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“Is It Well With Your Soul?”
16th Sunday after
Pentecost, August 31, 2008
Conclusion of Summer Series:
Exploring The World Of The Bible
Today’s Destination: The Wilderness
Pastor John W. Soyster
Jesus
says,
“Come
to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and
I will give you rest.
Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for
I am gentle and humble in heart,
and
you will find rest for your souls.
For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew
11:28-30
In
1776 Thomas Paine wrote the famous words "These are the times that try
men's souls." Millennia
before, God said of the wilderness, “Now there is a place that will try a
person’s soul, a nation’s soul.”
It
was Yeshua, or as we more commonly call him, Joshua, who led Israel out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. Moses led ‘em in; Joshua led ‘em out. Israel’s forty year journey through the
wilderness was trying, to say the least.
And the soul of the nation that finally emerged? All was not well with that soul. Tried and found wanting. I wish it could be said they entered Canaan
as spiritually strong, united, single-minded, devoted to God and God’s ways and
God’s will as a people ever could be.
But the record shows otherwise.
It
was a good plan, so God tried it again.
Yeshua, or as we more commonly call him, Jesus, was sent into the
wilderness in order that he might lead God’s people - once and for all - out of
our bondage to sin and death, as spiritually strong, united, single-minded,
devoted to God and God’s ways and God’s will as a people ever will be.
The
first recorded visit by Jesus to the wilderness is when he was tempted by
Satan. The tests Satan sent his way
were designed to call into question his mission to restore the world to its
rightful place in God’s heart. They
were also designed to call into question his own identity. Satan’s temptations begin with the words, “If
you are the son of God…” Satan was
hoping that Jesus might doubt that he was.
When
that first visit of Jesus to the wilderness was over, I can imagine Satan
saying, “I hate to admit it, but it is well with his soul. I’m not through with him yet, but I know my
work will be the hardest I’ve ever done, because it is so well with his soul.”
Your
pastors have dragged you all over the face of the earth this summer; from the
Dead Sea to Jericho, from Corinth to the Garden of Eden. And today you have been taken, like the
ancient Israelites, like Jesus, to the wilderness. When we are finished with our visit, will you be able to say, “It
is well with my soul.”
I
don’t know how you might describe your soul.
I often think in pictures, so let me offer you a few pictures that
suggest different ways of thinking of your soul, ways that might help you with
your answer.
† 
Is your soul like the
ejector seat in a jet airplane? When
the end of life comes, it your soul is the part of you that allows you to
escape the final crash – death - and land safely where you are supposed to be –
heaven . Is all of the equipment
working properly, oiled and maintained so that you will be
“caught up in the clouds, meet the Lord in the air; and be with the Lord
forever” (1st Thessalonians
4:17). Is it well with your soul?
†
Is
your soul that place deep inside from which a very important answer comes. If 
someone were to say to you, “If
you died today, would you be certain that your eternal life is safe in Christ
and that heaven will be your destination?”
Is that deep, inner place where your heart keeps its most valuable
treasures prepared for an answer? Has
your soul taken to heart – so to speak – the words of Jesus who said, “I will
come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be
also.” Is an
answer prepared to come from out of that mysterious place called your soul, and
will that answer be a resounding “Yes!”
Is it well with your soul?
† 
Here’s
one that is very down to earth. Is your
soul like the foundation of a building.
After the building is finished, the foundation is not often seen. It is covered over by other materials. And so long as it remains solid, little
thought is given to it. The foundation
of a house is not like the engine in your car; I’ve never heard of a contractor
stopping by for scheduled maintenance.
But if that foundation should slip or crack there will be trouble. And if it is not sound and true, everything
that you build on top of it, your whole life, will be out of whack. So is your soul wisely built, like the one
who built on the rock, so that it could withstand wind and rain and even earthquake. Is
it well with your soul?
† Maybe
the idea of your soul as the foundation of your building doesn’t go far
enough. Maybe you think of your soul as
an entire house. You like to think of
your soul as embodying everything of who you are. There are different aspects to you, your life, your personality,
and you like to think of them as a unity, and that unity is your soul. Your soul is not just one aspect of you,
buried underneath the day to day things of your life. It is all of you.
And you
have built it to code. Now some will
argue that "Built
to code" means built as poorly as the law will allow. But you feel different. You feel that the building code that matters
for your life is the word of God and that a life built to that code will
withstand whatever comes its way.
