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In Romans 12, Paul is laying out a blueprint for how Christians should conduct themselves, what their relationships with other believers should look like, and how they should treat those outside the faith. He gives examples of what loving others actually looks like – honor others above yourself (12:10), share with believers in need (12:13), practice hospitality (12:13), as much as possible live at peace with everyone (12:18).
Easy things to do for people that we love, right? But then Paul expands the circle of who we should love, who we should welcome, who we should show hospitality to. He quotes from Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” The verse continues, “in doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.”
According to some commentators, if a person’s fire at home goes out, he would need a neighbor to bring him hot coals, which was usually done by carrying them in pans. Carrying coals in a pan wasn’t an easy task, and it carried the risk of being burned. It’s a burden, both for the one sharing and the one receiving the gift of the burning coals.
Showing hospitality to those we love is easy, and showing hospitality to those we find difficult is uncomfortable, but what about when being hospitable is actually dangerous?
Our country was recently faced with this question, when displaced peoples fleeing war were in desperate need of shelter in our neighborhoods. There was a very real possibility that these people would be hunted down by the enemy, thus putting anyone nearby at risk.
Not everyone chose to show hospitality in this situation. Doors were shut, village entrances blocked, people turned away.
But many families, villages, communities took the command to love the outsider seriously, opening their homes, their schools, their churches to those in need. This hospitality wasn’t easy. It was uncomfortable, even dangerous, but the call to love often is.
Most of us will never have to risk our lives to show hospitality, but we all face situations where hospitality is a struggle. Maybe it takes too much time or money, maybe the person who needs our care is someone we struggle to interact with, or maybe we are just tired that day. But when it’s hard, when we have to sacrifice, that’s when we are truly loving the way Jesus did.
Have you ever been in a situation when you’ve required more courage to be hospitable?
I often struggle with surprise hospitality – the kind that interferes with my carefully laid plans, my organized space, my schedule, resources already allocated to a specific need. God is slowly but surely breaking my attachments to these things and allowing me to see the blessings that come with being hospitable when it’s uncomfortable.