What Does it Mean to Show Hospitality Without Grumbling?
What Does it Mean to Show Hospitality Without Grumbling?
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9 ESV)
I usually made simple rectangular birthday cakes for the kids. But for my husband Alan's 40th birthday, I decided to bake a two-layer round cake from scratch with homemade icing. The icing involved browning butter in a saucepan and cooling it in ice water for thickness. Skipping this step leads to a runny mess, as I found out the hard way!
Just as I sat down after managing to keep the cake layers together, preparing the rest of the meal, and cleaning the house with three young kids underfoot, our special guests (my in-laws) called and canceled their plans to come.
I felt frustrated and complained about the effort wasted on the canceled celebration. It made me realize I had lost focus on what truly mattered amidst the chaos of daily tasks.
Like Martha, who was busy serving Jesus and guests, I, too, got distracted by trivial matters. While Martha grew anxious and sought help, Jesus reminded her that focusing on Him was the priority, not the chores.
How often do we, like Martha, get consumed by tasks and neglect spending time with Jesus, leading to misplaced priorities and wrong intentions?
In a reflective article, Christina Fox highlights how Martha's focus on details caused her to miss the true purpose of hospitality—introducing guests to Jesus. When we stress over perfection in hosting, we might overlook the opportunity to share our lives and faith with others.
Biblical hospitality should direct others to Jesus, the source of true satisfaction, rather than getting caught up in perfectionism. Let's remember that genuine hospitality reflects Christ's love and invitation to the heavenly banquet, as mentioned in Revelation 19:9:
“And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’”
Beloved One, are we exercising hospitality that points others to Jesus and prepares us all for the only celebration and banquet that truly matters? That great heavenly banquet with the bride (the church) adorned in fine linen and made worthy by Christ, her Lord, and husband.
Matthew Henry comments about the church (Christ’s people),
“Her nuptial ornaments she did not purchase by any price of her own, but received them as the gift and grant of her blessed Lord.”
As Henry explains, we cannot purchase our invitation and clothing to that excellent marriage supper but have received them by grace through faith.
How will we release perfectionism and exercise hospitality this week, which points others to the Living Water, Christ Jesus, our only source of true satisfaction?
