Bible Text: Psalm 23 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | What makes the Father in hea\u00adven the best host? Based on the well-known Psalm 23, we draw con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adons about our own hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. And we will once again be ama\u00adzed at how gene\u00adrous and good God is.<\/p>\n
\tHow would you descri\u00adbe God\u2019s hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty after rea\u00adding Psalm 23 from this point of view? Bible Text: Psalm 23 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Mat\u00adthi\u00adas Alt\u00adwegg | Series: Wel\u00adco\u00adme Home | What makes the Father in hea\u00adven the best host? Based on the well-known Psalm 23, we draw con\u00adclu\u00adsi\u00adons about our own hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. And we will once again be ama\u00adzed at how gene\u00adrous and good God is. Our the\u00adme for the year, \u00abWel\u00adco\u00adme Home\u00bb, means that everyone\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":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-matthias-altwegg","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-willkommen-daheim","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-2419","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nOur the\u00adme for the year, \u00abWel\u00adco\u00adme Home\u00bb, means that each of us per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly finds a home with the hea\u00adven\u00adly Father, but also that we offer hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty to one ano\u00adther in this world. The Catho\u00adlic priest Roma\u00adno Guar\u00addi\u00adni links the\u00adse two strands tog\u00ade\u00adther: \u00abBut if we are to be able to prac\u00adti\u00adse hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, we must bring in the one who is out\u00adside, we must be able to offer him a home. To do that, we must first have one our\u00adsel\u00adves.\u00bb A good host needs a home hims\u00adelf. Tho\u00adse who have found a home with God know that they have been given a gift, have found peace, have cla\u00adri\u00adfied the ques\u00adti\u00adon of mea\u00adning and no lon\u00adger have to pro\u00adve any\u00adthing to anyo\u00adne. That is the best pre\u00adre\u00adqui\u00adsi\u00adte for hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, the love for the stranger!
\nAn open, a wide heart \u2013 that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about when we talk about hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. \u00abWe learn from the best\u00bb \u2013 \u00abLear\u00adning from the best, from the best\u00bb. That\u2019s what we want to do this mor\u00adning. We take time to ask: \u00abHow does God think about hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty?\u00bb \u00abWhat makes our Father in hea\u00adven the ide\u00adal host?\u00bb And so we don\u2019t look far, but take up that well-worn Psalm 23, often memo\u00adri\u00adsed in the sweat of count\u00adless gene\u00adra\u00adti\u00adons of Reli stu\u00addents. What do we learn about God the host in Psalm 23? Let\u2019s just go in order:
\n\u00abThe Lord is my she\u00adp\u00adherd, I shall not want. He feeds me in a green pasture.\u00bb
\nAt the begin\u00adning, it is sim\u00adply about not\u00adhing other than a plea\u00adsant atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre. The word for \u00abgreen mea\u00addow\u00bb in Hebrew descri\u00adbes the lus\u00adhest pie\u00adce of mea\u00addow bet\u00adween two streams. Mos\u00adsy soft, strong green, plea\u00adsant\u00adly cool on a hot day: that is the image David has in his mind when he wri\u00adtes poet\u00adry like this. His God is a God who is kind to peo\u00adp\u00adle. A God who wants to do some\u00adthing good for us. Being hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adble means wel\u00adco\u00adming my guest in a plea\u00adsant atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre. But this is not to be con\u00adfu\u00adsed with per\u00adfec\u00adtion. Many peo\u00adp\u00adle apo\u00adlo\u00adgi\u00adse when guests visit their house that it is just not tidy. I don\u2019t know about you \u2013 I mys\u00adelf don\u2019t feel most com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble whe\u00adre the\u00adre is not a speck of dust or a crumb to be found, but whe\u00adre I have the good fee\u00adling of imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly being part of the fami\u00adly. It\u2019s okay to feel that peo\u00adp\u00adle live here and that they haven\u2019t just pho\u00adto\u00adgra\u00adphed the latest cata\u00adlo\u00adgue of some fur\u00adni\u00adtu\u00adre store. Per\u00adfec\u00adtion often looks ste\u00adri\u00adle, arti\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal \u2013 fri\u00adend\u00adly cha\u00ados makes you likeable. And I\u2019m not just say\u00ading that becau\u00adse I want to avo\u00adid clea\u00adning at home!
