48 Sermon Illustrations on Hospitality

Discover the value of impromptu discipleship. Many significant "teachable moments" in Jesus' ministry took place during social events.

#3057

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”The gospel means risk,” says Wally Mertz. “If we’re not willing to put ourselves in a position of personal risk, then we’re not laying down our lives and taking up our crosses daily. Unless we’re willing to do that, we’re not serious about the gospel.”

For Wally, risk-taking means stepping out in faith — even when it might endanger his family. Five years ago, Wally took that kind of risk when he invited two prisoners into his home. They were part of a work release program and non-violent offenders. Both were touched by the Mertzes’ ministry and still keep in contact.

#4095

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One day while walking down town, a Human Resources recruiter was hit by a bus and was tragically killed. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself. "Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a HR manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in," the saint replied.

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind... I prefer to stay in Heaven." "Sorry, we have rules...." And with that, St. Peter put the manager in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell. The doors opened and the Recruiter found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow HR professionals that she had worked with. They were all dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed a delicious steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kinda cute), and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. The HR manager was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved good-bye as she got on the elevator. The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So the HR manager spent the next 24 hours lounging around on the clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had a great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her. "So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity," he said.

The HR manager paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this. I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again the consultant went down-down-down back to Hell. When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up garbage and putting it in sacks for the evening meal. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her and laughed at her surprise. "I don't understand," stammered the HR manager, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her and grinned, "That's because yesterday we were recruiting you, but today you're staff."

Local legend--Zeus & Hermes came to the Phrygian hill country disguised as mortals seeking a place to stay. They asked at a 1,000 homes but no one would take them in. Finally, at a cottage of straw and reeds they asked an elderly couple, Philemon & Baucis, who freely welcomed them and feed them a good meal even though they had little. In appreciation, the gods turned their cottage into a golden temple. The old couple were turned into an oak and linden tree and lived happily ever after. The homes of the inhospitable people were destroyed.

British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes, whose fortune was used to endow the world-famous Rhodes Scholarships, was a stickler for correct dress -- but apparently not at the expense of someone else's feelings. A young man invited to dine with Rhodes arrived by train and had to go directly to Rhodes's home in his travel-stained clothes. Once there he was appalled to find the other guests already assembled, wearing full evening dress. After what seemed a long time Rhodes appeared, in a shabby old blue suit. Later the young man learned that his host had been dressed in evening clothes, but put on the old suit when he heard of his young guest's dilemma.

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Today in the Word, February, 1991, p. 10

Among Eastern nations it is considered a terrible sin indeed for

anyone who has accepted hospitality from a host to turn against him by

doing an evil deed. This feeling goes back to very ancient times and

is often alluded to by various writers, \reference{Oba 7}{Obadiah

1:7}; \reference{Psa 41:9}{Psalms 41:9}; \reference{Joh 13:18}{John

13:18}.

- Wright, Customs Of Bible, p. 78

The exact origin of this word is unknown but it apparently

stems from the days when two men had to go on a journey with

only one horse between them. One would start out on horseback,

the other on foot. At a predetermined point the one on horseback

would dismount, hitch the horse to a convenient tree and

continue on via foot. Then the man who started on foot would

catch up and pass the former rider. While alternating

"hitching" and "hiking" the two travelers eventually reached

their destination. Another version dates coinage of this word

to coincide with the period of training of American boys in

military camps in the first World War. Making their way home on

a brief furlough, the young man would "hike" until a car or

truck approached their way and then they would "hitch" a ride.

The term soon thereafter passed into the general language and

has become a recognized form of travel.

In his book {Entertainment Evangelism}, Walt Kallestad tells

this story... I walked into a Roman Catholic church recently for a

meeting. To my surprise, just inside the front door a large Irish

setter was vigorously wagging his tail, inviting me to stop and pet

him. I could not get over how calming this welcoming, beautiful animal

seemed to be. When I eventually met with the priest I told him, with

tongue in cheek, that I had just received one of the warmest welcomes

I had ever received in a church, by an incredibly friendly dog. I

expected the priest to be surprised. Perhaps even mortified. He

simply replied, however, "I like to put my dog out in the front of the

church. The children simply cannot wait to come and see him every

week. He dispenses the most hospitality we've ever had."

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| My Source:

| TRUTHS Email List, 1/28/99

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| Author: Steve Waller

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DO YOU KNOW ANY MISSIONARIES?

by Steve Waller

Brethren,

Some recent posts on this list brought something to my mind that I would like to discuss with you, and hope that it can be helpful.

A few years ago, when I was preaching for a certain congregation in the States, we would “allow” missionaries that we supported to come and make their reports and show slides of their work. I found such a situation very interesting. I usually always appreciated hearing about the various works and seeing the slide presentation as did some of the others in the congregation.

One thing bothered me, though. Frequently, on the Sunday that the missionary would visit, most members of the congregation would rush out to their favorite restaurant for Sunday dinner. This would leave my wife and me at the almost empty church building with the missionary and his family. Frankly, I was embarrassed that no one seemed to care enough about the missionary and his family to even invite them to Sunday dinner! I am no hero, but I was very frustrated and upset over this seeming insensitivity and lack of care for a family that had sacrificed much to go into a foreign field to proclaim the gospel. So, my wife and I would invite them to go out and eat with us. That does not make us special, but it did do something to and for us. It gave us an opportunity to learn about missionaries, their families, mission work, and the challenges and troubles faced in the mission field. It awoke something within us that needed to be awakened.

We began to see mission work in a whole different light. We began to develop friendships with missionaries. We began to think that just maybe mission work was something we should be sacrificing to do. We continued to be in contact with some of these missionaries, and after a few years, our vision of spreading the gospel into a foreign land began to take shape. We were invited to go on a couple of mission trips, which we were most happy to do. When we told the congregation where I preached that our desire was to go on a three-week mission campaign, they became excited about sending “our preacher and his wife” overseas.

As time rolled on, we became convinced that there was a place for us in a nation where we had never spoken the native language (and would have to go to school to learn it) and where the gospel is hidden. The challenge of such a venture, at times, seemed almost overwhelming. But, after much work, many speaking appointments in the States, many miles of travel to raise funds, and a lot of “red tape,” we finally arrived in the fourth largest nation in the world (the nation with the largest Muslim population) to serve the Lord where most Americans would not dare to live.

Brethren, I should warn you that “running” with missionaries can be life-changing! It certainly changed our lives! How well do you know your missionaries? How much time do you spend trying to get to know them and their families? How hospitable are you and your congregation to them when they want to come and give a report or need a place to stay overnight? Does 3 John 1:5-8 mean anything to us? Or, are missionaries a necessary “evil” that we want to sweep under the rug as soon as we can? Do they remind us that just maybe we could be doing more where we are? Does their presence make us feel a little guilty?

I am so thankful that many brethren all over the United States treated us so kindly and hospitably during our fund-raising efforts last year. Very few turned us away. And, most wanted to know as much as possible about our plans. How encouraging that is!

