1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,840 Hi, everybody. 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:06,720 It's Rob here at Trinity Streetsville. 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,480 And here at Trinity, we're just a group of ordinary people 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,640 learning to follow Jesus in our own day. 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,240 Hey, we live in a divided world. 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,520 People are divided, left, right, rich, poor, insiders, 7 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:20,440 outsiders. 8 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:22,720 How do we bridge the divide? 9 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:27,000 How do we heal the divisions that exist within us? 10 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,680 Well, sometimes the most complicated problems 11 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:31,200 have the easiest solutions. 12 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,680 And today, we are starting a brand new teaching series 13 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:35,200 called Around the Table. 14 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,320 And we're going to learn from Jesus 15 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,800 that the simplest way to change the world 16 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,320 is just to open up our homes, open up our dinner tables, 17 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,120 and practice hospitality with each other. 18 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:46,620 Join us. 19 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:57,840 From the Gospel of Mark, chapters 2, verses 13 to 17. 20 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,040 Once again, Jesus went out beside the lake. 21 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,160 A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 22 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,440 As he walked along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, 23 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,480 sitting at the tax collector's booth. 24 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,960 Follow me, Jesus told him. 25 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,760 And Levi got up and followed him. 26 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,120 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, 27 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,480 many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him 28 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,040 and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:27,920 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees 30 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,440 saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, 31 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,200 they asked his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors 32 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,000 and sinners? 33 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,720 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 34 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,120 it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 35 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,520 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. 36 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,520 The word of the Lord. 37 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,400 In 2018, President's Choice, yes, the grocery store 38 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,560 President's Choice created a series of commercials, 39 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,360 like the one you just saw, to launch what they called 40 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,120 their Eat Together campaign. 41 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:05,480 Their Eat Together campaign. 42 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,320 What they were trying to do was not just promote their food, 43 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,080 although I'm sure they were trying to do that. 44 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,280 They were trying to promote people eating together. 45 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,040 And the ad campaign was wildly successful. 46 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,160 That video kind of went viral and garnered millions 47 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,400 of views. 48 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,160 People really connected with what they were seeing. 49 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,600 And the ad campaign even won numerous awards. 50 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,840 And I'm sure that grocery sales at Loblaws went up. 51 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,840 But what was more important was that they 52 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,880 started a conversation. 53 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,920 They started a conversation about social isolation 54 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,600 and our modern world and how important 55 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:53,480 it is for people to gather around tables and eat 56 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,040 and be together. 57 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,600 President's Choice even created a website. 58 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,920 And they created the hashtag, encouraging people 59 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,720 to send pictures and photos of the meals 60 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,120 that they were eating together. 61 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,800 Local Loblaws stores even started 62 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,120 hosting community dinners. 63 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:12,800 Can you imagine? 64 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:15,600 Community dinners for those in the neighborhood 65 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,000 to gather together and eat together. 66 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,560 It was a brilliant marketing campaign. 67 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,520 And it was brilliant in part because of its simplicity, 68 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,760 because is there anything more simple and yet more 69 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:33,840 powerful than the act of being together and eating together? 70 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:35,160 You know what I'm talking about. 71 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,360 You have experienced hospitality in your own life, I'm sure. 72 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,280 Do you remember the time when you were at the office 73 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,000 and it was kind of a bad day and then your coworker walked in 74 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,360 and she had a freshly baked loaf of banana bread. 75 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:48,280 And she sat it down. 76 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:49,080 And you sat down. 77 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:49,920 You poured the coffee. 78 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,920 And you started eating and talking and laughing. 79 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,600 And you didn't get any work done that day. 80 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:56,960 But that was hospitality. 81 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,360 That was hospitality. 82 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,640 Or do you remember when you moved in to that new house 83 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,040 on the street and you didn't know anybody on the street 84 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,240 and you were having a hard time feeling like you belonged. 