Editor’s note: This article is part two of a four-part series. Access the full series here.
In the first post in this series, I noted that God is hospitable. The Lord’s hospitality to Moses and Israel’s leaders in Exodus 24 stops careful readers in their tracks. What a God! He is holy but personal. And Jesus’s hospitality to Peter and the disciples on the shore of Galilee humbles us. So kind is the resurrected Son. God reveals Himself as a host in these two scenes and many other places in Scripture.
Hospitality is also a human activity in Scripture, especially for leaders. Here, I want to draw attention to one quality that surfaces consistently in scenes where leaders show hospitality in Scripture: urgency. I will trace this theme in three instances.
Abraham’s Hasty Hospitality Toward His Three Guests (Gen. 18)
Abraham’s hospitality to the three men who visited him in Genesis 18 contributes more broadly to the storyline of Genesis and Scripture. First, these visitors confirm God’s covenant promise to Abraham. What God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3 and 15:1–6 (cf. Rom. 4:18–21) had not yet been realized. Abraham and Sarah were aged. As Abraham hosted these men, the Lord spoke to Abraham and announced that the time for him and Sarah to have a son had now arrived. Within one year, Sarah would give birth to a son (18:10). This was beyond belief for Sarah. She laughed. She wondered if she could have the delight of a child when Abraham, her lord, was old. Furthermore, in Sarah’s statement, Peter saw a title that all Christian women should apply to their husbands (1 Pet. 3:6).
These two pillars of biblical theology are rooted in Abraham’s prompt hospitality to the three visitors. When Abraham first saw them, he hastened to greet them and offer food and drink to refresh them after their travels (18:1–5). When they agreed to stay, “Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, ‘Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread’” (v. 6, CSB).
David’s Determined Hospitality Toward Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 9)
The Lord’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 casts a long shadow over redemptive history. The promise that an heir of David will sit on David’s throne and rule over Israel is realized once and for all in Jesus, God’s eternal Son (Luke 1:32–33; Heb. 1:5). Even in the near context of 2 Samuel 8–10, scene after scene demonstrates that the Lord has indeed established David as ruling king over His people.
In 2 Samuel 8–10, David is victorious in all directions. David’s military successes immediately confirm God’s covenant with him. Sandwiched between these chapters is the account of David’s hospitality to Mephibosheth. David’s hospitality fulfills his covenant obligation to Jonathan, Saul’s son. In 1 Samuel 20:11–17, David entered a covenant with Jonathan to watch over Jonathan’s household should David outlive him. Jonathan knew that David was the Lord’s anointed. Now that David was established as king over Israel and Judah, he was determined to fulfill his covenant with Jonathan.
He was so determined that he expanded that covenant to include not only Jonathan but any of Saul’s household (2 Sam. 9:1). When Saul’s servant Ziba reported that there was a son of Jonathan yet living, David was immediately determined to bring him to Jerusalem (v. 5). David restored land to Mephibosheth and appointed Saul’s servant Ziba to manage it for him. “So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table just like one of the king’s sons” (v. 11).
Publius of Malta’s Public Hospitality Toward Paul and the Shipwrecked Prisoners (Acts 28:1–10)
Acts 27 is one of the longest chapters in Acts. And it is entirely about a sea voyage and a shipwreck. The boat carrying Paul and his fellow prisoners to Rome ran aground at Malta, breaking into pieces. The crew and prisoners made it to shore, and the people of Malta welcomed them. Paul gathered wood, and when he placed it on the fire, a viper came out and bit his hand. The people of Malta knew Paul was a prisoner and surmised that the god of Justice was paying Paul back for his crimes. When Paul shook the viper off and it was consumed in the fire, they thought Paul was a god (Acts 28:1–6).
All of this precipitated a local official, Publius, to promptly extend hospitality to Paul and company. For three days, Publius entertained the shipwrecked mates. Publius may have been curious about this crew of prisoners and soldiers or Paul and the viper. Or, Publius could have been just doing what civic leaders should do in offering hospitality to Roman guards while they were transporting prisoners. But God had plans to glorify Himself by blessing Publius in his hospitality. During these three days, “Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him” (v. 8). Then many who were ill on the island, under Publius’s jurisdiction, came to Paul and were healed (v. 9). The people of the isle heaped honors on Paul and crew, sending them off with supplies for the journey to Rome (v. 10).
Hospitality and the Supremacy of God
I have chosen to note three scenes of urgent hospitality in Scripture. More are on offer but these give a sense of the general tenor of hospitality that leaders extend to those around them. And they do so with a sense of gusto.
Good leaders know that they are no more effective than the relationships and partnerships they maintain at any moment during the tenure of their position. Hospitality provides leaders the opportunity to evaluate, gain, and maintain relationships to secure and strengthen their positions. Godly leaders see the Lord as the arbiter of their office, and they host to express His character and participate in His redemptive purposes.
One subgroup of leaders, elders in the local church, must be hospitable, as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:8. In the next post, I will describe how pastoral hospitality makes sense as a qualification for men called to lead a local church.