One of the challenges and privileges of following Jesus is practicing Christian hospitality which includes genuinely welcoming, loving, engaging, valuing, respecting, assisting and walking alongside others while never compromising the truth that Jesus is Lord and sin is real. A verse from the Bible that captures this well is Romans 2:4, where the Apostle Paul states. “Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance”? When we walk in love and offer genuine hospitality to others we understand the price that was paid for sin and God’s desire to love other people into repentance and back to relationship with Him, the source of true love. As with any relationship, someone cannot continually do things their own way or do things that violate the trust of the relationship without hurting the relationship. That is what sin does to our ability to receive and enjoy God’s love and the intimate relationship with Him He created us for.
In the passage above from Matthew 25, Jesus uses a parable to tell us that how we treat others is representative of how we treat Him, the Son of Man. Because Jesus is also God and Creator (see Colossians 1:16) He is reminding us that all people are made in His (God’s) image (Genesis 1:27) and therefore how we treat others (as sacred image bearers) is connected to how we treat God. Jesus is also reminding us in this passage that even those seen as the “least” of people; those who are poor, hungry, naked, without resources, lost, imprisoned, outcast, sick or disabled, are equally made in His image and of tremendous worth.
As Christians who are social workers it is our great honor to make our living by helping many who Jesus called “the least of these” and to minister in Jesus name to those who bear God’s image. It is especially important that we remember this when working with clients who are addicted, in bondage to various sin, believe lies, are abusive, neglect their children, are engaged in criminal activity, are manipulative in their behavior, or who display other difficult and hurtful behaviors toward others or themselves. All of these people are still image bearers whom God loves and longs to rescue and bring back home. As Christians let us never be among those who demean clients, put them down, gossip about them or label them unfairly as “non-compliant”, “borderline” or “bad parents”. Let us instead be committed to calling out the good in people and intervening in ways that show them that they have value even if hard decisions must be made or boundaries enforced. Let us also commit to being leaders in cultivating cultures at our agencies that are warm and welcoming to all so we can effectively help them and lead them to the truth. As we welcome others with Christian hospitality and seek to minister to them as representatives of Jesus, who knows, maybe they or those around them will see God’s kindness in us and be led by the Holy Spirit to repentance and new life.
Prayer
Jesus, sometimes the stains of sin that I see in myself and those around me make it difficult to remember that people reflect you, are made in your image and of great value to you. So much so, that while I and they were still your enemies and lost in sin, you died that we might be free from the power of sin and forgiven. Help me Holy Spirit to see the image of God in all whom I serve and offer even those seen as the least, genuine Hospitality as your representative. Amen.
Resources
Bible
Amy Oden – Hospitality in the Christian Tradition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkEnqgF6oFo
Background Information
Matthew 25:31-46 New International Version (NIV)
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
Listen to the audio podcast, Amy Oden – Hospitality in the Christian Tradition.
Navigate to the threaded discussion and respond to the following prompts:
What are the groups that the Bible identify as strangers or in need of special attention as mentioned in the video? How do you see these groups represented in your work at your practicum site? Explain.
According to Dr. Oden, what does the idea of “welcome” mean in a Christian context? Briefly describe the four steps this involves. How are these ideas useful for thinking about how to approach social work from a Christian view point?
How does the Biblical model of hospitality described in the video avoid creating dependence? Explain why this is the case? Why is this important as a component of learning to integrate Christian faith and social work practice?
What difference could it make if the Christian church practiced this kind of hospitality in a community? How could this model help improve the culture of an agency or community if some of its values and approaches were included in a plan or policy? Give an example.
How might you be a leader in setting an example of hospitality in a social work agency to avoid cynicism, burnout or negative attitudes toward difficult clients? What would this look like?
I have attached the video for the lession below…. please cite and reference …
ALSO PLEASE ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS………
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