85 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:07,680 And then the guys down the street, 86 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:08,480 they invited you over. 87 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:09,200 They said, come on over. 88 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:10,280 We're going to watch the game. 89 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:11,960 And you went over and you watched the game. 90 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:13,760 And yeah, it was just like pizza. 91 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,920 And it was just chicken wings or whatever. 92 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:17,280 But it made a huge difference. 93 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:18,640 You felt like you belonged. 94 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:20,600 You felt like you made a friend. 95 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,800 That's hospitality. 96 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:24,560 Or what about even last week? 97 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:25,800 Some of you started school. 98 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:27,240 Some of you started brand new schools. 99 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:28,280 And you were really worried. 100 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:30,600 Like, what's going to happen when I go to the cafeteria? 101 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:31,800 I'm not going to know anyone. 102 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:32,720 Who am I going to sit with? 103 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:33,800 Who am I going to eat with? 104 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,040 And as you walked into the cafeteria, somebody, maybe, 105 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,040 slid out a chair and said, hey, why don't you eat with us? 106 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,840 And a friendship was born in that moment. 107 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:47,120 That's hospitality. 108 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,280 And it seems like it's the simplest, most everyday thing 109 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:52,880 you could ever imagine. 110 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,240 And yet, it's powerful beyond words. 111 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,920 Hospitality is not just a nice thing we can do. 112 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:03,000 I want to suggest to you today that hospitality 113 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:08,080 is the most important thing that we can do in our homes, yes, 114 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,840 but even here in our church. 115 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:12,240 Because I have to be honest with you. 116 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,760 Sometimes I struggle on knowing exactly what our church should 117 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,280 be focusing on day by day as we go forward. 118 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:20,640 And there's lots of good things. 119 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:22,240 We could be focusing on evangelism. 120 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,440 That sounds like a good idea. 121 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,640 Or Rob, we should be focusing on discipleship. 122 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:26,840 That sounds fantastic. 123 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:28,240 Rob, what about mission? 124 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:29,560 Or what about outreach? 125 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,080 Or what about stewardship? 126 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:32,280 Or what about all those things? 127 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:34,520 And they all seem like really good ideas. 128 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,240 You need to know that clergy are actually 129 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,280 inundated with all the latest ideas. 130 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:43,680 Like, why don't we try evangelism 131 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,520 through interpretive dancing? 132 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,200 Or why don't we give a free toaster 133 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:51,720 to everyone who shows up at church? 134 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,000 My library shelves, I have to tell you, are filled with books. 135 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,680 And in those books, there are plans and ideas and methods 136 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,120 and strategies and diagrams about how 137 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,520 the church can move forward. 138 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,960 But what if we just ate together? 139 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,280 You know, Jesus, as well, he had many different competing 140 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,480 priorities and ways he could have gone about his mission. 141 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:15,880 What are you going to focus on, Jesus? 142 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:17,080 You're going to focus on teaching? 143 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:17,720 That sounds good. 144 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:18,240 Evangelism? 145 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,040 That sounds good. 146 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:20,080 Leadership development? 147 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:21,880 You're going to focus on spiritual disciplines? 148 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,480 You're going to focus on healing? 149 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:24,120 Come on, Jesus. 150 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:25,160 Time is short. 151 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:26,880 You're only here for a brief period of time. 152 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:27,560 You've got to act. 153 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:28,280 You've got to move. 154 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:29,480 What's it going to be, Jesus? 155 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,520 Hey, Jesus, shouldn't a priority be to launch a revolution? 156 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,000 Against the Romans or Jesus? 157 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,440 Shouldn't a priority be for you to go to the temple 158 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,600 and have a showdown with all the religious leaders? 159 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:44,800 And I think Jesus thought, yeah, yeah, I could. 160 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:45,480 I could. 161 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:47,800 I could launch a revolution. 162 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,320 Or I could just have some tacos with tax collectors. 163 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:54,440 That sounds nice. 164 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,520 But see, listen, Jesus knew what he was doing. 165 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,040 Hospitality comes from his Greek word, phylosophy. 166 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,560 It comes from his Greek word, phylozenia. 167 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:06,440 Phylo means love. 168 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,480 Zenia means stranger. 