Get to know your missionaries. It will do you good, and the enthusiasm for world evangelism may begin to take hold and spread where you are!

Steve Waller

________________________________________________

Steve Waller - spwrsw@indo.net.id or stevewaller@usa.net

(Now living in Indonesia)

North Marshall church of Christ

Waller Mission Fund

3290 Palma Road

Calvert City, KY USA 42029

Office: 502-527-8733

The phone rang in a high society Boston home. On the other end of the line was a son who had just returned from Viet Nam and was calling from California. His folks were the cocktail-circuit, party kind -- drinking, wife swapping, gambling, all the other things that go with it. The boy said to his mother, “I just called to tell you that I wanted to bring a buddy home with me.” His mother said, “Sure, bring him along for a few days.” “But, mother, there is something you need to know about this boy. One leg is gone, one arm's gone, one eye's gone, and his face is quite disfigured. Is it all right if I bring him home?”

His mother said, “Bring him home for a few days.” The son said, “You didn't understand me, mother. I want to bring him home to live with us.” The mother began to make all kinds of excuses about embarrassment and what people would think...and the phone clicked.

A few hours later the police called from California to Boston. The mother picked up the phone again. The police sergeant at the other end said, “We just found a boy with one arm, one leg, one eye and a mangled face, who has just killed himself with a shot in the head. The identification papers on the body say he is your son.”

The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart

Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 109.

“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:12-13 NKJV)

Hope, Patience, Prayer, Hospitality

• hope — Phil 4:4, 1 Th 5:16, Luke 10:20, Rom 15:13, Heb 3:6, Rom 5:2, 1 Pet 4:13 — a possession, and visions of hope

• tribulation — Matt 24:21-22, Luke 21:19, Ps 37:7, 40:1, Rom 15:3-4, Col 1:11, Jam 1:2-4 — affliction

• continuing…prayer — Luke 18:1, 1 Th 5:17, Col 4:2, EPh 6:18, Acts 12:5, Acts 2:42 — let prayer be constant, earnest, importunate

• distributing — Gal 6:10, Heb 13:16, 1 Jn 317, Act 4:32-33, 2 Cor 9:1-2, 2 Cor 8:1-4, Heb 6:10 — communicating

• necessity — things needful

• hospitality — 1 Pet 4:9, Heb 13:2, Gen 18:2-8, Gen 19:1-3 — (Gk., philoxenos, a lover of strangers) pursuing kindness to strangers

Cleave to the right — W. W. Wythe

I. What is it? –

1. To approve of the good;

2. To desire it;

3. To practise it.

II. How? –

1. Understandingly;

2. Willingly;

3. Energetically;

4. Humbly.

III. Why? Because it is –

1. Right;

2. Honourable;

3. Pleasant;

4. Profitable

Perpetual prayer — Rev. S. Martin

I. What is hereby required of us — continuance in prayer — continuance in the sense of importunity and perseverance

II. Why this is required of us. Habitual prayer –

1. Keeps in habitual exercise the first principles of our religious life;

2. Keeps a man face to face with God;

3. Recognises the two great blessings of the Christian economy:

(1) Christ’s mediation,

(2) The Holy Ghost’s ministration;

4. Is the constant use of the highest agency which Christians can employ;

5. Is second only to ceaseless praise in the loftiness and sacredness of the habit;

6. Is in harmony with God’s present method of government.

Application:-

1. Pray;

2. Pray earnestly;

3. Pray continuously.

The uses of adversity — All birds, when they are first caught and put into the cage, fly wildly up and down and beat themselves against their little prisons; but within two or three days sit quietly upon their perch, and sing their usual notes with their usual melody. So it fares with us, when God first brings us into a strait, we wildly flutter up and down, and beat and tire ourselves with striving to get free; but at length custom and experience will make our narrow confinement spacious enough for us; and though our feet should be in the stocks, yet shall we, with the Apostles, be able even there to sing praises to our God. — Bp Hopkins

Some years ago, we were spending Christmas in the home of my wife's parents. It was not a happy day in the household. Much had gone wrong during the preceding weeks, and a weight of sadness hung over the home. Yet, in the midst of all that, my mother-in-law kept her routine habit of asking people who would likely have no place to go at Christmas to share Christmas dinner with us.

That year she invited a man who was, by everyone's estimate, somewhat of an odd person, quite eccentric in his demeanor. Not much was known about him at the church except that he came regularly, sat alone, and left without much conversation. He obviously lived alone and was quite a sorry-looking, solitary figure. He was our Christmas guest.

Because of other happenings in the house, not the least of which was that one daughter was taken to the hospital for the birth of her first child, everything was confusion. All of our emotions were on edge. It fell upon me, in turn, to entertain this gentleman. I must confess that I did not appreciate it. Owing to a heavy life of travel year-round, I have jealously guarded my Christmases to be with my family. This was not going to be such a privilege, and I was not happy. As I sat in the living room, entertaining him while others were busy, I thought to myself, “This is going to go down as one of the most miserable Christmases of my life.”

But somehow we got through the evening. He evidently loved the meal, the fire crackling in the background, the snow outside, the Christmas carols playing, and a rather weighty theological discussion in which he and I were engaged — at his instigation, I might add. He was a very well-read man and, as I found out, loved to grapple with heavy theological themes. I do too, but frankly, not during an evening that has been set aside to enjoy life's quiet moments, not someone's polemical mind.

At the end of the night when he bade us all good-bye, he reached out and took the hand of each of us, one by one, and said, “Thank you for the best Christmas of my life. I will never forget it.” He walked out into the dark, snowy night, back into his solitary existence.

My heart sank in self-indictment at those tender words of his. I had to draw on every nerve in my being to keep from breaking down with tears. Just a few short years later, relatively young, and therefore to our surprise, he passed away. I have relived that Christmas many times in my memory.

That year the Lord taught me a lesson. The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous. Having been lifted beyond the prejudice of culture, Jesus repositioned for his disciples the place of wealth. So staggering was the impact that many of them in the years to come would leave their own homes to go to distant parts of the world in order to proclaim the heaven-sent message that redefined their earthly homes. Eleven of them paid for that message with their lives.

The first time I walked through the noisy streets of Bethlehem and endured its smells, I gained a whole new sense of the difference between our Christmas carols, glamorizing the sweetness of the “little town of Bethlehem,” and the harsh reality of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Ah! But is it not part of the wonder of God's disclosure of reality that He points to what we live with to show us what true living is meant to be?

For the disciples, Jesus' answer to their simple question — “Where do you live?” — was to lift them beyond race and culture, beyond wealth and power, beyond time and distance to make them true citizens of the world, informed by the world to come. He brought them into a dramatically different way of living and thinking from the one to which they were accustomed. He showed them the inclusiveness of his love for the whole world. But implicit in that was the exclusivity of his Truth, for which they were willing to give their lives. We have reversed Jesus' order. We have made truth relative and culture supreme and have been left with a world in which wickedness reigns.

