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From Luke’s Journal June 2024  |  Vol.29 No.2  |  Christian Hospitality

I became aware of Hospital in the Home and home visits in my first year of clinical placement. Instead of having to visit the clinic, patients are visited by medical professionals in the comfort of their own homes.

A new level of helplessness is unlocked when the sick are visited at home by their doctor. The truly sick are likely too weary to tidy the house in preparation for the doctor, and too frail to look their best. They are seen at their most feeble state. These services prompted me to think about what Christian hospitality looks like, with particular emphasis on hospitality in the home setting.

In Greek, the word for ‘hospitality’ is philoxenia, which literally translates to ‘love of strangers’. This is reflected perfectly in Hebrews 13:2 (NIV). Hospitality is often confused with entertainment, which is more preoccupied with perfect planning, perfect people and perfect parties. In contrast, in light of philoxenia and Hebrews 13:2, hospitality is concerned about inviting strangers and loving them above all other secondary provisions. Furthermore, Romans 12:13 highlights the connection between hospitality and those in the Church who are in need. Thus, we can glean that the heart of hospitality is towards strangers and those with needs in the Church.

“How often are we ‘too busy’ to invite a church member in need over to our home for a cuppa?”

How often are we ‘too busy’ to invite a church member in need over to our home for a cuppa? Or ‘too messy’ to let anyone step foot in our untidy living room, ‘too ill-resourced’ to host a bible study in our small house, or ‘too stressed’ to even think about cooking for that family with five kids? How often are we too proud to show others our real home?

Yet, it is in the comfort of one’s own home that we best meet people in their rawest and most vulnerable state, and only then can we seek to encourage, bless and display Christ’s compassion and hospitality to others. Whatever the state of our home – tidy or untidy, castle or cabin – we can display hospitality to someone around us who is in need.

Hospitality in homes was prevalent even in the Old Testament and in the early Church (eg Genesis 18-19, Joshua 2, 2 Kings 4: 8-37, Acts 2: 43-47, Acts 16:14-15). And much of Jesus’ ministry took place in homes – a testament to how He meets us in our most naked and weakest state (eg John 2:1-12, Luke 5:29-32, Luke 10:38-42, Luke 22:10-14). Christ ate with sinners in their homes, rebuking the Pharisees by teaching that “it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12). Furthermore, hospitality in the home allows us to be Jesus to every guest and see Jesus in every guest.¹ We ought to treat our guests as Jesus would and treat our guests as we would Jesus (see Matthew 25:31-46).

Of course, while Hospital in the Home is a flipped version of hospitality, whereby the sick welcome the physician into their home, let Jesus’ ministry challenge us to dismiss the excuses that prevent us from inviting others into our homes to be Jesus to them.

This year, I opted-in to undertake my placements rurally. Being plugged into the local church of about 40-50 people has been one of the biggest blessings of the year thus far. The hospitality shown by the members of my congregation has revealed to me that the best types of hospitality come from people who display their rawness, and, in turn, encourage me to get real with them, too.

When there is hospitality in the home, I have learned that there is no need to change your schedules drastically (you will need to eat dinner regardless of who comes over), no need to clean the living room (let the children play with the toys already on the floor), and having a big house is most definitely not a prerequisite for hospitality (it is crazy how many people have a camping chair and a picnic basket in their cars ready to be used!). Rather, all that is needed for a hospitable home is a heart that loves Jesus, and a desire to care for others and to meet them in their needs, be they emotional, physical, or spiritual.

“When we focus on the individual across the table from us, our eyes become blinded to the peripheral clutter of the house…”

When we focus on the individual across the table from us, our eyes become blinded to the peripheral clutter of the house, and we find ourselves conversing more and critiquing the quality of food less. After all, it is termed Hospital in the Home, not Hospital in the House.

Hospitality in homes deepens relationships and creates community in a way that the brief 15-minute consultation after church over morning tea cannot achieve. It’s not about how well you entertain, but how well you love. Hospitality in the home brings the exploration of one’s ‘history of presenting complaint’ to a deeper realm.

As in the introductory prayer in the Valley of Vision, let us:

“learn by paradox…
that the broken heart is the healed heart,…
that to give is to receive…”²

and might I add,
that to bless is to be blessed,
that to be vulnerable and weak is to be most safe and cared for,
that to invite a stranger into your home is to create community.

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