sis\u00adters of mine, you did for me!\u00bb (40). Hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty in the final jud\u00adge\u00adment will be mea\u00adsu\u00adred by how we have trea\u00adted the least of these.
\nThe\u00adse thoughts chall\u00adenge me a lot. In my mind I go through the guest lists for my bir\u00adth\u00addays, New Year\u2019s Eve par\u00adties and 1 August cele\u00adbra\u00adti\u00adons. It is much more com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble to invi\u00adte peo\u00adp\u00adle who tick like me and con\u00adfirm me. Guest-fri\u00adend\u00adli\u00adne\u00adss, as the Bible under\u00adstands it, requi\u00adres a wide heart and much gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty. And yet it is obvious that xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia should be an inte\u00adgral part of a follower\u2019s life. Few injunc\u00adtions are repea\u00adted as often in the Bible as this one. It is even an indis\u00adpensable cri\u00adter\u00adion for the elec\u00adtion of elders (Titus 1:8). The Bible empha\u00adsi\u00ads\u00ades the importance of hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. It is a won\u00adderful way to show God\u2019s love to nee\u00addy people.
\nThe core of hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is encoun\u00adter. \u00abYou can let someone in the door and he still has the fee\u00adling that he has stay\u00aded out\u00adside. His body has been allo\u00adwed in, but the soul has not. He must also be recei\u00adved spi\u00adri\u00adtual\u00adly\u00bb (Roma\u00adno Guar\u00addi\u00adni). This spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal recep\u00adti\u00adon hap\u00adpens in mutu\u00adal sha\u00adring and par\u00adti\u00adci\u00adpa\u00adti\u00adon in our lives. At first we may be in shal\u00adlow waters, exchan\u00adging pleas\u00adant\u00adries and news, gos\u00adsi\u00adping a litt\u00adle \u2013 but then the con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon takes on depth. We share each other\u2019s hap\u00adpi\u00adness and sor\u00adrow, take on the joys and bur\u00addens of the other per\u00adson. Real encoun\u00adters suc\u00adceed when all par\u00adti\u00adci\u00adpan\u00adts are given space and attention.
\nMeet angels
\nHis big busi\u00adness is at rest. It is hot. Abra\u00adham is enjoy\u00ading a well-deser\u00adved sies\u00adta at the ent\u00adrance to his tent. This time of rela\u00adxa\u00adti\u00adon is very important for his work-life balan\u00adce. After a first power nap, he sud\u00adden\u00adly sees the sil\u00adhou\u00adet\u00adtes of three men through his slee\u00adpy eyes. \u00abWhen he noti\u00adced them, he stood up, wal\u00adked towards them and bowed low. \u00abMy lord,\u00bb he said, \u00abif you are kind to me, your ser\u00advant, do not just walk on\u00bb \u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 18:2f). And now Abra\u00adham prac\u00adti\u00adsed hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty in the ori\u00aden\u00adtal sen\u00adse. He lets them rest in the sha\u00adde of the tree while his ser\u00advants wash their feet. Wife Sarah is ins\u00adtruc\u00adted to bake flat bread from the best flour, and one of the ser\u00advants is to slaugh\u00adter and prepa\u00adre a ten\u00adder young calf. \u00abWhen the meal was rea\u00addy, he took but\u00adter and milk and the roas\u00adted meat and ser\u00adved it to the men\u00bb (8). I ima\u00adgi\u00adne that they dined tog\u00ade\u00adther after sun\u00adset. What a gigan\u00adtic effort for three stran\u00adge men run\u00adning around!
\nIn the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon it sud\u00adden\u00adly says: \u00abThen the Lord said to Abra\u00adham\u00bb (13). Pre\u00adsu\u00adma\u00adb\u00adly the sca\u00adles sud\u00adden\u00adly fall from Abraham\u2019s eyes that the LORD<\/span> is visi\u00adting him per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly. \u00abDo not for\u00adget to show hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to stran\u00adgers, for in this way some have given shel\u00adter to angels wit\u00adhout rea\u00adli\u00adsing it!\u00bb (Hebrews 13:2).
\nA simi\u00adlar thought alre\u00ada\u00addy sho\u00adne through in Jesus\u00bb final jud\u00adge\u00adment speech men\u00adtio\u00adned abo\u00adve. Jesus iden\u00adti\u00adfies with the least of his brot\u00adhers and sis\u00adters. What we do for them, we do for Jesus. So the\u00adre is a huge poten\u00adti\u00adal in xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia: it could be that in doing so we look direct\u00adly into the eyes of an angel or even Jesus. Whe\u00adre visi\u00adtors go or whe\u00adre visi\u00adtors are recei\u00adved, a spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal dimen\u00adsi\u00adon some\u00adti\u00admes opens up. Wit\u00adhout kno\u00adwing it, we host angels or beco\u00adme angels for others, i.e. hel\u00adpful mes\u00adsen\u00adgers of God. In mee\u00adting fri\u00adends and through hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty with stran\u00adgers, we do speak with our human voices. But what was said often stays with you for a long time. The more we think about it, the more it seems to us that God has spo\u00adken a word to us.