Jesus brought truth to light and a different world to his message. In Him my heart finds its true home.

G. K. Chesterton has captured the wonder in how Jesus' earthly address changes ours, as only he can do.

A child in a foul stable,

Where the beasts feed and foam;

Only where He was homeless

Are you and I at home:

We have hands that fashion and heads that know,

But our hearts we lost — how long ago!

In a place no chart nor ship can show

Under the sky's dome.

To an open house in the evening

Home shall men come,

To an older place than Eden

And a taller town than Rome.

To the end of the way of the wandering star,

To the things that cannot be and that are,

To the place where God was homeless

And all men are at home. (1)

Where does Jesus live? Come to Christ this Christmas, and see what it means to live.

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1. G.K. Chesterton, “The House of Christmas,” from Robert Knille, ed., As I Was Saying (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1985), 304-5

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Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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There's an issue that refuses to go away, even though many politicians wish it would. Since it engenders great passion on both sides of the political divide, both parties view it as a “no-win” issue: For every one potential voter you please, you're likely to alienate another one.

While many Americans oppose what is happening, most have come to rely upon it and probably wouldn't want to live in a society where it's eliminated altogether.

The issue I'm referring to is illegal immigration.

There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. The majority of these come from Mexico and Central America. Contrary to the stereotype, however, they are not all farm workers or domestics. Nearly one-third of them own their own homes, and many have U.S.-born children. In other words, they have roots in this country. Many of them provide cheap labor, which we all benefit from.

But none of this changes the fact that they are here in violation of U.S. law. Nor should their success make us feel better about our porous borders.

Illegal immigration and the borders that make it possible is the subject of two competing proposals in the U.S. Senate. One bill would require illegal immigrants to report to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, pay a fine, and be deported back to their home countries. Once there, they would be eligible to apply for a “guest-worker” program.

A competing proposal would also offer illegal immigrants entry into a “guest-worker” program. But this proposal would also grant them legal residency and the possibility of citizenship. Some think this goes too far.

As hard as this issue is for our leaders, it's even harder for Christians. We're commanded to be good citizens who are committed to the welfare of the city in which God has placed us to live. The porous borders that have enabled 11 million people to settle in this country illegally raise obviously dangerous security concerns. Those same borders allowing people to seek a better life for their families allow terrorists to come in to destroy us. We need to tighten border security. And we must oppose blatant disregard for the law. If immigration laws are too restrictive, the answer is to amend them, not ignore them.

But along with these concerns, we also need to recall God's command to welcome the foreigner and sojourner in our midst. The Scriptures tells us that hospitality toward the aliens in its midst is the hallmark of a good society. In fact, extending the hand of friendship toward those who are different from them is a way the people of God distinguish themselves from their unbelieving neighbors.

While this kind of hospitality doesn't require that Christians advocate open borders, it does require us to be salt and light in the debate over immigration reform. At the very least, we should work to elevate the level of discourse and prevent the demonizing of the “other” in our midst.

And we ought to remind our fellow citizens who are so angry about immigration that it is our desire for cheap labor that has contributed to the problem. It's bad enough that illegal immigration is a “no-win” issue; it should not be a “no-truth” issue, as well. And in the end, we must, as Christians, treat everyone in our midst with godly compassion.

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Copyright (c) 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

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Acts 28:1–15 — Paul Arrives at Rome — (outline by F. F. Bruce, NICNT) « Leader information shown in this fashion »

{A.} The Birth of the Church (1:1–5:42)

{B.} Persecution and Expansion (6:1–9:31)

{C.} The Acts of Peter & Beginnings of Gentile Christianity (9:32–12:25)

{D.} Church Extension from Antioch & Apostolic Decree at Jerusalem (12:25–15:35)

{E.} Paul Leaves Antioch & Moves to the Aegean World (15:36–19:20)

{F.} Paul Plans to Visit Rome and Gets there by an Unforseen Route (19:21–28:31)

{1} He Prepares to Leave Ephesus for Macedonia and Achaia (19:21–20:6)

{2} The Journey to Jerusalem (20:7–21:16)

{3} Paul at Jerusalem (21:17–23:30)

{4} Paul at Caesarea (23:31–26:32)

{5} Paul’s Voyage and Shipwreck (27:1–44)

A. Caesarea to Myra (27:1–5)

B. They Trans-ship at Myra and Sail to Crete (27:6–8)

C. Paul’s Advice Rejected (27:9-12)

D. They are Caught by the Wind Euraquilo (27:13-20)

E. Paul’s Encouragement (27:21-26)

F. They Approach Land (27:27-29)

G. The Sailors’ Attempt to Escape Frustrated (27:30-32)

H. The Meal on Board (27:33-38)

I. The Shipwreck (27:39-41)

J. Safe Ashore! (27:42-44)

{6} Winter in Malta (28:1-10)

A. Welcome to Malta! 28:1-6 (NKJV)

1. 1 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

2. The Phoenicians « (spoke variant of Hebrew) » settled the island ca., 900 BC, called it Melita, ‘refuge’ – how was this the case on this cold, late October day? « – landfall from the stormy sea; care of the natives in providing shelter to this large group of unexpected ‘guests’ (indicating this had happened before) »

3. What do you think of the character of the Maltese / Melitans…

a. … verse 2? « – hospitable, kind, caring »

b. … verse 3 (John 9:2–3, Luke 13:4; also Job)? « – superstitious, attributing supernatural cause to events, particularly ascribing mishaps and suffering to divine retribution »

c. … verse 6? « – superstitious, fickle; unsound in judgement »

4. The Greeks and Romans considered the Maltese as barbarians because they spoke neither Greek nor Latin (they spoke a form of Hebrew then and a form of Arabic today); how would you characterize their assessment? « – The response to need of the people in the first 6 verses puts such an attitude to shame. Discuss the effects on the church of xenophobism and of our natural discomfort with anything strange to us. How should the Christian and the church respond to those of other languages and cultures? What are steps we can take to avoid this? What verses of Scripture should admonish us? »

5. Doubts have been cast on the poisonous nature of this snake; what evidence is there that it was? « – Note ancient names for fauna do not necessarily parallel modern; Dr Luke would treat snake-bite and know; the people’s expectation of Paul’s death »

6. Some sects use this incident and Mark 16:18 « (q.v.) » to support a religious practice of handling poisonous snakes; how does Luke 4:12 (see context) refute this? « – do not use God’s promises to test God, unnecessarily, merely for the sake of testing Him »

7. Do miracles, in themselves, prove the veracity & credibility of their worker (Deuteronomy 13:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 9-12)? … why do they happen? « – no; they are (1) to test our love for God, (2) to bring judgement on those who do not love truth »

8. What would this incident accomplish on behalf of Paul (as well as sparing his life!)? « – just one more evidence to the centurion, Julius, that he had under his charge a very special man in Paul, and would be inclined to treat him specially »

B. Works of Healing in Malta 28:7–10 (NKJV)

1. 7 In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 10 They also honoured us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