169 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,200 Hospitality literally is the love of a stranger. 170 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,120 But the big problem we face in our world today is the opposite. 171 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,560 It's another Greek word, xenophobia. 172 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,280 Xeno means stranger, but phobia means fear. 173 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,560 It's the fear of the stranger. 174 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,320 So Jesus believed that the way to break down 175 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,560 the xenophobia in our world was through phylozenia. 176 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:32,360 Opening up your homes, opening up your tables, 177 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,760 opening up your hearts to others. 178 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,040 That has the power to change the world. 179 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,040 Our world needs changing, doesn't it? 180 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,360 We live in a divided world, so polarized. 181 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,320 Conservative or liberal or Republican or Democrat or rich 182 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:56,480 or poor or gay or straight or whatever, Christian, Muslim, 183 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:57,120 rich. 184 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,160 There's so many ways that we are divided. 185 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:01,200 And so many ways we're pitted against each other. 186 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,240 What can overcome the division in our world? 187 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,200 Well, how about hospitality? 188 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:08,720 How about hospitality? 189 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,280 We live in a world where people are distanced from each other, 190 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,480 where people are lonelier than they have ever been. 191 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,760 Whether you're a middle schooler or whether you 192 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:18,840 are a senior citizen, you can feel alone. 193 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:19,840 You can feel forgotten. 194 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,120 You can feel overlooked and left out. 195 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:28,200 A few years ago, the UK hired a minister of loneliness. 196 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,160 Japan followed suit a few years later. 197 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,560 Many people think that Canada should do the same thing. 198 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:37,560 How can we solve the loneliness crisis? 199 00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:40,560 How about hospitality? 200 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:44,440 We live in a world where people are detached from one another, 201 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,960 especially in the suburbs like Mississauga. 202 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,480 You can get up, go to work, come back, drive back 203 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:51,600 into your garage, never see your neighbours. 204 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,480 Go downstairs, eat something, watch Netflix, go to bed, 205 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,360 and the next day repeat it. 206 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,680 All within the safety of your little castle, 207 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:01,960 your little home, and you never have to meet your neighbours. 208 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,320 But how do we reconnect with our neighbours around us? 209 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,200 How about hospitality? 210 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,280 We live in a distracted world. 211 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,760 We spend more time with our faces looking down at screens 212 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,840 than we do looking up at the people around us. 213 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,040 How can we overcome this distraction? 214 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,880 How can we overcome this sense of being alone together, 215 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:23,440 as Shirley Turkle has called it? 216 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,200 How about hospitality? 217 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,920 And of course, we live in a disillusioned world. 218 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,960 People are disillusioned with the church. 219 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:33,440 They've written us off. 220 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:36,080 And all the old strategies that the church used to try, 221 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:37,720 they just aren't working anymore. 222 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:43,520 What could we do to communicate and demonstrate our love of God 223 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,960 and our love for people to a skeptical world? 224 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:53,280 How about hospitality? 225 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:54,480 Right? 226 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,000 It's radical, and it's simple, and it can change the world. 227 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,480 Hospitality is the answer to overcome division and distance 228 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,000 and detachment and distraction and disillusionment. 229 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:06,080 Hospitality. 230 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,280 Folks, I would say there is one spiritual practice 231 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,920 that the world needs more than anything else right now, 232 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:14,200 and that is hospitality. 233 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:15,600 I think it can break down barriers. 234 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,920 I think it can relieve our loneliness. 235 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,520 I think it can renew the church. 236 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,400 It's the medicine for the sickness 237 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,080 that we feel and that our world feels. 238 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,920 Wouldn't it be crazy if all the complicated, confusing, 239 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:30,800 crazy problems in our world today 240 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,000 could be solved by something oh so simple 241 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,360 as just welcoming people in, sitting down at the table, 242 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:40,360 eating and drinking together? 243 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,720 It's not as crazy as you might think. 244 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:45,120 In fact, as I've already mentioned, 245 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,600 it was the very thing that Jesus chose 246 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,840 to do to change his world. 247 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,640 You see, Jesus was always eating and drinking 248 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,080 with the wrong sorts of people. 249 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:57,120 Jesus would eat at weddings. 