\nI am con\u00advin\u00adced that this hap\u00adpens not only when we invi\u00adte stran\u00adgers into our homes and enter\u00adtain them, but just as much when we open our hearts wide and, for exam\u00adp\u00adle, have a cof\u00adfee with someone we do not yet know (well) after a church service.
\nLearn more about you
\nThe three men announ\u00adce during their visit that Sara has given birth to a son at the same time next year. This is an incre\u00addi\u00adble announce\u00adment. After all, Sarah is alre\u00ada\u00addy so withe\u00adred that she no lon\u00adger even thinks about love lust, and Abra\u00adham is also far too old for such things (12f). During this visit, their visi\u00adon is kissed awa\u00adke and the aged cou\u00adple Abra\u00adham and Sarah go their way new\u00adly encou\u00adra\u00adged. The visit takes them fur\u00adther becau\u00adse the guests speak a truth that is not so easy to say. For Sarah has good reason to laugh at the announce\u00adment of a son (12). Nevert\u00adhel\u00adess, the guest speaks this incre\u00addi\u00adble promise.
\nIt is in the con\u00adfron\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon with the stran\u00adger that we learn more about our\u00adsel\u00adves. When we meet fri\u00adends, we expe\u00adri\u00adence good fee\u00adlings, con\u00adfir\u00adma\u00adti\u00adon and pats on the back. We need that. In the encoun\u00adter with the stran\u00adger, we are con\u00adfron\u00adted with our own fee\u00adlings that we did\u00adn\u2019t even know were insi\u00adde us. The Jewish phi\u00adlo\u00adso\u00adpher Mar\u00adtin Buber says about this: \u00abMan beco\u00admes I in the you.\u00bb In the con\u00adfron\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon with the other, we reco\u00adg\u00adni\u00adse ourselves.
\nIn John (chap\u00adter 21), Jesus as the risen Lord is the sur\u00adpri\u00adse host. He has gut\u00adted, washed and sca\u00adled the fish and built a fire. He waits until a nice glow has deve\u00adlo\u00adped and then also beg\u00adins to roast the fish. His guest, Peter, rea\u00adches him swim\u00adming. The\u00adre is about to be a heart-stir\u00adring pas\u00adto\u00adral encoun\u00adter. But first the meal, for as we know, the way to a man\u2019s heart is through his sto\u00admach\u2026 After the meal, Jesus addres\u00adses the betra\u00ady\u00adal of his disci\u00adple. The host does this so tactful\u00adly that the truth comes to light and the guest remains pro\u00adtec\u00adted at the same time. It is always a gre\u00adat art to hold the truth in love. Accor\u00adding to Paul, it is a pre\u00adre\u00adqui\u00adsi\u00adte for Christ\u00adli\u00adken\u00adess: \u00abIns\u00adtead, let us hold fast to the truth in love, beco\u00adming in every way more like Christ, who is the head of his body \u2013 the church\u00bb (Ephe\u00adsi\u00adans 4:15). Wit\u00adhout truthful\u00adness, our con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adons beco\u00adme a shal\u00adlow exch\u00adan\u00adge of harm\u00adless nice\u00adties; wit\u00adhout love, we slap them in each other\u2019s faces like a wet rag. When the two come tog\u00ade\u00adther, it is like hol\u00adding out a warm coat for each other to slip into.
\n
\nThe week befo\u00adre last, we had guests from Cana\u00adda in our house. They were for\u00adeign to us in seve\u00adral ways: we have never met them befo\u00adre, we don\u2019t speak their lan\u00adguage and they have a dif\u00adfe\u00adrent cul\u00adtu\u00adral back\u00adground. In the run-up we were a bit ner\u00advous, we read Eng\u00adlish books, clea\u00adned our room and bought food they loved. Today we know: We were hos\u00adting angels. The con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adons with the two of them were very inspi\u00adring and some insights regar\u00adding my minis\u00adtry as a pas\u00adtor fell like sca\u00adles from my eyes. I lear\u00adned truths about mys\u00adelf and will now also tack\u00adle con\u00adcre\u00adte things. \u00abDo not for\u00adget to show hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to stran\u00adgers, for in this way some have har\u00adbou\u00adred angels wit\u00adhout rea\u00adli\u00adsing it!\u00bb
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\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nRead the Bible text: Gene\u00adsis 18:1\u201315<\/p>\n
\n\tHave you ever thought after a visit that you were har\u00adbou\u00adring angels? What gave rise to this thought?
\n\tHow could one make the leap from nice\u00adties and news to more depth?
\n\tWhat does it take to give your usu\u00adal visits a spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal dimension?
\n\tIn the next few weeks, try to con\u00adscious\u00adly cul\u00adti\u00adva\u00adte xeno\u00adphi\u00adlia, the love of strangers!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"