\nThis also appli\u00ades to being at home in the church. Per\u00adfec\u00adtion can seem sober and distancing. That is why pro\u00adfes\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adlism must always be ser\u00advant and never mas\u00adter. Fric\u00adtion\u00adless pro\u00adces\u00adses and good aes\u00adthe\u00adtics in and of them\u00adsel\u00adves are not the goal, but mere\u00adly hel\u00adpful sup\u00adport for making peo\u00adp\u00adle feel safe and at home.
\n\u00abHe leads me to the fresh water.\u00bb
\nThis is an image for refresh\u00adment. Fresh water allows you to brea\u00adthe free\u00adly, to catch your breath. With God, I don\u2019t have to accom\u00adplish any\u00adthing all the time. I can sim\u00adply be. His love is com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly inde\u00adpen\u00addent of my actions. He shows me, no, he even leads me to a place whe\u00adre I can refresh mys\u00adelf. Like when the cosy, beard\u00aded hut war\u00adden shows me the way to the spring behind the house after an exhaus\u00adting moun\u00adtain tour, whe\u00adre you can quick\u00adly dip your head into the cool water of the foun\u00adtain. And when you emer\u00adge, drip\u00adping wet, a fresh red-che\u00adcked towel awaits you. That awa\u00adkens the spi\u00adrits. And that\u2019s not just meant in a figu\u00adra\u00adti\u00adve sen\u00adse. A glass of mine\u00adral water, a cool beer, the smell of fresh cof\u00adfee \u2013 litt\u00adle things, per\u00adhaps. But an indis\u00adpensable ingre\u00addi\u00adent to switch off, to switch into feel-good mode.
\n\u00abHe res\u00adto\u00adr\u00adeth my soul.\u00bb
\nThe Hebrew word for soul is n\u00e4fesch. It deri\u00adves from the term \u00abthroat\u00bb and took on the mea\u00adning of breath and the breath of life, only to be equa\u00adted with life its\u00adelf. n\u00e4fesch also means \u00abto wish\u00bb, \u00abto desi\u00adre\u00bb, \u00abto hope\u00bb and \u00abto seek\u00bb. After the throat is mois\u00adten\u00aded, the stress slow\u00adly subs\u00adi\u00addes, ano\u00adther thing beco\u00admes clear: hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is about the who\u00adle per\u00adson! Who\u00adlen\u00adess. Cer\u00adtain\u00adly a buz\u00adzword of our time. But indis\u00adpensable when it comes to hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty: the outer thirst is quen\u00adched, but also the inner thirst, the needs of our soul are taken serious\u00adly and per\u00adcei\u00adved. This is also cal\u00adled \u00absoul food\u00bb. Good food and drink open me up to making my inner hun\u00adger the sub\u00adject of con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon. A good con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon often comes about after a good meal. And then more than the sto\u00admach is fil\u00adled, the soul also gets its \u00abfood\u00bb. It beco\u00admes clear that hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is not only gas\u00adtro\u00adno\u00admy, but also a spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal event. The 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. We may start out 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.
\n\u00abHe lea\u00addeth me in the paths of righteousness.\u00bb
\nThe right-wing street is one of tho\u00adse things. It stands for direct, some\u00adti\u00admes edgy hones\u00adty. A good host does\u00adn\u2019t but\u00adter me up unneces\u00ads\u00ada\u00adri\u00adly. If neces\u00adsa\u00adry, he can also be an uncom\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble mir\u00adror. Not becau\u00adse he wants to beat the crap out of me, but becau\u00adse he is genui\u00adne\u00adly inte\u00adres\u00adted in me and only wants the best for me. That\u2019s why he will ask me one or two uncom\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons. That\u2019s whe\u00adre his heart beco\u00admes visi\u00adble, that\u2019s whe\u00adre I feel his care. He is not indif\u00adfe\u00adrent to me and that is pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly why he also \u00abgets on my case\u00bb here and the\u00adre. God\u2019s hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty always has some\u00adthing of an inven\u00adto\u00adry. I look back and see the twists, turns, detours and short\u00adcuts of my life and may look back and look for\u00adward tog\u00ade\u00adther with a bene\u00advo\u00adlent friend.
