Hospitality is a Lifestyle

March 7, 2010

Dr. Timothy L. Bias
Senior Pastor

Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church is a hospitable congregation. Every Sunday we have a diversity of people who worship together, who learn and grow together, and who are becoming family together. In fact, hospitality means offering a home and family to people who, at that moment and for all practical purposes, are homeless. Every gracious host or hostess makes the offer “Make yourself at home.” “Mi casa es su casa,” is how the words translate in Spanish: “My house is your house.” As a Christian congregation, we are unique in that we exist primarily for the sake of persons who are not members. The question is “How do we create a hospitable atmosphere and climate that welcomes every person who walks through our doors?”

The apostle Paul instructed the early church: “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). Hospitality becomes how we as a congregation share our faith in God's great generosity revealed in Jesus Christ. It becomes a ministry of evangelism. We share our love in Christ because that is who we are as a congregation.

My friend, Roger Swanson, tells the story of he and his brother growing up on the streets of Boston. They made it a practice to break into a church in their neighborhood, not to do vandalism but to seek refuge from summer’s heat and winter’s cold. One day the pastor caught them. They expected the pastor to call the police, but because the neighborhood was full of children and teenagers who were not involved in traditional Sunday school, the pastor took them to his office and said, “Of all the people in this neighborhood, you are trying the hardest to get into this church.” With those words the pastor offered them a key to the building, a room for a boys’ club, and the opportunity to meet Jesus.

Because the pastor offered them all the comforts of home, the boys’ club became a Sunday school class. Not long after that, the boys’ class and a girls’ class merged into a youth fellowship. Two of those youth later became ordained ministers and leaders of local congregations (Roger Swanson was one of those persons). Several others became active lay workers in other congregations.

I believe hospitality at its best is a congregational lifestyle. As we approach Easter, let us practice who we are as gracious hosts and hostesses. “My house is your house.” As you meet people in the hallways, classrooms, sanctuary, little theatre, and parking lots, greet them as welcomed guests. Keep in mind that every person is a person God loves and is waiting to be introduced to God’s great love through you. Every persons is someone God has sent to us to be received, accepted, and loved. No one is here by accident.

Together, let us welcome one another just as Christ has welcomed us.

Welcome to Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church!

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