250 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,120 Jesus ate with friends. 251 00:10:58,120 --> 00:10:59,400 Jesus ate with religious leaders. 252 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:01,360 He ate with tax collectors, and he ate with sinners. 253 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:02,640 He ate with his disciples. 254 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,440 Jesus eats with 5,000 people. 255 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,320 He eats a final meal with his disciples before he dies, 256 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,760 and then after he rises from the dead, he's hungry again, 257 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,760 and he has a fish barbecue on the beach 258 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,040 with some of those same disciples. 259 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,520 Jesus once healed Peter's mother, 260 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,080 and then she immediately got up and started preparing Jesus 261 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,120 a sandwich. 262 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,680 See, one author says that in Luke's gospel, 263 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,080 Jesus is either on the way to a meal, 264 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,560 he's either at a meal, or he's on the way back from a meal. 265 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:36,160 And he got the nickname of being a glutton and a drunkard 266 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:41,800 because he was just always eating and drinking with people. 267 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,080 And today, I thought we were looking 268 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,440 at the very first story of when Jesus had a meal with people. 269 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,240 Mark chapter 2, earliest gospel, early in the gospel, 270 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:52,880 Jesus sitting down at the house of Levi. 271 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,240 I bet it was wrong, actually. 272 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,360 Because even in Mark chapter 1, we 273 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,920 see an earlier picture of Jesus eating with people. 274 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:01,480 Check this out. 275 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,200 This is from Mark chapter 1, that when 276 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:04,760 Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, 277 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:06,960 he was sent out into the wilderness. 278 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:08,800 And he was being tempted for 40 days. 279 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:10,800 By the way, many people in our world today 280 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,280 feel like they're in the wilderness, 281 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,680 that they're lonely, that their distance, 282 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:16,840 that life is dangerous for them. 283 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:24,120 And in the wilderness, we read that angels waited on Jesus. 284 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:25,760 What a picture of hospitality. 285 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,600 The first picture of hospitality. 286 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:28,840 Jesus is lonely. 287 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:30,240 Angels come to be with him. 288 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,280 Jesus is hungry. 289 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:32,600 Angels come to feed him. 290 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:33,840 Jesus is in danger. 291 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,080 Angels come to protect him. 292 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,320 The Greek word here for angel, by the way, 293 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,800 is angelos, which means messenger. 294 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,280 And scholars would say there's probably two reasons why 295 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,040 this is included in the Gospels of Mark. 296 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,800 And that is, first of all, because it's 297 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,320 telling us how important hospitality is going 298 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,280 to be in the life of Jesus. 299 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,200 And secondly, because we are the angelos. 300 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,320 We are the messengers of the Gospel today. 301 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,560 And it's reminding us of how important it is for us 302 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:08,840 to practice hospitality with others. 303 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,080 It's a very interesting story. 304 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,040 Anyways, then we moved on to the story 305 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,040 that Jen read for us this morning in Mark chapter 2. 306 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:20,680 And Jesus is walking along, and he sees Levi, son of Alphaeus. 307 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:22,720 He's sitting at his tax collector's booth. 308 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,040 Uh-oh, that's a problem right there. 309 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,720 Tax collectors were the worst. 310 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:30,200 They were the worst of the worst. 311 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,400 They were notoriously corrupt, hated by all their fellow Jews 312 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,240 because they were complicit with the enemy. 313 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,520 Tax collectors basically worked for the Roman occupying force, 314 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:41,920 even though they were Jewish people. 315 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,600 They collected taxes on behalf of the Romans. 316 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,320 And the only way they got paid was basically 317 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,320 by adding their own fee to the taxes they collected. 318 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:51,880 They were absolutely hated. 319 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:53,920 Oh, that's a nice catch of fish you've got there. 320 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:55,480 That'll be 50%. 321 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:56,600 Oh, you don't like it? 322 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,600 Let's make it 70%. 323 00:13:58,600 --> 00:13:59,360 Wait, wait, wait. 324 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:00,080 You want to fight? 325 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,440 Well, you'll have to take it up with all these soldiers who 326 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,240 are behind me because they're ready to defend me 327 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:05,140 at a moment's notice. 328 00:14:05,140 --> 00:14:07,160 They had the support of the Romans. 329 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,320 They were just absolutely hated by their fellow Jewish people. 330 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,520 These are the enemy. 331 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:14,400 They are the enemy. 332 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,940 They are on the lowest rung of the moral ladder. 