2. The word ‘leading’ is literally ‘the first’ which is an official title technically correct in Malta, so that Publius appears to have been the chief Roman authority on the Island. What would his necessary actions have been? … what did he do beyond that?

a. He had to « – arrange accommodation for the important and safeguarding the prisoners from the shipwreck. »

b. He did not have to « – do this, even for 3 days, courteously and personally using his own estate, with his father sick, so that they entered even into his household; then he allowed his place became the island clinic. »

3. In the first 10 verses of this chapter, there are a number of technical medical terms as in verse 6 “swell up (inflammation)” and “suddenly fall down (as in a fit or from wounds)” « – what medical term do you see in these verses? – fever & dysentery = Grk; Hippocrates often joined with fever as here (EGT in loc) »

4. Also, hidden in the English, are 2 different words for heal; verse 8, iaomai (found in English geriatrics, psychiatry, etc.), and verse 9, therapeuw (therapeutic; used in Luke 8:43; is there any indication that Paul was not the only healer (Colossians 4:14) « – in the words, ‘They also honoured US’ and as used in Luke 8:43 »

5. What insight do we get of the people of Malta? « – it was a close community; in a very brief while the news of healing had spread and people had responded by coming for healing »

6. Can you suggest why preaching here is not mentioned? « – that it was part of healing; Luke’s purpose to bring Paul to Rome »

7. What final comment do you have about the island people? « – appreciative in their kindness and generosity »

{7} Rome at Last (28:11–31)

C. The Last Lap: ‘And So We Came to Rome 28:11–15 (NKJV)

1. 11 After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island. 12 And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days. 13 From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli, 14 where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. 15 And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

2. The ‘Twin Brothers’ are probably Castor and Pollux, patron gods of sailors – should Paul have refused to set foot on the ship until these idols were removed? « – no; some people today would make a great deal out of such issues, but Paul was perfectly aware that these were not real gods (Galatians 4:8) and, as at Athens, knew the solution was not externals but the turning men’s hearts to the one true God as revealed in Jesus. »

3. What did Paul find at Puteoli, port of Naples, south of Rome? « – a church (group of brethren, the term for believers) »

4. What factors could have inclined Julius, the centurion, to have allowed to Paul, his prisoner, this freedom? – « centurion needing to check with local authorities regarding his prisoners; he had previously trusted Paul in this fashion at Sidon; all that he had seen of Paul and heard from him during this voyage would have left him with no doubt of the special relationship Paul had with his God and that God’s power. »

5. There was already a church at Rome (Epistle to the Romans written some 2 to 3 years previously) and a delegation came to greet him, walking some 33 miles (about 53 km) to the Three Taverns, or 43 miles (about 70 km) to the Appii Forum (a marketplace). What does this incident indicate? « – the eager anticipation the Roman church had of meeting Paul, to them previously only known by his letter and by his acquaintances. »

6. What very human element do you find here in Paul? « – his taking courage; he who had encouraged 273 others in the midst of a terrible storm, we find has his own qualms at times »

A church newsletter mentioned a man who visited eighteen different churches on successive Sundays. He was trying to find out what the churches were really like. He said, “I sat near the front. After the service, I walked slowly to the rear, then returned to the front and went back to the foyer using another aisle. I smiled and was neatly dressed. I asked one person to direct me to a specific place: a fellowship hall, pastor’s study, etc. I remained for coffee if served. I used a scale to rate the reception I received. I awarded points on the following basis:

10 for a smile from a worshiper

10 for a greeting from someone sitting nearby

100 for an exchange of names

200 for an invitation to have coffee

200 for an invitation to return

1000 for an introduction to another worshiper

2000 for an invitation to meet the pastor

On this scale, eleven of the eighteen churches earned fewer than 100 points. Five actually received less than 20.

The conclusion: The doctrine may be biblical, the singing inspirational, the sermon uplifting, but when a visitor finds nobody who cares whether he’s here, he is not likely to come back.”

________

Source: Laugh & Lift

The people of Israel were called to be God’s people and God alone was to be their God, but this identity was far from permission to stave off every neighbor and keep the foreigners at bay. Hospitality was written into the very consciousness of the people of Israel. They saw that they were living in “none other than the house of God” and as such their very lives were to signify the master of the house (Genesis 28:17). It was no doubt in understanding the feast that God had set before her that the woman of Shunem urged the traveling Elisha to stay for a meal. Later realizing that her guest was a servant of God, she took hospitality to all new heights. “She said to her husband, ‘Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. Let us make a small roof chamber with walls, and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us’” (2 Kings 4:8-10).

Though the hospitality we offer may not include the physical building of new rooms onto our houses, the image is one we cannot forget. For how often it seems we find God asking us to do the very things that God has done for us: “In my Father’s house are many rooms,” said Jesus. “If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3). Hospitality is a command we are given because we have been given a home. We welcome others because we have been welcomed. We build rooms in our lives for strangers, outcasts, and neighbors because we too were once strangers when the Son prepared us a room.

We also build rooms simply because our neighbors need them. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous sermon on the Good Samaritan, he distinguishes between asking “What will happen to me if I stop to help this man?” and “What will happen to him if I don’t?” King then asks himself, “What will happen to humanity if I don’t help? What will happen to the Civil Rights movement if I don’t participate? What will happen to my city if I don’t vote? What will happen to the sick if I don’t visit them?”(1) Choosing to do nothing in terms of hospitality, service, and justice is still very definitely making a choice. What will happen to my neighbor if I refuse to see her need for the room in my life I can offer?

Here, we might further discover that God not only encourages hospitality for the sake of the one who would receive it, but also for the sake of the world that sees it. In a recent article in the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof makes the observation that in certain countries where danger and instability are constant threats, “you often find that the only groups still operating are Doctors Without Borders and religious aid workers: crazy doctors and crazy Christians.” He continues, “In the town of Rutshuru in war-ravaged Congo, I found starving children, raped widows, and shellshocked survivors. And there was a determined Catholic nun from Poland, serenely running a church clinic.”(2)

Genuine hospitality is perhaps one of our most effective means of being salt and light. On multiple levels, the one who builds a room for a neighbor is preaching a sermon, and it may well be the only description of the good news those who behold the act will ever hear.

With Elisha and the Shunammite woman, we live our lives in the house of God. Might the people with whom we come in contact respond to our hospitality with the surprise of Jacob, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

________

1. From A KNOCK AT MIDNIGHT: INSPIRATION FROM THE GREAT SERMONS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” edited by Clayborne Carson and Peter Holloran (Warner Books, 1998).

2. Nicholas D. Kristof, “Evangelicals a Liberal Can Love,” The New York Times, February 3, 2008.

________

Copyright © 2008 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

During the summer, many of us enjoy having friends over for a backyard barbecue. The food section of the newspaper is full of menu ideas to please every palate. But do you ever worry that, after all your hard work, your friends won’t show up? If they don’t, it seems to be a reflection on our importance — or popularity. It’s a nightmare scenario, believe it or not, for many a host and hostess.