\nWit\u00adhout truthful\u00adness, our con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adons beco\u00adme a flat 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\u2019s like hol\u00adding out a warm coat for each other to slip into.
\n\u00abYea, though I walk through the val\u00adley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they com\u00adfort me.\u00bb
\nGenui\u00adne hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty does not exclude the hard things in life: HARD<\/span> things have their place. The pain\u00adful sides of life such as ill\u00adness, suf\u00adfe\u00adring and death are part of it as a mat\u00adter of cour\u00adse, becau\u00adse they are part of life. And even uncom\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble topics like guilt, fail\u00adure and fear are not left out. Ins\u00adtead, they are gent\u00adly addres\u00adsed within a frame\u00adwork of abso\u00adlu\u00adte SAFETY<\/span>. Safe\u00adty means at least two things: con\u00adfi\u00adden\u00adtia\u00adli\u00adty and free\u00addom of jud\u00adge\u00adment. This means that I don\u2019t have to fear that even one sen\u00adtence will lea\u00adve the fami\u00adli\u00adar frame\u00adwork and I cer\u00adtain\u00adly don\u2019t have to be pre\u00adpared for dis\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adging looks if my dark sides come to light. I can drop my mask and look into a face full of good\u00adness that does not turn away, but stays the\u00adre and bears with me, does not make big words, but is sim\u00adply the\u00adre and stays the\u00adre. We have a God who stays with us even when it is almost unbe\u00adara\u00adble. \u00abFor you are with me.\u00bb BEING<\/span> THERE<\/span> \u2013 plain and simp\u00adle. Being the\u00adre is the most important ser\u00advice when someone is going through a dark valley.
\n\u00abYou prepa\u00adre a table befo\u00adre me in the pre\u00adsence of my enemies.\u00bb
\nEATING<\/span> plays a big role in the Bible. Eating is whe\u00adre it all hap\u00adpens. The bir\u00adth\u00adright chan\u00adges hands for a deli\u00adcious len\u00adtil soup. The Son of God sits down with the litt\u00adle ras\u00adcal Zac\u00adchae\u00adus and the reli\u00adgious eli\u00adte turns away in dis\u00adgust. The\u00adre the sin\u00adner with her hea\u00advy heart sneaks in among the men\u2019s com\u00adpa\u00adny at snack time and breaks a jar of pre\u00adcious per\u00adfu\u00adme over the cheese feet of Jesus. Meal time is the time for the grea\u00adtest mira\u00adcles: a two-man rati\u00adon fills a foot\u00adball sta\u00addi\u00adum. After the wed\u00adding feast, the\u00adre is an unex\u00adpec\u00adted rep\u00adle\u00adnish\u00adment in the wine cel\u00adlar. If you ask Jesus what it will be like in hea\u00adven, he speaks of a ban\u00adquet at which the tables will bend. And in the last hours befo\u00adre his death, Jesus took amp\u00adle time to have table fel\u00adlow\u00adship with his disci\u00adples. It is during the meal that the essen\u00adti\u00adal hap\u00adpens. That is why the bis\u00adtro is so important in our church life. It is in eating that exten\u00adsi\u00adve hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty hap\u00adpens. We are wel\u00adco\u00adme to use this offer even more as a good frame\u00adwork to con\u00adscious\u00adly live this hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty. Throats (n\u00e4fesch) should be refreshed.
\nEnjoy, but plea\u00adse IN<\/span> SILENCE<\/span>. It may be stor\u00admy out\u00adside or life may be chao\u00adtic, but at God\u2019s table the\u00adre is first of all peace. And I don\u2019t mean the strict table man\u00adners. No, the storms of ever\u00ady\u00adday life have a break at the begin\u00adning. Now it is feast day. It feels like being in the eye of a hurricane.
