Out of Egypt (Message 1)

New Implications on the Ancient Practice of Hospitality

Acts 1:7-8 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus’ final words described the SCOPE of the impact of His kingdom. Our WITNESS to Jesus as MESSIAH has been purposed to reach across the street and across the world.

In practice, His words have offered four specific parameters to the pursuit of global outreach.

In our own lifetime, these boundaries have become positively blurred. In sharing the message of Jesus, we now think of reaching out from anywhere to everywhere.

Biblical Hospitality:

“Offering someone a space into which they would not be welcome unless someone else gives them the invitation.” Dr. Christine Pohl
גֵר has been translated as ‘stranger, alien, sojourner, foreigner’
φιλόξενος “hospitality, generosity to guests or enemy”

phileo: brotherly love

xenos: stranger, foreigner, ALIEN, enemy

- The origin of hospitality is centered in human vulnerability. Everyone was dependent on the kindness of strangers when they were traveling or resettling.

- Therefore, hospitality by nature is INTENTIONAL.

1. Identifying with the Stranger

From the beginning, God wove into the HISTORY of His people an intimate understanding of what it was to be a stranger.
Genesis 15:12-13 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.”
Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Jesus and His family were also molded in His early years by their own experience of living in Egypt.
Matthew 2:14-15 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Within the CHARACTER of God is an innate concern for the outcast and the oppressed. When we identify ourselves with the stranger, we reflect who God is.
Zechariah 7:9-10 “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

2. Remembering our Background

God instructed the Israelites who He lead out of Egypt to teach their children the history of having once been slaves.

Deuteronomy 11:2 Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm . . .
Deuteronomy 5:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt . . .
Deuteronomy 15:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt . . .
Deuteronomy 16:12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt . . .

On the basis of their status as former slaves in a foreign land, God commanded for provisions to be made available for the foreigners living in their community.

Deuteronomy 24:17-18 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
Deuteronomy 24:19, 22 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands . . . 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

Ephesians 2:12-13 Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

The church in Ephesus was beginning to include second-generation Christians. They were apt to forget the former DISADVANTAGES of being Gentiles. The Jews had referred to them as the “uncircumcised” - ἀκροβυστία.

Ephesians 2:13, 19-20 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ . . . 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

As Christians today, we have the same potential to FORGET who we were before Christ. Remembering makes us THANKFUL and positions us to be HOSPITABLE towards outsiders.

3. Extending a Welcome, Expecting a Blessing

Isaiah 1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

We are vulnerable. Our parents taught us early on about ‘stranger DANGER’. Those who invite others in can be hurt and suffer loss.

But . . .

Inviting strangers in and giving them space in our daily life and community is more often coupled with new awareness, maturity, FRIENDSHIP, and joy.

Matthew 25:35-40 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.’

Walk the Talk

Have you ever been a stranger in a place that felt foreign to you? Tell the story of your experience.

What is biblical hospitality? Among Jesus’ followers, who is responsible to offer welcome to outsiders?

Why do you think God champions the cause of the stranger and the oppressed? What evidence from the OT and from Jesus’ example do you offer to show that this is God’s nature?

Why did God want the Israelites to remember and identify themselves as former slaves in Egypt? What does God want us to remember about our past?

Who are people you consider to be strangers? Who first comes to mind when you hear the word ‘foreigner’?

Based on your answers above, what would it look like for you to offer them hospitality?

Do you need to extend a welcome to a specific group of people? . . How will you be intentional about this?