But maybe we’re worrying about the wrong thing. And just maybe, we’re inviting the wrong people.

In Luke 14, we find Jesus dining at the home of a ruler among the Pharisees. A discussion comes up about the importance of guests. Jesus tells his host, “When you give a...banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or...rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid.”

Indeed, Jesus says, you should invite “the poor, the maimed, the lame, [and] the blind.” These guests would not be able to repay his hospitality, or yours. The man would, instead, be repaid “at the resurrection of the just.”

This theme was echoed by one of Washington’s most famous pastors, the Rev. Peter Marshall, who in the 1940s was the chaplain of the Senate. In a collection of his sermons called “Mr. Jones, Meet the Master,” Marshall tells the story of an imaginary businessman who was reading his Bible one day and found the passage from Luke I just quoted. He made up engraved invitations to dinner and passed them out among the poor of Washington — men who were sick or out of work. On the appointed night, the businessman served his guests an elegant dinner. And then, he offered, in the name of Jesus, to help them any way he could.

This is the approach to hospitality we all should have. I live in a town where people put a lot of effort into getting important people to come to dinner — Congressmen, big-time lawyers, Supreme Court justices. But that’s the secular worldview at work — that we should honor those with earthly power.

By contrast, Christianity teaches that we should concern ourselves with the poor, the sick and the powerless. Scripture makes it clear that our help should not be limited to dropping off groceries at a food bank, or working in the soup kitchen once a month. Instead, we should invite the poor into our very homes and churches.

The next time you throw a party, don’t worry about hosting the smart set or the most important people at your church. Instead, invite neighbors who have lost their jobs and could use some cheering up. Invite someone from your office who is hard to get along with, and probably lonely. Invite the poor in your community — maybe that single mom down the street could use a night out.

Or perhaps you should call your pastor; maybe he knows an ex-prisoner who has joined the congregation and needs fellowship. Find out which families from church are going through a difficult time, and invite them over. Invite people who cannot repay your hospitality.

The Washington Post maybe won’t cover your get-together. But Someone far more important will notice, and rejoice. And you won’t have to worry about people not showing up. Your backyard barbecue will become a chance to minister to others — and bring down blessings on yourself.

________

Copyright (c) 2009 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Christmas is often regarded as a time for goodwill, but one young United Kingdom couple’s act of kindness 50 years ago changed their lives forever. On 23 December 1975, Rob Parsons and his wife Dianne were preparing for Christmas at their Cardiff home when they heard a knock at the door. On their doorstep stood a man with a bin bag containing his possessions in his right hand and a frozen chicken in his left. Rob studied the man’s face and vaguely remembered him as Ronnie Lockwood, someone he would occasionally see at Sunday School as a boy and who he was told to be kind to as he was a “bit different”.

“I said ‘Ronnie, what’s with the chicken?’ He said ‘somebody gave it to me for Christmas’. And then I said two words that changed all of our lives. And I’m not exactly sure why I said them. I said come in.”

Aged just 27 and 26 years old at the time, the couple felt compelled to take Ronnie, who was autistic, under their wing. They cooked his chicken, let him bathe and agreed to let him stay for Christmas. What began as an act of compassion turned into an unique companionship of love and compromise that lasted 45 years, until the day Ronnie died.

Rob, now 77, and Dianne, now 76, had only been married for four years when they welcomed Ronnie into their home. Ronnie was then almost 30 and had been without a home from the age of 15, living in and around Cardiff and moving from job to job - Rob would sometimes see him at a youth club he ran. To make him feel as welcome as possible, they asked their family to bring him a gift for Christmas, anything from a pair of socks to some “smellies”.

“I can remember him now. He was sat at the Christmas table and he had these presents and he cried because he’d never known that sort of feeling of love, you know,” said Dianne. “It was incredible, really, to watch.”

The pair planned to let him stay until the day after Christmas, but when the day came, they couldn’t bring themselves to cast Ronnie out and sought advice from the authorities. The homeless centre told them Ronnie needed an address to get a job, Rob said, but “to get an address, you need a job”. “That’s the Catch 22 that loads of homeless people are in.”

Put in a care home when he was just eight years old, Ronnie disappeared from Cardiff at age 11. He was sent 200 miles away to a school which was referred to in a report as a “school for subnormal boys” and he lived there for five years. He didn’t have any friends there. He had no social worker who knew him. He had no teachers who knew him.

Rob said Ronnie would often ask “have I done a bad thing?” something which they believe he picked up from his time at the school. “He was always worried he had offended you, or done something wrong.” Aged 15, Ronnie was sent back to Cardiff “to nothing” they said.

The couple said Ronnie was a bit awkward to begin with as he would struggle to make any eye contact and conversation was kept to a minimum. “But then we got to know him and, in truth, we got to love him,” they said.

They helped Ronnie get a job as a waste collector and took him to buy new clothes after finding out he wore the same clothes he was given as a teenager at the school. “We didn’t have kids of our own, it was like dressing your kids for school, we were proud parents,” said Rob.

“As we came out of the shop, she [Dianne] said to me: ‘He’s got a job as a dustman, we’ve dressed him up as though he’s the front man of the Dorchester Hotel’,” Rob laughed.

Rob, who was a lawyer, would get up an extra hour early to drop Ronnie to work before going to work himself. When he would get home, Rob said Ronnie would often be sitting there, just smiling, and one night he asked: “Ronnie, what’s amusing you so much?” Ronnie replied: “Rob, when you take me to work in the mornings, the other men say ‘who is that who brings you to work in that car?’ And I say ‘oh that’s my solicitor [lawyer]’.”

Ronnie spent a lot of his spare time at their local church, gathering donations for the homeless and setting up for services, “meticulously” lining out the chairs.

Dianne recalled one day he came home with a different pair of shoes on, and she asked: “Ronnie, where are your shoes.” He told her a homeless man needed them. “That’s the type of person he was. He was amazing,” they said.

Only once did the couple consider supporting Ronnie to live independently, a few years after he moved in. As their two children were growing older and space felt limited in their one-bathroom home, they approached Ronnie’s room to suggest him getting a flat down the road from them. But as they entered, he repeated that familiar question: “Have I done a bad thing?”

Rob said Dianne hushed him out of the room, burst into tears and said “I can’t do it.”

A few nights later, Ronnie entered their room and asked: “We three are firm friends, aren’t we?” Rob said, “Yes, Ronnie, we three are firm friends.” “And we will be together forever won’t we?” Ronnie asked. There was a moment’s pause, probably too long, and Rob looked across to his wife and I said, “Yes, Ronnie, we will be together forever.” And they were.

Ronnie died in 2020 at the age of 75 after suffering a stroke and the couple say they miss him terribly. Only 50 people were allowed to go to his funeral due to Covid but “tickets were hotter than a Coldplay concert” Rob joked.

They received at least 100 sympathy cards, from “Oxford University professors, to politicians and the unemployed”.

