Hendrickson Publishers - Hospitality: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

Everyday Matters Bible Studies for WomenHospitality (eBook edition)

2013 by Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473

eBook ISBN 978-1-61970-257-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the Everyday Matters Bible for Women, New Living Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Due to technical issues, this eBook may not contain all of the images or diagrams in the original print edition of the work. In addition, adapting the print edition to the eBook format may require some other layout and feature changes to be made.

First eBook edition December 2013

Everyday life today is busier and more distracting than it has ever been before. While cell phones and texting make it easier to keep track of children and each other, they also make it harder to get away from the demands that overwhelm us. Time, it seems, is a shrinking commodity. But God, the Creator of time, has given us the keys to leading a life that may be challenging but not overwhelming. In fact, he offers us tools to do what seems impossible and come away refreshed and renewed. These tools are called spiritual practices, or spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual practices are holy habits. They are rooted in Gods word, and they go back to creation itself. God has hardwired us to thrive when we obey him, even when it seems like his instructions defy our common sense. When we engage in the holy habits that God has ordained, time takes on a new dimension. What seems impossible is actually easy; its easy because we are tapping into Gods resources.

The holy habits that we call spiritual practices are all geared to position us in a place where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, to grant us power and strength to do the things we cant do on our own. They take us to a place where we can become intimate with God.

While holy habits and everyday life may sound like opposites, they really arent. As you learn to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, youll find that everyday life is easier. At the same time, you will draw closer to God and come to a place where you can luxuriate in his rich blessings. Here is a simple example. Elizabeth Collings hated running household errands. Picking up dry cleaning, doing the grocery shopping, and chauffeuring her kids felt like a never-ending litany of menial chores. One day she had a simple realization that changed her life. That day she began to use her chore time as a time of prayer and fellowship with God.

Whenever Elizabeth walked the aisle of the supermarket, she prayed for each person who would eat the item of food she selected. On her way to pick up her children, she would lay their lives out before God, asking him to be there for them even when she couldnt. Each errand became an opportunity for fellowship with God. The chore that had been so tedious became a precious part of her routine that she cherished.

The purpose of these study guides is to help you use spiritual practices to make your own life richer, fuller, and deeper. The series includes twenty-four spiritual practices that are the building blocks of Christian spiritual formation. Each practice is a holy habit that has been modeled for us in the Bible. The practices are acceptance, Bible study and meditation, celebration, community, confession, contemplation, faith, fasting, forgiveness, gratitude, hospitality, justice, mentoring, outreach, prayer, reconciliation, Sabbath and rest, service, silence, simplicity, solitude, stewardship, submission, and worship.

As you move through the practices that you select, remember Christs promise in Matthew 11:2830:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Out of Gods abundance we are called to share and live lives of welcoming hospitality. Michelle Hershberger sums up biblical hospitality in her reflection in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women. Hospitality, in a sense, is being willing to see Christ in others, she says. Its the intentional practice of putting yourself in a situation to both receive Christ in others and extend Christs love to others.

So we turn from the limited ideal that has been planted in our minds through magazines, websites, and shows with home decorating and chef superstarswhich make our attempts seem inadequateto the unlimited richness of Christs example. From his outpouring our lives overflow. And what is offered to God, even the simplest gift, can be used in amazing ways.

The discipline of hospitality prompts us to ask, What does love look like? God answers that question through us as we serve others and embrace our neighbor as ourselves. As God welcomes us, we are called to welcome others in his name. Hospitality takes on the shape of the one served. It is not one-size-fits-all. There is a world full of expressions of hospitality, and they all come back to the basic need to be treated as family, to see the reality of who we are in Christ, related in the kingdom.

The spiritual discipline of hospitality focuses us on what is importantwhat will last. The truth is that in a world of things, people matter more. And so we open our eyes. We practice seeing the people around us. And God helps us to see the ones we might walk pastthe ones we might ignore.

Through the study of Scripture, we go deeper into our relationship with Christ and into finding out the ways our calling can come to be reflected in everything we do. God wants us to live a life of power, love and self-discipline, using all that we are for his glory (2 Timothy 1:7)heart, soul, mind, and strength all given over to serve his purpose, inviting others to experience his grace.

C H A P T E R 1

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

PSALM 36:79

It seems like just when the only thing left in the refrigerator is growing green fuzz, just when the house is at its messiest, just when we couldnt possibly squeeze one more thing onto our already full calendars, along comes an opportunity to practice hospitality. God doesnt wait for us to have everything fixed and perfect. God shows up. He invites us with his grace to live out hospitality in spite of our messy reality. He is the source, and this is where we start. Right here in the middle of where we are.