How Does Hospitality Give Us Hope?
Written by Emma McCoy
4 minute read
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When I texted Matt and Jessie last week, wondering what to do with the blog, I was given a very specific prompt (yay!):
When you think about people who seem to live with God’s hope, do you see any of these four ancient spiritual practices (scripture, prayer, eating together, hospitality) in their life?
Over the next few weeks at Spring Church we’re talking about how four ancient spiritual practices (prayer, scripture reading, eating together, and hospitality) lead to hope. I’m going to be writing about how I see each of these work in people’s lives. Can these practices give us glimpses of God’s future breaking in right now? Spoiler alert: the answer is yes.
This week, we’re talking about hospitality.
What immediately comes to mind for me is the ancient law of hospitality, and how welcoming strangers into your home to provide for them was considered a sacred duty in many cultures. In early Christian practice, hospitality looked like hosting church in your home, welcoming travelers, providing food and clothes to those who need it, and setting a dinner table for people to gather around.
When I think about how hospitality is practiced in our modern Christian context, my friend Andrea comes to mind. Andrea is my mom’s best friend, and she’s like a second mom to me. I have a front-row seat to watching her demonstrate what hospitality looks like, from the small gestures to the large.
Here’s a bigger example of what it looks like to open your space and host:
Andrea quite literally opened her home for Spring Church’s Christmas service and put together a very long table stretching from the kitchen to the living room so everyone had a place. A smaller example: we all ate off her family’s china dishes. Sure, it meant a lot of hand washing at the end, but everyone, at every place, had beautiful dishes with their meal. It felt fancy, intentional, and celebratory.
Both of these things she helped bring about show me what hospitality can do. By setting aside room for people to gather in love, she created space for conversation, fellowship, and worship. I know for a fact I felt the Holy Spirit moving that Christmas day. Andrea is someone who opens her heart and her home, bringing people in to rest, celebrate, and live. Whether it’s through fancy dishes used at an inconvenient time or her living room furniture being moved around, Andrea’s embodiment of hospitality makes room for God to work. There are conversations, good memories, worship, and breakthroughs that wouldn’t have happened without her space.
So what can hospitality look like in your life? Or my life? I live at home with my parents (yay!) so hosting looks different than if I had my own space. What are other ways I can practice hospitality?
There’s actually a lot: car rides, coffee chats, lending clothes, walking with friends, or planning events.
Hospitality doesn’t always have to be in the home. Having fellowship in the car is giving time, energy, space, and transportation. Creating space to listen and be listened to can happen on the sidewalk or in a coffee shop. And planning something to celebrate a friend or loved one—regardless of what it is—is setting aside that space for joy and recognition.
What might practicing hospitality look like in your life? Is there someone you’ve been meaning to reach out to, or a friend who might need a ride, or a birthday coming up? Is there a way to make your space—physical or spiritual—more welcoming for others?
I have two things I’d like to try: right now, I can keep planning events to bring my different friend groups together so we can all get to know each other better. And when the day comes for me to move out from my parents’ house, I’m headed to the thrift store to buy fancy china plates.
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About the author
Spring Church member, Emma McCoy (M.A.), has two poetry books: This Voice Has an Echo (2024) and In Case I Live Forever (2022). She’s been published in places like Across the Margin, Stirring Literary, and Thimble Mag. She reads for Chestnut Review and Whale Road Review. She’s probably working on her novel right now. Catch her on Substack: https://poetrybyemma.substack.com/