7th Floor Devotional Day 6: ”Radical Hospitality”

DEVOTIONAL DAY 6 - “Radical Hospitality”

Seventh-floor culture is a culture of radical hospitality where extraordinary effort and emphasis are placed on making people feel welcome. It is a hospitality that overflows with acceptance, is filled with generous grace, and is beautifully diverse around the person of Jesus Christ.

When you think about the tables Jesus graced, you see this radical hospitality in action. There was always room for the person who wanted a seat at the table. If they were a marginalized misfit in society's eyes, they were still welcome at the table with Jesus. Even people who were not comfortable with those in authority and the religious figures were at home with Jesus. They didn't have to prove anything to Him. They just needed to want to be with Him. 

Most of these people were broken and needy. Yet, in the presence of Jesus, they found generous grace unlike any they had ever experienced. They came as they were, and He healed their hearts. And it was beautifully diverse. A woman who made her money on the streets, a tax collector, a blind beggar, fishermen, and commonfolk. At Jesus' table, all were welcome. His table cut across social status, reputation, economic circumstances, and all the conventions of society.

At Forest City Church, we say that we are a place with long tables and low walls. We will always put another leaf in the table to welcome a new person in our midst, and we will keep the walls to finding a home here low. Why? Because this is what Jesus did. We want our tables to overflow with acceptance, be filled with generous grace, and be beautifully diverse around the person of Jesus Christ.

So here is the prayer for today: Father, thank you for being a God of radical hospitality. Please help me to create a space where people find a home at my table just as they did yours, in Jesus' name, Amen.