333 00:14:16,940 --> 00:14:19,800 Tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, 334 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,120 they're just there was an expression. 335 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,600 It was just how people spoke about the lowest of the low. 336 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,440 But now we go and see, look, Jesus is now all of a sudden 337 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,240 eating at Levi's house. 338 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:38,000 And we have to, please, have some sympathy for the Pharisees 339 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,840 that day because they would have been absolutely shocked 340 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:42,720 and rightly so. 341 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,680 What on earth is going on here? 342 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:49,040 And the Pharisees asked the disciples, why does he eat? 343 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:50,680 And not only eat, but why does he 344 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,360 eat with tax collectors and sinners? 345 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,400 I want to say to you that I think there's two ways 346 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,040 that meals can be used. 347 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,280 Meals can be used either to keep people apart 348 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,040 or meals can be used to bring people together. 349 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,720 Think for a moment just now, thought exercise, 350 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,680 who are the people that you normally eat with? 351 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,920 Chances are the people you eat with are a lot like you. 352 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,040 They probably look like you. 353 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,200 They probably think like you. 354 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,600 Maybe they earn the same amount of money as you. 355 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,520 They believe the same things as you. 356 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:26,440 We are notorious for eating meals with people 357 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,240 who are very much like us. 358 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,440 And that means that in some ways our meals, even our meals, 359 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:37,720 are keeping those who are different from us away from us. 360 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,480 This was certainly the case in Jewish society. 361 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:45,440 Jews did not eat with people who were not like them. 362 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:46,480 They're very careful. 363 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,120 Sharing a meal was like a sign of friendship and unity. 364 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,320 So you would never, ever, ever share a meal 365 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,840 with someone like Levi who was the enemy, a backstabbing 366 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,000 traitor. 367 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:04,600 In this case, the meals in those days were used to delineate 368 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,280 people, keep them apart, figure out who belongs where. 369 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,640 But Jesus used meals in a very, very different way. 370 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,880 Jesus used meals as a doctor. 371 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:18,640 We'd use medicine to heal the sick, to bring people together. 372 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,440 Jesus' ministry, after all, the Bible says, 373 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,120 was a ministry of reconciliation. 374 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,880 It's about bringing people back together. 375 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,760 The redeeming love of God, the reconciling love of God 376 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,240 was most visible and worked the absolute best 377 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,160 when it happened around a table with a bottle of wine 378 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:41,040 and a loaf of bread and maybe some fish or maybe some olives. 379 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:42,480 That's how it worked for Jesus. 380 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,040 Meals were about bringing people back together. 381 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,360 You know, in the Bible, you can read this phrase. 382 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,200 The son of man came, dot, dot, dot. 383 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,240 Son of man is one of Jesus' favorite titles for himself. 384 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,440 Jesus came doing what? 385 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,160 What did Jesus come doing? 386 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:01,800 If I was to ask you to finish that sentence, 387 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:03,400 what would you say? 388 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,240 You might say, well, Jesus came preaching. 389 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,080 That's probably true. 390 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,480 Jesus came establishing the kingdom 391 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,440 or Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins. 392 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,320 There are, in fact, three places in the New Testament 393 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,960 where these words are used, and this is how they're finished. 394 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,280 So the first instance says, the son of man 395 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,720 came to seek and save the lost. 396 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:26,480 That's in Luke's gospel. 397 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,000 The second time we read it, it says the son of man came 398 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,680 to serve others. 399 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,120 Actually, it says not to be served, but to serve 400 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:36,760 and to give his life as a ransom for many. 401 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:38,520 It's the second time that comes up. 402 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,640 The third and last time we see this phrase, 403 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,480 the son of man came, it says the son of man came 404 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,640 eating and drinking. 405 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:51,520 The first two instances are statements about purpose. 406 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,800 Why did Jesus come? 407 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,760 What was his mission all about? 408 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,800 Oh, his mission was to seek and save the lost. 409 00:17:58,800 --> 00:17:59,840 That's why he came. 410 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:00,760 And why did he come? 411 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,120 Oh, he came to serve and to give his life. 412 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,840 But the third statement is not about the mission. 413 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:08,920 It's about the method. 