After his death, a new £1.6m wellbeing centre attached to Glenwood Church in Cardiff was named Lockwood House, after Ronnie. But the old building and the new building didn’t quite match, and they needed extra funding to finish the renovation. “But they needn’t have worried,” said Rob. “Almost to the penny, it was the exact amount Ronnie had left in his will. In the end the homeless man put the roof over all of our heads.”

________

Adapted from the BBC article, "We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years," by Charlie Buckland with additional reporting by Greg Davies. Edited by David Holwick.

Sermon in Romans series, #16 Romans 12:9-16

LOVE IS...

==========

I. How to Hug.

II. Love is pure. 12:9

A. Love must be sincere; literally, it must be "unhypocritical."

B. Love must be moral.

III. Love is preferential. 12:10

A. Choose to love people.

B. Put others first.

IV. Love is positive. 12:11

A. It is founded on a dynamic love for God.

B. It results in joyful love for people. 12:12

V. Love is practical. 12:13

A. Meeting needs of hurting people.

B. Practice hospitality.

Some years ago, we were spending Christmas in the home of my wife's parents. It was not a happy day in the household. Much had gone wrong during the preceding weeks, and a weight of sadness hung over the home. Yet, in the midst of all that, my mother-in-law kept her routine habit of asking people who would likely have no place to go at Christmas to share Christmas dinner with us.

That year she invited a man who was, by everyone's estimate, somewhat of an odd person, quite eccentric in his demeanor. Not much was known about him at the church except that he came regularly, sat alone, and left without much conversation. He obviously lived alone and was quite a sorry-looking, solitary figure. He was our Christmas guest.

Because of other happenings in the house, not the least of which was that one daughter was taken to the hospital for the birth of her first child, everything was confusion. All of our emotions were on edge. It fell upon me, in turn, to entertain this gentleman. I must confess that I did not appreciate it. Owing to a heavy life of travel year-round, I have jealously guarded my Christmases to be with my family. This was not going to be such a privilege, and I was not happy. As I sat in the living room, entertaining him while others were busy, I thought to myself, “This is going to go down as one of the most miserable Christmases of my life.”

But somehow we got through the evening. He evidently loved the meal, the fire crackling in the background, the snow outside, the Christmas carols playing, and a rather weighty theological discussion in which he and I were engaged — at his instigation, I might add. He was a very well-read man and, as I found out, loved to grapple with heavy theological themes. I do too, but frankly, not during an evening that has been set aside to enjoy life's quiet moments, not someone's polemical mind.

At the end of the night when he bade us all good-bye, he reached out and took the hand of each of us, one by one, and said, “Thank you for the best Christmas of my life. I will never forget it.” He walked out into the dark, snowy night, back into his solitary existence.

My heart sank in self-indictment at those tender words of his. I had to draw on every nerve in my being to keep from breaking down with tears. Just a few short years later, relatively young, and therefore to our surprise, he passed away. I have relived that Christmas many times in my memory.

That year the Lord taught me a lesson. The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ. Anything that usurps that is idolatrous. Having been lifted beyond the prejudice of culture, Jesus repositioned for his disciples the place of wealth. So staggering was the impact that many of them in the years to come would leave their own homes to go to distant parts of the world in order to proclaim the heaven-sent message that redefined their earthly homes. Eleven of them paid for that message with their lives.

The first time I walked through the noisy streets of Bethlehem and endured its smells, I gained a whole new sense of the difference between our Christmas carols, glamorizing the sweetness of the “little town of Bethlehem,” and the harsh reality of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Ah! But is it not part of the wonder of God's disclosure of reality that He points to what we live with to show us what true living is meant to be?

For the disciples, Jesus' answer to their simple question — “Where do you live?” — was to lift them beyond race and culture, beyond wealth and power, beyond time and distance to make them true citizens of the world, informed by the world to come. He brought them into a dramatically different way of living and thinking from the one to which they were accustomed. He showed them the inclusiveness of his love for the whole world. But implicit in that was the exclusivity of his Truth, for which they were willing to give their lives. We have reversed Jesus' order. We have made truth relative and culture supreme and have been left with a world in which wickedness reigns.

Jesus brought truth to light and a different world to his message. In Him my heart finds its true home.

G. K. Chesterton has captured the wonder in how Jesus' earthly address changes ours, as only he can do.

A child in a foul stable,

Where the beasts feed and foam;

Only where He was homeless

Are you and I at home:

We have hands that fashion and heads that know,

But our hearts we lost — how long ago!

In a place no chart nor ship can show

Under the sky's dome.

To an open house in the evening

Home shall men come,

To an older place than Eden

And a taller town than Rome.

To the end of the way of the wandering star,

To the things that cannot be and that are,

To the place where God was homeless

And all men are at home. (1)

Where does Jesus live? Come to Christ this Christmas, and see what it means to live.

________

1. G.K. Chesterton, “The House of Christmas,” from Robert Knille, ed., As I Was Saying (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1985), 304-5

________

Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

Christmas is often regarded as a time for goodwill, but one young United Kingdom couple’s act of kindness 50 years ago changed their lives forever. On 23 December 1975, Rob Parsons and his wife Dianne were preparing for Christmas at their Cardiff home when they heard a knock at the door. On their doorstep stood a man with a bin bag containing his possessions in his right hand and a frozen chicken in his left. Rob studied the man’s face and vaguely remembered him as Ronnie Lockwood, someone he would occasionally see at Sunday School as a boy and who he was told to be kind to as he was a “bit different”.

“I said ‘Ronnie, what’s with the chicken?’ He said ‘somebody gave it to me for Christmas’. And then I said two words that changed all of our lives. And I’m not exactly sure why I said them. I said come in.”

Aged just 27 and 26 years old at the time, the couple felt compelled to take Ronnie, who was autistic, under their wing. They cooked his chicken, let him bathe and agreed to let him stay for Christmas. What began as an act of compassion turned into an unique companionship of love and compromise that lasted 45 years, until the day Ronnie died.

Rob, now 77, and Dianne, now 76, had only been married for four years when they welcomed Ronnie into their home. Ronnie was then almost 30 and had been without a home from the age of 15, living in and around Cardiff and moving from job to job - Rob would sometimes see him at a youth club he ran. To make him feel as welcome as possible, they asked their family to bring him a gift for Christmas, anything from a pair of socks to some “smellies”.

“I can remember him now. He was sat at the Christmas table and he had these presents and he cried because he’d never known that sort of feeling of love, you know,” said Dianne. “It was incredible, really, to watch.”

The pair planned to let him stay until the day after Christmas, but when the day came, they couldn’t bring themselves to cast Ronnie out and sought advice from the authorities. The homeless centre told them Ronnie needed an address to get a job, Rob said, but “to get an address, you need a job”. “That’s the Catch 22 that loads of homeless people are in.”

Put in a care home when he was just eight years old, Ronnie disappeared from Cardiff at age 11. He was sent 200 miles away to a school which was referred to in a report as a “school for subnormal boys” and he lived there for five years. He didn’t have any friends there. He had no social worker who knew him. He had no teachers who knew him.

