Radical Hospitality - Sacrificing the Guinea Pig

For years, I resisted the trend. I laughed in the face of Pinterest. I thought it was like a grown up version of “playing house”.

Then, overnight I became a temporary first grade teacher. And Pinterest became my best friend.

It turns out, Pinterest is actually a great resource for teachers. It is also a great resource for new recipes, cleaning tips, haircut ideas, and just about anything else you can imagine.

Just like with anything, Pinterest can be dangerous if we begin to put our hope in what it can offer us. But, it can also be a tool to serve the Lord and to serve others.

So, one day, as I was preparing the extra room for guests I thought – “Why not see what ideas Pinterest has to make our guests feel welcome?”

It turned out, there were thousands of ideas. I found out that in order to be hospitable, I should:

• Provide water bottles in the guest room.
• Find a cute way to write the wifi password.
• Provide fluffy towels.
• Light a candle.

The list could (and does) go on and on and on. And I’m sure those would all be great additions to a guest room. But then I started to think about what makes me feel welcome in other people’s houses, and although I appreciate a nice fluffy towel, the towel can’t make me feel welcome.

Last week, we went to visit a family from Happy Hour. As we walked up to the gate, their dog ran out to greet us. The kids, cats, chickens, and even the ducks made us feel welcome. They carefully set up tree trunks for us to sit on, and took clean towels off the clothes line so that we wouldn’t get dirty sitting directly on the tree trunk. We talked for about an hour, as we drank Coca-Cola out of shared glasses. Before we left, they showed us their cows, and their guinea pigs. The cow’s milk is the main source of income for the family, and the guinea pigs are sold to eat. Later that afternoon, we received a pot of rice, potatoes, and fried guinea pig as a gift.

Our hospitable friends, and their cow, Juana. (Not pictured: our guinea pig lunch)

She wasn't that happy to see us.

While I would never suggest serving up your guinea pigs to make guests feel welcome, I think there is something we can learn about sacrificial giving and generosity from this family. I didn’t feel welcome because of the Pinterest worthy décor or accommodations. I felt welcome because they gave sacrificially of themselves and their resources.

Hospitality is defined as: the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers

So while there is nothing wrong with fluffy towels, or a nice candle, I am challenged to let my hospitality look more like this:

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.” Romans 12:9-13

So come and visit us in Bolivia, you may or may not get a fluffy towel and a guinea pig. ;)

One Year - In the Valley

In January of 2011, I went to a winter retreat with the campus ministry that I was involved in. I don’t remember most of what happened at that retreat. I can’t tell you the theme. I don’t remember the speaker’s name. I have no idea what he even spoke about. What I do remember is a verse we memorized together.

“The Lord our God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and mercy. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

I memorized this verse with the hundreds of other college students. I don’t remember why we memorized it, or how many times we must have repeated it together, but it stayed with me.

It’s a nice verse. We like to think of our God as a sun and a shield. A sun is powerful. Life-giving. A shield protects us. We like that God gives grace and mercy. We are in desperate need of both.  I think we really like the last part. NO good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. So, if I walk with the Lord, He will not withhold anything good from me? Sounds great!

But, then, a year ago today, our son was born prematurely at seven months.  Seven hours later, he was with the Lord.

That day our hospital room was full of visitors. The hospital must have waived the two visitors at a time rule, because at one point I’m sure there were at least twenty. We were surrounded by people that wanted to help in whatever way they could.

A family from church offered us a spot in their family burial plot, and the next afternoon I was being carried across the cemetery in a borrowed wheelchair to my son’s burial.

The next morning I woke up with this verse on my mind.

“The Lord our God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and mercy. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

Suddenly it didn’t seem like such a nice verse anymore. At least, not the last part. Over and over I repeated the second sentence in my heart.

NO good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

I wrestled with the Lord. So was my son not considered a good thing, or was I not walking uprightly? Why did it feel like God was withholding a very good thing, when I was walking with the Lord in the best way I knew how?

Over the last year, I have continued to wrestle with this question.  I have come to believe that my son was absolutely a good gift from the Lord. I also don’t believe that God was in some way punishing me for not walking uprightly. (Although I often do not walk uprightly.)

Instead, I believe that God in his grace and mercy has given us other good gifts through the loss of our son.

He has allowed us to know Him more in our suffering. He has been near, and comforted us as we grieve. And in that, He has shown just how merciful He was in sending His son to die for our sins, so that we might live forever with Him.

A few weeks ago I saw a post from a grieving father that said, “Where was God when my son died? The same place He was when His son died. On His throne.”  He is still good, and He is still in control.

So today we celebrate the life of our son, and we also grieve the brokenness of this world. We put our hope in the God that knows our suffering and promises to be a sun and shield. To bring grace and glory. And to withhold NO good things, even the good things that are painful.

My prayer  today is that we would rejoice in the good God who has not withheld the BEST thing, His son. May this song continue to be our prayer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BPaMhGNRkQ