414 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,120 It's not the why, it's the how. 415 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:13,440 How did Jesus come? 416 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,400 Oh, he did this. 417 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,040 He came eating and drinking. 418 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:21,360 It's really important to make this connection 419 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:23,880 between both the mission Jesus had 420 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:25,800 and the method he used to accomplish that mission. 421 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,200 Because just about everybody agreed on what the mission was. 422 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,800 The mission was, yes, to seek and save the lost. 423 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,360 It was to bring in the kingdom of God. 424 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,240 It was to inaugurate God's reign on earth. 425 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,400 It was to launch the new creation. 426 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:40,440 That was the mission. 427 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:41,480 Everyone agreed on that, 428 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,880 but what surprised people was the method. 429 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,960 People assumed the method was gonna be military, 430 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:49,080 not culinary. 431 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:54,080 People assumed that the method was gonna be involving swords, 432 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,280 not socials. 433 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,560 The Messiah was supposed to defeat God's enemies 434 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,880 with glory and power and might, 435 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:06,880 not with food and drink and tables and parties. 436 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,160 Tim Chester writes, 437 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,280 "'Jesus' mission strategy was a long meal 438 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:16,960 stretching into the night. 439 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,600 When Jesus did evangelism around a table 440 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:24,800 with some grilled fish, a loaf of bread, 441 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,480 and a pitcher of wine, 442 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,160 hospitality was a priority for Jesus. 443 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,440 It was the how of his why. 444 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,640 It was the method of his mission. 445 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,640 As a result, hospitality became a priority 446 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,720 for those who followed after him." 447 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:43,560 You read your Bibles, 448 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:44,960 a quick scan through the New Testament, 449 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,120 you will see his early followers 450 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,200 picking up this thread of hospitality again and again. 451 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,520 In Romans, we read, 452 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,640 when God's people are in need, Paul writes, 453 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,160 be ready to help them. 454 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,440 Always be eager to practice, say it with me, hospitality. 455 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,160 If your enemy's hungry, feed him. 456 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,000 If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. 457 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,640 In one Peter, we read that we are to show hospitality 458 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,840 to others without grumbling. 459 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,640 And in Hebrews, we read that we shouldn't neglect 460 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,240 to show hospitality to strangers because, 461 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:18,800 and this is kind of cryptic, he says, 462 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,600 for in doing so, some have entertained angels 463 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,520 without knowing it. 464 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,880 I wonder if that's somehow connected to that verse 465 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,960 from Mark chapter one about angels taking care of Jesus. 466 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:32,480 And did you know this? 467 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,280 That in the early church, if you wanted to be a leader, 468 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,760 a pastor, an elder, there was lots of criteria. 469 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:39,080 You needed to be above reproach, 470 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,160 faithful, temperate, self-controlled, respectable. 471 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,880 You also needed to be good at hospitality. 472 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,920 Now, I've heard of pastors getting dismissed 473 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:51,320 because of an affair. 474 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,240 I've heard of pastors getting kicked out 475 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,480 because of heresy or of some financial funny business, 476 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,960 but I have never heard of pastors being kicked out 477 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,760 of their job because they were not hospitable enough. 478 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,520 But it was so important in the early church 479 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,360 to practice hospitality. 480 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:09,440 Jesus' first followers, they just picked up 481 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,920 where Jesus had left off and they made hospitality 482 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,360 their priority. 483 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,880 Historians have wondered, how on earth did the gospel spread 484 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:19,600 so fast and so far? 485 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,840 It began with just 120 people on the day of Pentecost 486 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,680 stuffed in an upper room. 487 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,040 And then, you know, 300 years later, 488 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,120 it had swept across the whole empire. 489 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:30,960 It had conquered paganism. 490 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,640 Even Constantine the emperor had converted to Christianity. 491 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,360 How did they do it? 492 00:21:37,460 --> 00:21:38,960 They did it one meal at a time, 493 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,320 one dinner table at a time, 494 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,560 one invitation at a time. 495 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,360 In fact, an emperor who came after Constantine said this, 496 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:53,400 oh, these Christians, they're not just feeding 497 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,240 their own poor people, they're feeding our poor people too. 498 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,520 They're welcoming them into their meals. 