Rob said Ronnie would often ask “have I done a bad thing?” something which they believe he picked up from his time at the school. “He was always worried he had offended you, or done something wrong.” Aged 15, Ronnie was sent back to Cardiff “to nothing” they said.

The couple said Ronnie was a bit awkward to begin with as he would struggle to make any eye contact and conversation was kept to a minimum. “But then we got to know him and, in truth, we got to love him,” they said.

They helped Ronnie get a job as a waste collector and took him to buy new clothes after finding out he wore the same clothes he was given as a teenager at the school. “We didn’t have kids of our own, it was like dressing your kids for school, we were proud parents,” said Rob.

“As we came out of the shop, she [Dianne] said to me: ‘He’s got a job as a dustman, we’ve dressed him up as though he’s the front man of the Dorchester Hotel’,” Rob laughed.

Rob, who was a lawyer, would get up an extra hour early to drop Ronnie to work before going to work himself. When he would get home, Rob said Ronnie would often be sitting there, just smiling, and one night he asked: “Ronnie, what’s amusing you so much?” Ronnie replied: “Rob, when you take me to work in the mornings, the other men say ‘who is that who brings you to work in that car?’ And I say ‘oh that’s my solicitor [lawyer]’.”

Ronnie spent a lot of his spare time at their local church, gathering donations for the homeless and setting up for services, “meticulously” lining out the chairs.

Dianne recalled one day he came home with a different pair of shoes on, and she asked: “Ronnie, where are your shoes.” He told her a homeless man needed them. “That’s the type of person he was. He was amazing,” they said.

Only once did the couple consider supporting Ronnie to live independently, a few years after he moved in. As their two children were growing older and space felt limited in their one-bathroom home, they approached Ronnie’s room to suggest him getting a flat down the road from them. But as they entered, he repeated that familiar question: “Have I done a bad thing?”

Rob said Dianne hushed him out of the room, burst into tears and said “I can’t do it.”

A few nights later, Ronnie entered their room and asked: “We three are firm friends, aren’t we?” Rob said, “Yes, Ronnie, we three are firm friends.” “And we will be together forever won’t we?” Ronnie asked. There was a moment’s pause, probably too long, and Rob looked across to his wife and I said, “Yes, Ronnie, we will be together forever.” And they were.

Ronnie died in 2020 at the age of 75 after suffering a stroke and the couple say they miss him terribly. Only 50 people were allowed to go to his funeral due to Covid but “tickets were hotter than a Coldplay concert” Rob joked.

They received at least 100 sympathy cards, from “Oxford University professors, to politicians and the unemployed”.

After his death, a new £1.6m wellbeing centre attached to Glenwood Church in Cardiff was named Lockwood House, after Ronnie. But the old building and the new building didn’t quite match, and they needed extra funding to finish the renovation. “But they needn’t have worried,” said Rob. “Almost to the penny, it was the exact amount Ronnie had left in his will. In the end the homeless man put the roof over all of our heads.”

________

Adapted from the BBC article, "We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years," by Charlie Buckland with additional reporting by Greg Davies. Edited by David Holwick.

Christmas is often regarded as a time for goodwill, but one young United Kingdom couple’s act of kindness 50 years ago changed their lives forever. On 23 December 1975, Rob Parsons and his wife Dianne were preparing for Christmas at their Cardiff home when they heard a knock at the door. On their doorstep stood a man with a bin bag containing his possessions in his right hand and a frozen chicken in his left. Rob studied the man’s face and vaguely remembered him as Ronnie Lockwood, someone he would occasionally see at Sunday School as a boy and who he was told to be kind to as he was a “bit different”.

“I said ‘Ronnie, what’s with the chicken?’ He said ‘somebody gave it to me for Christmas’. And then I said two words that changed all of our lives. And I’m not exactly sure why I said them. I said come in.”

Aged just 27 and 26 years old at the time, the couple felt compelled to take Ronnie, who was autistic, under their wing. They cooked his chicken, let him bathe and agreed to let him stay for Christmas. What began as an act of compassion turned into an unique companionship of love and compromise that lasted 45 years, until the day Ronnie died.

Rob, now 77, and Dianne, now 76, had only been married for four years when they welcomed Ronnie into their home. Ronnie was then almost 30 and had been without a home from the age of 15, living in and around Cardiff and moving from job to job - Rob would sometimes see him at a youth club he ran. To make him feel as welcome as possible, they asked their family to bring him a gift for Christmas, anything from a pair of socks to some “smellies”.

“I can remember him now. He was sat at the Christmas table and he had these presents and he cried because he’d never known that sort of feeling of love, you know,” said Dianne. “It was incredible, really, to watch.”

The pair planned to let him stay until the day after Christmas, but when the day came, they couldn’t bring themselves to cast Ronnie out and sought advice from the authorities. The homeless centre told them Ronnie needed an address to get a job, Rob said, but “to get an address, you need a job”. “That’s the Catch 22 that loads of homeless people are in.”

Put in a care home when he was just eight years old, Ronnie disappeared from Cardiff at age 11. He was sent 200 miles away to a school which was referred to in a report as a “school for subnormal boys” and he lived there for five years. He didn’t have any friends there. He had no social worker who knew him. He had no teachers who knew him.

Rob said Ronnie would often ask “have I done a bad thing?” something which they believe he picked up from his time at the school. “He was always worried he had offended you, or done something wrong.” Aged 15, Ronnie was sent back to Cardiff “to nothing” they said.

The couple said Ronnie was a bit awkward to begin with as he would struggle to make any eye contact and conversation was kept to a minimum. “But then we got to know him and, in truth, we got to love him,” they said.

They helped Ronnie get a job as a waste collector and took him to buy new clothes after finding out he wore the same clothes he was given as a teenager at the school. “We didn’t have kids of our own, it was like dressing your kids for school, we were proud parents,” said Rob.

“As we came out of the shop, she [Dianne] said to me: ‘He’s got a job as a dustman, we’ve dressed him up as though he’s the front man of the Dorchester Hotel’,” Rob laughed.

Rob, who was a lawyer, would get up an extra hour early to drop Ronnie to work before going to work himself. When he would get home, Rob said Ronnie would often be sitting there, just smiling, and one night he asked: “Ronnie, what’s amusing you so much?” Ronnie replied: “Rob, when you take me to work in the mornings, the other men say ‘who is that who brings you to work in that car?’ And I say ‘oh that’s my solicitor [lawyer]’.”

Ronnie spent a lot of his spare time at their local church, gathering donations for the homeless and setting up for services, “meticulously” lining out the chairs.

Dianne recalled one day he came home with a different pair of shoes on, and she asked: “Ronnie, where are your shoes.” He told her a homeless man needed them. “That’s the type of person he was. He was amazing,” they said.

Only once did the couple consider supporting Ronnie to live independently, a few years after he moved in. As their two children were growing older and space felt limited in their one-bathroom home, they approached Ronnie’s room to suggest him getting a flat down the road from them. But as they entered, he repeated that familiar question: “Have I done a bad thing?”

