Caring for Others: Hospitality and Compassion

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Hebrews 13:2 (KJV) The heart of the Christian faith is love — love for God and love for neighbor. Jesus said these two commandments sum up the whole law and the prophets. And one of the most beautiful ways the Christian woman expresses this love is through hospitality and compassion toward others. She opens her home. She shares her food. She visits the sick. She cares for the widow and the orphan.

She shows the love of Jesus in practical, tangible ways.

East African culture has always valued hospitality. The stranger at the door is welcomed. Food is shared even when there is little. A visitor is never sent away without at least a cup of tea. This is a beautiful gift of our culture that aligns closely with biblical teaching. But we live in a time when these ancient virtues are under pressure. Life is busier. People live in gated compounds. Fear of strangers is greater. Many women say they have no time for others. Do not let the ways of the world crowd out this Christian virtue. Hospitality is a ministry.

The Bible is full of examples of women who cared for others. Consider Rahab of Jericho. She was not born into God's people. She had lived a sinful life. But when the two Israelite spies came to her city, she hid them on her rooftop and protected them. She confessed her faith in the God of Israel. By her courageous hospitality, she saved her entire household when Jericho fell. And she married Salmon, became the mother of Boaz, the great-grandmother of King David, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ Himself. A woman with a compassionate heart, even if her past is not clean, can become a mother in the line of the Messiah.

Consider the widow of Zarephath in First Kings chapter seventeen. During a terrible famine, the prophet Elijah came to her door and asked for water and bread. She replied that she had only a handful of meal and a little oil left, and was preparing to make a last meal for herself and her son before they died. Yet at Elijah's word, she shared what little she had. And the miracle began.

The barrel of meal did not waste, and the cruse of oil did not fail, for many days. When you give what you have to the Lord and His servants, God multiplies it. Do not say, "I have nothing to give."

Give what you have, and watch what the Lord will do.

Consider the Shunammite woman again, in Second Kings chapter four. She noticed the prophet Elisha passing through her town. She invited him to eat. She recognized him as a man of God. She went so far as to build a small room on her roof for him, so that he could rest whenever he came through. Because of her faithful hospitality, God gave her a son when she was childless, and even raised that son from the dead when he later died. A woman who opens her home to the servants of God will never lack God's blessing.

Consider Mary and Martha in Bethany. Their home was a place where Jesus Himself felt welcomed and loved. Martha served with great energy. Mary sat at His feet and learned from Him. Jesus loved to come to their home. He stayed with them. He ate with them. He wept at their brother's grave. And He raised Lazarus from the dead. Their hospitality opened the door for one of the greatest miracles in all of scripture. What miracle might God do in your home, if you opened it up to Him?

Consider Dorcas again, who made clothes for widows. Consider Mary of Jerusalem in Acts chapter twelve, whose house was used as a meeting place for the early church. Consider Phoebe, the deaconess at Cenchrea, who was a succourer of many. Woman after woman, in page after page, the Bible honors those who cared for others.

Let me speak practically. How do you practice hospitality and compassion in your life today?

Open your home. You do not need a big house. You do not need fancy furniture. You do not need to serve a big meal. What you need is a welcoming heart. Invite someone from church to Sunday lunch — maybe a widow, or a young man who lives alone, or a visiting preacher, or a neighbor who is not yet a believer. Share what you have cooked. Pray before the meal. Let them see your family and feel the love of Christ in your home.

Visit the sick. Many people in our communities are sick — with malaria, with HIV, with cancer, with tuberculosis, with the ordinary illnesses of life. A visit from a Christian sister, with a word of prayer and perhaps a small gift of food or fruit, can be a tremendous encouragement.

When Jesus spoke of the judgment, He said, "I was sick, and ye visited me." When you visit the sick in His name, you are visiting the Lord Himself.

Remember the widows. Widows in our communities often face great struggles. They may lose their land. They may be cut off from family. They may feel forgotten. The Bible tells us that pure religion and undefiled before God is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction. Find a widow in your church. Visit her. Pray with her. Help her if you can. You will be blessed beyond what you give.

Care for orphans. Uganda and East Africa have many orphans — some because of HIV and AIDS, some because of war, some because of poverty. The Church of Jesus Christ should be the first to care for these children. You may not be able to adopt an orphan, but you can help. Sponsor a child's school fees if you are able. Visit a children's home. Pray for the children there. Bring clothes or food. Love them in the name of Jesus.

Reach out to the poor. You yourself may not have much. But there is almost always someone poorer than you. Share what you have. The widow at the temple gave two small coins, and Jesus said she had given more than all the rich. It is not the amount. It is the heart.

Welcome strangers to your church. When a new person comes to your fellowship, go and greet them. Welcome them. Ask their name. Invite them home for a meal. Many people have wandered away from churches because no one spoke to them when they came. Do not let this happen in your church.

Listen. Sometimes the greatest ministry you can offer is not food or money but the gift of a listening ear. A burdened sister may need someone to hear her story, someone to cry with her, someone to pray with her. Be that person.

Let me tell you about an African Christian who showed remarkable compassion. Mary Slessor, the Scottish missionary, whom we mentioned earlier, adopted many abandoned children in Nigeria.

At one point she had nine orphans living with her, children who would have died without her care.

She once wrote that a woman's love can heal almost anything. This is not sentimental exaggeration.

The love of a Christian woman, filled with the Holy Spirit, is a powerful healing force in a broken world.

A final thought. Hospitality and compassion have limits, and we must be wise. You cannot help everyone. You must first care for your own household. You must protect yourself and your family from those who would harm you. But within those limits, there is usually much more you could do than you are currently doing. Ask the Lord to show you one person, one family, one widow, one orphan, one neighbor that He wants you to pour into this season. Then give yourself to that ministry with joy.

A Prayer Father of mercies, give me a compassionate heart. Open my eyes to see those around me who are in need. Open my hands to give what I have. Open my home to those who need welcome. Open my lips to pray for the sick and the suffering. Help me to remember the widows and the orphans. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. Make me a channel of Your love in a broken world. In the name of Jesus, who had compassion on the multitudes, Amen.