499 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:03,520 They attract them as children are attracted with cakes. 500 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,280 This is before internet, before websites, before Facebook, 501 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,160 before, you know, Christian bookstores and seminaries 502 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:13,680 and religious freedom. 503 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,960 Before there was ever a celebrity pastor, 504 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,960 the gospel spread just one home to another, 505 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,140 one dinner table to another, one meal to another. 506 00:22:26,140 --> 00:22:29,680 And the world was changed. 507 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,520 It was changed by bread and wine and fish 508 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,880 and fruit and vegetables around a table. 509 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,080 I can't overstate this. 510 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:43,080 Hospitality became central to the way the gospel spread, 511 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,160 which is why this fall actually, side note, 512 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,560 we are offering a course called Alpha 513 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,400 that introduces people to Jesus, to Christianity, 514 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,160 and what the gospel is all about. 515 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,320 And this fall, because we're focusing so much in 516 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,000 on hospitality, we decided, you know what, 517 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,740 rather than do it over here in our hall, 518 00:23:01,740 --> 00:23:04,900 like we usually do it, we're gonna do it in smaller groups, 519 00:23:04,900 --> 00:23:08,880 in people's homes throughout our church community. 520 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,080 So if you wanna learn more about Jesus, 521 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:12,800 if you wanna learn what the gospel is, 522 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:13,760 what the good news is, 523 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,000 if you wanna learn what Christianity is all about, 524 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,800 why not gather together with some other people 525 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,920 in their homes, around some food, 526 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,520 engage in a great discussion, watch a great video, 527 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,580 and grow in your faith and grow in your friendship. 528 00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:29,780 That is how the gospel spread 2000 years ago. 529 00:23:29,780 --> 00:23:33,680 And that's how it needs to spread again today, 530 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,080 which means that hospitality is not just a priority 531 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:38,960 for Jesus, and it wasn't just a priority 532 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,360 for his first followers, but it needs to be a priority 533 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:44,860 for us as well. 534 00:23:44,860 --> 00:23:47,160 We too can change the world. 535 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,200 We too can change our community. 536 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:50,840 We can change our neighborhoods 537 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,440 if we just recapture Jesus' call to hospitality. 538 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:56,680 And I know that some of you are already saying, 539 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:58,200 okay, Rob, I get it, but listen, 540 00:23:58,200 --> 00:23:59,760 I'm not good at hospitality. 541 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:00,920 I don't have a very nice house, 542 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:02,280 don't have a very big house. 543 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,680 I live in an apartment in a basement, 544 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,000 or I'm not really good at cooking, 545 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,720 or I've outdated furniture. 546 00:24:10,580 --> 00:24:13,840 I just wanna say that if your idea of hospitality 547 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,880 is like ordering a pizza and then shoving your laundry 548 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,840 under the couch so nobody sees it, 549 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:21,760 God can work with that. 550 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,560 God can work with that. 551 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:25,720 You might not be a Gordon Ramsay, 552 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:26,900 but God can work with that. 553 00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:29,600 Jesus turned water into wine. 554 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,520 I think he can work with your overcooked casserole. 555 00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:35,720 I think he can use it, right? 556 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,040 Because we're not talking about entertaining. 557 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:40,360 We're talking about hospitality, 558 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:41,240 and there's a big difference. 559 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,400 Entertaining is all about impressing. 560 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:44,980 Hospitality is about blessing. 561 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,480 Entertaining is about staging. 562 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,320 Hospitality is about engaging. 563 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,120 You don't need to have an Instagram-worthy tablescape 564 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,140 in order to do hospitality. 565 00:24:58,140 --> 00:25:01,040 Whereas entertaining always creates a line 566 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:02,360 between guest and host. 567 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:04,320 Hospitality brings them together, 568 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,840 both as children of God made in the image of God. 569 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,520 Whereas entertaining always puts somebody in your debt. 570 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:12,420 Oh, thank you, I'll get it next time. 571 00:25:12,420 --> 00:25:13,960 Next time, it's on me. 572 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,240 Hospitality is just about generosity 573 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:20,360 and giving without expectation of getting anything back. 574 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:25,160 And whereas entertaining takes all sorts of planning 575 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,840 and preparation, 576 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,640 hospitality is just inviting someone into your life, 577 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,480 maybe into one of the 21 meals 578 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,120 that you are gonna eat this week anyway, right? 579 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,920 So as we wrap up, I wanted to share with you, 580 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,400 and by the way, we're not really wrapping up 581 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,120 because we're just kicking off this 582 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:42,200 for the next seven weeks. 583 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,060 We're gonna be looking at this 584 00:25:44,060 --> 00:25:45,280 from so many different angles. 