This week we continue our worship series on Hospitality by reflecting more deeply on what it means to be a stranger and to welcome strangers. Susan Goodman, our summer intern will be back for a short visit and will witness to her own experience of hospitality.
Christine Pohl writes, “Sometimes we describe our nation as a society of relative strangers – millions of people minimally attached to our home and community, highly mobile, independently pursuing our own projects, contentedly leaving one another alone to pursue our own tasks…we often feel like strangers ourselves, somewhat rootless and disconnected, unsure of how to offer welcome or to whom it should be given” (Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, 89).
In what ways are you a “relative stranger” in today’s society? Have you moved recently? Do you feel disconnected from family, church, or community? How does this affect your ability and inclination to welcome other strangers?
The story of Lot demonstrates the importance of individual hospitality to strangers at one’s door. The Israelite law made care for strangers and the poor also a communal responsibility. Worship this Sunday will be rooted in Lot’s story found in Genesis 19, also known as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In preparation for better understanding the historical roots of this story, read Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deuteronomy 14:28-29.
Who in the life of Israel needed special care and why? What provisions were made for sojourners?
Christine Pohl writes, “Strangers, in the strict sense, are those who are disconnected from basic relationships that give persons a secure place in the world. The most vulnerable strangers are detached from family, community, church, work, and polity” (Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, 13).
Who are such strangers in your neighborhood or community? Discuss what might be required to help these people find a place.
What groups or situations test your commitment to hospitality? What might you do to make these difficulties more manageable?
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