Lydia and Mary - Women of Hospitality
Let's talk about the women of hospitality we see in the book of Acts. We read: "One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. When she and the members of her household were baptised, she invited us to her home. 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord,' she said, 'come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us." (Acts 16:14-15)
Come stay at my house, says Lydia! I'm opening my home up to you, as a believer and follower of Jesus.
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Welcome
Earlier in Acts we read of another hospitable woman. Peter has this miraculous escape from prison, and so he goes looking for the Christians, and we read this: "He went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying." (Acts 12:12)
We need a place to pray - come to my place, says Mary!
Hospitable people. People who create spaces for God's work to be done.
There's a sense in which every mother learned to be hospitable by housing their children in their womb for nine months, and in their homes for the years that follow. Mothers have to learn to sacrifice their own comfort and ease to make space for their children, and to provide for them a place in which to grow and be nurtured and become who they are meant to be.
I'm grateful for the way my mother did this for me. I think she "made space" for me in so many ways that I probably don't even know. I'm grateful.
It's been wonderful to see Shereen already do this for our twins. I hope they will see it and be grateful, one day.
A God of Hospitality
Of course, God is a God who creates space for us. He's our Father, and yet there is also a motherly compassion in God that is remarkable. He is hospitable and kind - sacrificing His world, really, by placing us in His space, to grow and be nurtured and learn to become who He wants us to be.
I pray often that my church is a hospitable place - a place where we create spaces for those who are seeking love, grace, and transformation.
But how about outside of our churches? How about your office? Your kitchen? Your car? Are these welcoming spaces for people to experience something of God? Or closed-off places?
The women of Acts were ordinary women, but they lived extraordinary lives by simply opening up space for God's work to be done.
Let's not neglect the important work of hospitality! The New Testament teaches us this virtue clearly. Paul said "Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practise hospitality." (Romans 12:13) Hebrews talks of it too: "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2) Peter wrote: "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." (1 Peter 4:9)
They were creating a culture of Lydia-like hospitality. We need to do the same - in our churches and in our own lives.
Lydia and Mary of Jerusalem opened their homes to make space for God's work - a challenge to open your own spaces to others for His purposes.