585 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,040 But today, as we wrap up, 586 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,520 I wanna share three ways that we can start thinking 587 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:50,560 about how to implement this. 588 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,880 First, obviously, in our own homes. 589 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:56,720 Put the barbecue in the front yard 590 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:57,680 instead of the backyard, 591 00:25:57,680 --> 00:25:59,800 throw some meat on, see who shows up. 592 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:00,640 I don't know. 593 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,840 And invite some people over to watch the game. 594 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,520 Host a potluck, host a block party, right? 595 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,960 Set aside just one night a week, 596 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:09,720 or no, even one night a month, 597 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,020 and say, on this night, 598 00:26:11,020 --> 00:26:15,200 we're gonna invite somebody into our home for dinner. 599 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,780 Make it a point, make it a point. 600 00:26:16,780 --> 00:26:19,760 Dustin Willis, he writes this, what a great quote. 601 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:21,120 Our homes are not our own, 602 00:26:22,020 --> 00:26:23,880 but rather they're a weapon given to us 603 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,840 to push back the darkness and to hold up the light 604 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:28,800 for a hurting world. 605 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,360 Rosario Butterfield, who wrote a great book on hospitality, 606 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:34,280 says, our homes are not ours at all, 607 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,160 but they're God's gift to use 608 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,880 for the furtherance of his kingdom, 609 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,480 and the gospel always comes with a house key. 610 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:45,960 So that's one place you can practice it in your homes, 611 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:47,080 but I wanna tell you another place 612 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,520 you can learn to practice hospitality, 613 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:50,240 and that is in life groups. 614 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,520 In our church, we have groups of people 615 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:53,920 meeting all over our city, 616 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,920 and they're getting together week by week, 617 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:56,880 and what are they doing? 618 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,960 They're learning about God, they're studying the Bible, 619 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,400 they're praying together, they're supporting each other. 620 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,320 There's usually some food there, 621 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,760 but it is a picture of hospitality. 622 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,640 And if you're interested in joining a life group 623 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:08,920 or finding out more about life groups, 624 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:10,080 the timing couldn't be better, 625 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,620 because in two weeks, we're having our life group launch, 626 00:27:13,620 --> 00:27:15,880 where you can find out what a life group is, 627 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:17,140 where they're being held, 628 00:27:17,140 --> 00:27:18,840 some of the new ones that are starting up, 629 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,480 and how you can join one of these groups. 630 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,480 It's a great way to learn and experience hospitality. 631 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,760 And finally, I wanna say the last way 632 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,280 we can really experience and practice hospitality 633 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,960 is right here, right what we're doing 634 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:36,060 here this Sunday morning. 635 00:27:36,060 --> 00:27:39,300 This fall, why not extend the invitation 636 00:27:39,300 --> 00:27:42,560 to someone you know to come to church, 637 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,560 to invite them into this meal? 638 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,680 Because after all, at the center of our service is a meal. 639 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,360 We have bread and wine as the central point 640 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,760 of our gathering, and so his body wasn't just broken 641 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:57,600 for you, it was broken for them too. 642 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,600 His blood wasn't just poured out for you, 643 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,560 it was poured out for everyone. 644 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,040 You see, Jesus is the ultimate host, ladies and gentlemen. 645 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,280 Right, and he extends that hospitality to you, 646 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,160 but he's trying to extend it to others as well. 647 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,320 And so please consider the act of inviting someone 648 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,920 to be part of this community. 649 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,920 Over the next seven weeks as we go through this, 650 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,040 I wanna encourage you, just like President's Choice, 651 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,980 share some of your pictures with us. 652 00:28:27,980 --> 00:28:30,760 Share pictures of eating and drinking, gathering. 653 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,800 If you decide to do something new or try something 654 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,680 or go outside of your comfort zone 655 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,240 or if it's just a regular dinner you're having with friends, 656 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,080 why not share the photo with us? 657 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,160 You can send your photos to eattogether 658 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,200 at trinitystreetsville.org. 659 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,120 We'd love to see those photos and maybe look at them 660 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,280 as the weeks go on. 661 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,520 So in summary, guys, it turns out that the gospel 662 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:58,520 pairs very nicely with a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine. 663 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:04,040 In Jesus' day, he changed the world one meal at a time. 664 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,520 Following Jesus, his disciples changed the world 665 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,360 one table at a time. 666 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:15,100 And we can change the world one invitation at a time. 667 00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:18,580 Sometimes the biggest problems in the world 668 00:29:18,580 --> 00:29:22,180 are solved with the simplest of ideas. 669 00:29:22,180 --> 00:29:23,020 Amen? 670 00:29:23,020 --> 00:29:47,860 Amen.