Xenophobia is a word commonly used these days to describe fear of someone or some group that is different.

Derived from the Greek words “xenos” (stranger) and “phobos” (fear), xenophobia has been linked to aggression toward people of different ethnic and religious background, lack of opportunity for outsiders, hate crimes, prejudice and discrimination, damaging public policies, and even genocide.

Xenophobia often leads to hostility against outsiders. It is ugly and dangerous.

However, when we combine “xenos” with another Greek word, the result is one of the lovelier words around. “Xenos” (stranger) + “philos” (love) comes out “hospitality.”

There’s hardly a warmer-sounding word than hospitality and it is a grace to which Jesus calls all His followers.

Jesus was often on the receiving end of hospitality. He was a guest in the homes of Simon Peter, Matthew, Zacchaeus, Simon the Pharisee, Mary and Martha, and others.

And Jesus was hospitable. He loved the outcast, the down-and-out, the misfit, the lost. I believe that among the most beautiful scenes of Jesus in the Gospels is of Him welcoming the leper, the demoniac, the tax-collector, the sinful woman. These were all “strangers” to the religious world, “outsiders” to the moral and upright person. But Jesus loved them and lavished them with value and worth.

He also handed out helpful advice about hospitality. Once, when attending a party to which He had been invited, the Lord counseled that when any of us throw a party, we should invite those who would not be able to invite us back, for then “we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14)

Cultures around the world have long elevated hospitality to honored status. This is true among cultures with a rich, biblical heritage and those from other faith traditions. But make no mistake. When those who follow Jesus are following Him closely, they practice hospitality. Like our Savior, we love the stranger.

Those who lead a local church as Elders were to be known for philoxenia. Paul wrote to both Timothy and Titus about the need for these church overseers to love the stranger.

Writing to encourage persecuted Christians, the author of the letter to the Hebrews highlighted the importance of hospitality. [Hebrews 13:2] Do not neglect hospitality, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

And in the centuries immediately following the start of the Jesus movement, believers were strongly associated with the grace of hospitality, as they consistently reached out to the least, the last, and the lost of their world.

Friends, the grace of hospitality is a desperately needed grace in San Antonio, 2022. Like never before, the world has come to our city.

I have lived in this city for a long time, and for that whole time, going to an HEB has been a delightful experience of diversity. Stores and sporting events and concerts have allowed me to rub shoulders with Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, and fellow Anglos. In recent years, the breadth of diversity in our city has expanded, adding more delightfulness – and more opportunity.

Just as God loved each of us when we were “aliens and strangers” to His ways, we now have lots of opportunities to love the beloved strangers in our midst. We can practice hospitality to the newly arriving strangers we see everywhere we go.

To be guilty of the grace of hospitality, we might…

…smile warmly and give a friendly greeting to someone dressed in another culture’s garb.

…offer help to the person who looks puzzled or lost in a store or on the street.

…donate items to bless the Afghan family whose apartment our church is aiming to furnish.

…avail ourselves of the training being offering to learn more about the culture and hardship and faith of those who have recently come to San Antonio from Afghanistan.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, [Matthew 7:12] So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Luke’s version is shorter, but just as golden. [Luke 6:31] Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.

The stranger among us longs for love, just like you and I do. We imitate our Savior when we love them. We provide a path for their flourishing when we lavish them with hospitality.

Yours…His,

Dave