Rob said Dianne hushed him out of the room, burst into tears and said “I can’t do it.”

A few nights later, Ronnie entered their room and asked: “We three are firm friends, aren’t we?” Rob said, “Yes, Ronnie, we three are firm friends.” “And we will be together forever won’t we?” Ronnie asked. There was a moment’s pause, probably too long, and Rob looked across to his wife and I said, “Yes, Ronnie, we will be together forever.” And they were.

Ronnie died in 2020 at the age of 75 after suffering a stroke and the couple say they miss him terribly. Only 50 people were allowed to go to his funeral due to Covid but “tickets were hotter than a Coldplay concert” Rob joked.

They received at least 100 sympathy cards, from “Oxford University professors, to politicians and the unemployed”.

After his death, a new £1.6m wellbeing centre attached to Glenwood Church in Cardiff was named Lockwood House, after Ronnie. But the old building and the new building didn’t quite match, and they needed extra funding to finish the renovation. “But they needn’t have worried,” said Rob. “Almost to the penny, it was the exact amount Ronnie had left in his will. In the end the homeless man put the roof over all of our heads.”

________

Adapted from the BBC article, "We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years," by Charlie Buckland with additional reporting by Greg Davies. Edited by David Holwick.

There are two Sundays each year that provide the greatest opportunity to engage family, friends and people, in general, for invitations to church. Those two Sundays are Easter and Christmas. Even those who are irreligious are more open to attend church on these two Sundays.

So, you may ask, why are you telling us this several weeks before Easter? Because I want to challenge you to develop a list of three lost people whom you can invite to Easter services this year. Your list may include a son-in-law, a sister, parents of your child’s friend or the checker at the grocery store. The point is that you identify three people whom you know by name or who you can identify with through regular contact.

Begin now praying for them daily with the idea that you will extend an invitation for them to join you for Easter worship. When you pray for them, do so using the Word of God. For example, pray 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Pray that God would do a work in each of their lives that would bring them to repentance.

Or pray John 16:8-11, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to bring strong and powerful conviction in their lives so that when they hear the Easter message they would come under deep conviction and respond to the Gospel.

Pray also that they will be willing to attend Easter services with you. Be alert to opportunities that God may well provide for you to speak the Gospel into their lives even before Easter. As you know, praying for lost people means God is preparing and using you as a witness to speak into their lives. I have discovered that often He will open the door along the way to drop a brief witness or, on many occasions, He provides a wide-open door through circumstances to speak the Gospel to someone for whom I am praying.

One of the ways to extend the invitation to those for whom you are praying to join you for Easter services is to also invite them to your home for Easter lunch. Sadly, many of us have lost the art of Christian hospitality. We often look to biblical times and think that to sit down at a meal with someone indicates a willingness to come close. This is the reason the Pharisees criticized Jesus so many times. Remember, they said of Jesus that he “ate with sinners.” He did so because it showed He cared and wanted to know them beyond a passing “hello.” He wanted the opportunity to share the most significant truths with them in a natural and easy setting.

So invite some or all of the people for whom you are praying to join your family for Easter lunch. This invitation will provide opportunity for people to be in a Christian environment and see your family from inside your home. I assure you there will be many natural points of connection that will occur when you can share the Gospel with your family or friends. If nothing else, just talk about the sermon over lunch.

Be ready to carry on the relationship and continue to share the Gospel. Yes, there are those wonderful times when you present the Gospel to someone, or they hear the Gospel in a worship service, and they want to respond immediately. But as our culture moves further away from a Christian worldview, it often takes several times of Gospel conversation before lost people respond to the Gospel. Speak truth, but keep the doors open. Always be respectful. Your job is not to convince or convict -- that is the work of the Holy Spirit. Your job is to pray and share.

Yes, it’s several weeks before Easter, but seed planting and cultivation precede the harvest. Now is the time to begin praying for those three people. Do you have them in mind? If not, your first prayer is to ask the Father to place those three people on your heart this week. Then, get on your knees and start the process.

I leave with a word to pastors. Pastors, you lead the way and set the example. Begin now challenging your people. Affirm to your people that you will preach the cross and resurrection on Easter Sunday, and you will make clear the way to salvation through Christ. Start now telling your people you will be prayed up, filled up, powered up and overflowing with the joy of the Gospel.

Praying, inviting, sharing and proclaiming the Gospel will make Easter a day of celebrating the cross and resurrection, but also a day of salvation for many.

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The original title for this article was "Begin Now."

“rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:12-13 NKJV)

Hope, Patience, Prayer, Hospitality

• hope — Phil 4:4, 1 Th 5:16, Luke 10:20, Rom 15:13, Heb 3:6, Rom 5:2, 1 Pet 4:13 — a possession, and visions of hope

• tribulation — Matt 24:21-22, Luke 21:19, Ps 37:7, 40:1, Rom 15:3-4, Col 1:11, Jam 1:2-4 — affliction

• continuing…prayer — Luke 18:1, 1 Th 5:17, Col 4:2, EPh 6:18, Acts 12:5, Acts 2:42 — let prayer be constant, earnest, importunate

• distributing — Gal 6:10, Heb 13:16, 1 Jn 317, Act 4:32-33, 2 Cor 9:1-2, 2 Cor 8:1-4, Heb 6:10 — communicating

• necessity — things needful

• hospitality — 1 Pet 4:9, Heb 13:2, Gen 18:2-8, Gen 19:1-3 — (Gk., philoxenos, a lover of strangers) pursuing kindness to strangers

Cleave to the right — W. W. Wythe

I. What is it? –

1. To approve of the good;

2. To desire it;

3. To practise it.

II. How? –

1. Understandingly;

2. Willingly;

3. Energetically;

4. Humbly.

III. Why? Because it is –

1. Right;

2. Honourable;

3. Pleasant;

4. Profitable

Perpetual prayer — Rev. S. Martin

I. What is hereby required of us — continuance in prayer — continuance in the sense of importunity and perseverance

II. Why this is required of us. Habitual prayer –

1. Keeps in habitual exercise the first principles of our religious life;

2. Keeps a man face to face with God;

3. Recognises the two great blessings of the Christian economy:

(1) Christ’s mediation,

(2) The Holy Ghost’s ministration;

4. Is the constant use of the highest agency which Christians can employ;

5. Is second only to ceaseless praise in the loftiness and sacredness of the habit;

6. Is in harmony with God’s present method of government.

Application:-

1. Pray;

2. Pray earnestly;

3. Pray continuously.

The uses of adversity — All birds, when they are first caught and put into the cage, fly wildly up and down and beat themselves against their little prisons; but within two or three days sit quietly upon their perch, and sing their usual notes with their usual melody. So it fares with us, when God first brings us into a strait, we wildly flutter up and down, and beat and tire ourselves with striving to get free; but at length custom and experience will make our narrow confinement spacious enough for us; and though our feet should be in the stocks, yet shall we, with the Apostles, be able even there to sing praises to our God. — Bp Hopkins