\n\u00abThou anoin\u00adtest my head with oil, and pour\u00adeth me full.\u00bb
\nIn an old Swiss dialect trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon, this ver\u00adse reads: \u00abYou fill my cup with schwib\u00adbe\u00adli-schwab\u00adbe\u00adli.\u00bb This is tal\u00adking about OVERFLOW<\/span> or gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty. When the glass is so full that on the way to the mouth some\u00adthing is missed. God is a gene\u00adrous host. He does not count calo\u00adries, but ser\u00adves a des\u00adsert after the deli\u00adcious main cour\u00adse, even though the sat\u00adchel is alre\u00ada\u00addy stret\u00adched. In God\u2019s near\u00adness the\u00adre is much more than we expect. His hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty only real\u00adly gets going when we are alre\u00ada\u00addy com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly satis\u00adfied. It is the\u00adre that he real\u00adly shows off his strengths as a host and thus gives us a fore\u00adtas\u00adte of the hea\u00adven\u00adly home:
\n\u00abSure\u00adly good\u00adness and mer\u00adcy shall fol\u00adlow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.\u00bb
\nAbide in the house of the Lord fore\u00adver. Once you have expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced this kind of hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, you want more of it! And God\u2019s hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty is about not\u00adhing less: a fore\u00adtas\u00adte of hea\u00adven. God\u2019s hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty makes you want more! Quo\u00adte Guar\u00addi\u00adni: \u00abThis is the deepest mea\u00adning of all hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, that one human being gives ano\u00adther a rest on the gre\u00adat jour\u00adney to the eter\u00adnal home. Our hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty here on earth should also be a \u00abfore\u00adtas\u00adte\u00bb of hea\u00adven. A \u00abrest on the gre\u00adat jour\u00adney to the eter\u00adnal home\u00bb. He sets the bar pret\u00adty high there.\u2026
\n
\nDo we accept this chall\u00adenge that our homes and also our church should be tran\u00adsit sta\u00adti\u00adons on the way to hea\u00adven\u00adly eter\u00adni\u00adty? What should they look like and how should they be desi\u00adgned? With what inner atti\u00adtu\u00adde will we, as God\u2019s accom\u00adpli\u00adces in hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty, then be at the start? We can learn a lot from the host of the gre\u00adat ban\u00adquet at the end of time! What images come to people\u2019s minds when they think of the hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty of the Church? At the ent\u00adrance door (pro\u00adjec\u00adted image!) the\u00adre are many pro\u00adhi\u00adbi\u00adti\u00adons: No ani\u00admals, no inline ska\u00adters, no pho\u00adtos, no prams in our pre\u00admi\u00adses, no lea\u00adving per\u00adso\u00adnal belon\u00adgings lying around, no ice cream, no wea\u00adpons and plea\u00adse no smo\u00adking. The\u00adre are alre\u00ada\u00addy enough bans and pre\u00adju\u00addi\u00adces. Today\u2019s peo\u00adp\u00adle know enough of that. Accor\u00adding to the mot\u00adto: befo\u00adre you belong to us, you first have to fol\u00adlow the\u00adse rules. What if we sur\u00adpri\u00adse them ins\u00adtead with a hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adty that we have lear\u00adned from the best: That we beco\u00adme hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adble rest stops for hea\u00adven\u00adly through traf\u00adfic. For this, God help and bless us.
\n
\n
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small groups
\nBible text rea\u00adding: Psalm 23<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat qua\u00adli\u00adties of God the host appeal to you most?
\n\tWhat qua\u00adli\u00adties do you want to learn from and implement?
\n\tWhat do you think of the idea that our hos\u00adpi\u00adta\u00adli\u00adties are rest stops for hea\u00adven\u00adly through traffic?
\n\tWhen will you enter\u00adtain guests next time? What do you want to do then?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"