Hospitality

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

HOSPITALITY

Acts 21:15-19

15 After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples. 17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

NIV

What can we learn from this narrative? It appears to be one of those travelog events again. However, it is notable some of the disciples made the trip from Caesarea to Jerusalem so as to give Paul and his accompanies a reference for a home to stay in. How did the disciples from Caesarea know this disciple from Cyprus now made his home in Jerusalem? They did not have any of the methods of communication we do today, yet they knew this man in another town who had the gift of hospitality. Once again, that was a different culture at a different time. It might be rare for us to take in a stranger on the word of we knew from another town. But that is the gift of hospitality at work. This Mnason received Paul and his companions warmly. He gave them shelter and most likely feed them caring for their welfare. Certainly, he would have attended to washing the feet of Paul and his companions, unless he was a wealthy disciple who had at least one servant to do the feet washing. Either way, that would have been done. The second notable event here is that the next day Paul went to see James and all the elders that were present. We do not know how long it took Paul to recount his travels, could have been hours, but then this was the only method of reporting good news. We will find that James and the elders, praised God for all the new believers all over the area. Again, this is people praising God because other people, Gentiles at that, had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Today, the church is expanding, even exploding in numbers in countries around the world, yet for the most part, we only have eyes for our own church. Of course, we do have visits from different missionaries our church gives toward their support, so they come to thank and share, or give and report in detail what God had done among those through their ministry, but we limit them to just a few minutes because we have other things to do. So maybe their report isn’t in that much detail. Again, in a different culture and at a different time, still we could learn a little more about hospitality.