I visited a woman who will die soon. She lay asleep in her nursing home bed, a plastic mat on the floor in case she fell. A black and white photo of her as a young woman hung on the wall next to her dresser. I anointed her with oil and sat quietly with her for a time. A ministry of presence is a simple thing.
A nurse in blue scrubs stopped by the room. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
“No thanks,” I said, surprised by the offer.
“If you need anything, just ask,” he said and walked on. I said nurse, but he may have been a CNA, certified nursing assistant. Whatever he was, he was kind and attentive to my needs as I sat with a dying woman.
It was then I saw next to my chair a wooden cart with soda pop, ice, water and a basket of cookies. I poured a cup of ice water and munched on a Fig Newton. Later my wife told me of other nursing homes who provide these hospitality carts for those who sit with the dying. I hadn’t noticed them before, or maybe I thought it was for someone else.
A touch of hospitality matters. You remember it afterward.
Jesus visited a house once and noticed an absence of hospitality from the host. “You did not give me any water for my feet… You did not put oil on my head,” gestures of kindness in his day. He turned the omission into an opportunity for teaching about love.
Hospitality grows in the soil of love. To love another means to set aside your affairs for a time and attend to their needs, or their very reality. Oil on the head or a basket of cookies — the details of hospitality speak more than words.
I remember times at church when someone said hello to me, and I replied as I walked down the hall intent on my errand. A better host would pause and greet them, giving them full attention, even if only for a few seconds.
A touch of hospitality matters. A pause, a gesture or a cup of water. These little things make the difference.
I have thought that the sin of the men of Sodom to the Israelites was lack of hospitality more than it was sexual. They would have been as unhospitable if they had robbed the guests and that sin would have been deserving of great punishment, or forgiveness if forgiveness were to be given. We seldom preach about the lack of hospitality. Maybe it can be emphasized more.
I can’t remember preaching directly about hospitality, although the topic has come up in sermons from time to time. Thanks for stopping in. Peace to you.