November 6, 2008
Text: 1 Peter 4:9
Thoughts:
Several couples of our church are currently going through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. It is an incredible money-management course that seeks to lead individuals to a godly and balanced perspective of finances. About halfway through the course, Julie and I both looked at each other this week and commented on how we have been able to clearly see God’s hand at work in our finances. Little blessings that would have gone unnoticed have come at times when we’ve needed them most. We have been humbled and overwhelmed at just how incredibly faithful God has been.
So, what has made the difference? Purpose, planning, and focus. We now live financially purposeful and intentional. The result has been God uses what we have, supplies what we don’t have, and changes lives through it all.
Writing to the believers awaiting “the end of all things,” Peter instructs them to “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (v.9). When it comes to hospitality, John Piper suggests we should have “strategic hospitality.” He says,
“What I mean by strategic hospitality is a hospitality that thinks strategically and asks: How can I draw the most people into a deep experience of God’s hospitality by the use of my home or my church home? Who might need reinforcements just now in the battle against loneliness? Who are the people who could be brought together in my home most strategically for the sake of the kingdom? What two or three people’s complementary abilities might explode in a new ministry if they had two hours to brainstorm over dinner in my house?
Strategic hospitality is not content to just have the old clan over for dinner again and again. It strategizes how to make the hospitality of God known and felt all over the world, from the lonely church member right here, to the Gola farmers in Tahn, Liberia. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your living room as a launching pad for new life and hope and ministry and mission!” (John Piper sermon “Strategic Hospitality”)
This week, I dare you to begin living with Strategic Hospitality. Intentionally find ways to reach out to others, sharing your home, faith, and belongings without complaint. I promise you will see God’s hand in ways you have never seen it before! Live strategically!
“When we practice hospitality, we experience the thrill of feeling God’s power conquer our fears and our stinginess and all the psychological gravity of our self-centeredness. And there are few joys, if any, greater than the joy of experiencing the liberating power of God’s hospitality making us a new and radically different kind of people, who love to reflect the glory of his grace as we extend it to others in all kinds of hospitality.” (John Piper)
Application:
Recall a time when someone, other than a close friend or family, invited you into their home? Did your relationship grow? Did you learn more about them? (what they liked, what was important to them, etc.)
Who can you open your home or church to? Who could be touched by your hospitality today?
Make a list of people you can invite into your home. Perhaps, you can begin with Thanksgiving.
Prayer:
Father,
Thank You for reaching out to me when I needed it most. With loving arms extended, You called me into Your family, embraced me with compassion, and revealed how much you care for me. Living with strategic hospitality, may I follow Your example. May I share my home, faith, and possessions with someone who needs to feel Your love. Lead me to that person this week.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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