Pastor Barb Simmers added me to an e-mail alerting the
members of Peace Lutheran in Slidell that she would be remaining in Slidell in
the face of advancing hurricane Gustav unless it hit level three. There are some who are staying, some who are
leaving. And I know here at Mount Cross
there are many who will be praying that they are spared déjà vu.
After hurricane Andrew devastated Florida some years
ago, a TV news crew was filming the widespread destruction. In one scene, amid the devastation stood one
lone house still resting securely in its foundation. A reporter asked the owner, “Sir, why is yours the only house in
this neighborhood still standing?” He
replied, “I built this home myself and I built it according to the Florida
state building code. When the code
called for 2x6 roof trusses, I used 2x6’s.
I was told that a house built to code could withstand a hurricane. I did, and it did. I suppose no one else around here followed the code.”
Is your house built to
code? Is it well with your soul?
†
There is a phrase in the
Lord’s Prayer inspires another way to think about my soul: “Your
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
In other words, to actually be the me on earth, in this
time and place and in this body that God has always imagined was possible for
me to be since I was chosen to be one in Christ before the foundation of the
world. Think of your soul as the you
that God created – good, confident, assertive, faithful, compassionate. And that ‘you’ is buried deep within
you. The challenge is to let it shine
forth. How well is God’s image of you,
in you, seen by those in the world around you.
Is it well with your soul?
† 
Or maybe your soul is that
invisible muscle in your body that translates the spiritual truths that you
consume into very down to earth, very compassionate action. It is the muscle that transforms faith into
good work.
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Everybody can
be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree
to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only
need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Is it well with your soul?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It is time to leave the wilderness. But you are invited not to leave alone.
However you think of your
soul, the answer “It is well with my soul!” does not depend on how you
visualize it. The answer depends on the
one to whom you are yoked.
Jesus
says to you, “Take my yoke upon you…”
Please hear that not so much as an invitation as a command; the
imperative that will save your life – and your soul. And hear him saying to you, “You know what? The really hard part has been done, the part that was
meant for me, the part that only I could do – the dying. So now join me in the part that is meant for
you, the serving part, the joyful part, and if you take the right approach to
it – even the fun part. But it will
only be that if you join me; yoke to me.
Only then, no matter how you define it, no matter how you picture
it, will it be well with your
soul.
Amen.
Passing on the Mantle of Faith
August 20, 2008 II Kings 2
Pastor Erik Goehner
My dad had a
coat. It was an old work coat, nothing
fancy. The material was cotton
corduroy. The color was a dusty yellow
with patched-on dark brown pockets. I
had only really seen my dad wearing the coat in pictures from when we used to
live in Arizona when I was very young. Somehow the coat came into my possession
when we moved to Montana my freshman year of high school. I'm not quite sure where I found it, whether
it was in the spare closet or whether I had picked it up off of some give-away
pile. In any case something about that
coat appealed to me and I needed a jacket I wouldn't mind getting dirty so I
asked my
dad if I
could have it.
He agreed to let me keep it and as
odd as it might sound that faded, out of style old coat became one of my
favorite things to wear around the ranch where we lived. Something about it just smelled like the
outdoors. Even though I hadn't seen my
dad wear it much, I imagined all the work he had done in it-from feeding
livestock to fixing fence posts and repairing a barn. I too, was now doing this kind of work. When I put on that coat I felt like I was stepping up a
little-becoming more of man. I felt a
little older, a little stronger. It is
funny how there can be power in a piece of clothing.
The prophet Elijah had a cloak. It
was a mantle that he had worn for years.
We don’t know a lot about the cloak that Elijah wore, but based on the
style of the his day we can assume that it didn’t have sleeves, it was probably
worn over a tunic or other robes and it was probably long and
loose-fitting. We might also assume
that Elijah’s cloak may have had a few stains on it. It might have been a little tattered in places, for it had seen a
lot of miles. Elijah was most likely
wearing it when he faced down the many prophets of the false god Baal. That day where all those false prophets
prayed for fire to come down and it never did, but when Elijah prayed God
answered.
Elijah’s
cloak was on him when he ran as fast as King Ahab’s chariot. The same cloak was on him when fled from the
soldiers of Queen Jezebel, when he was all alone in the wilderness being fed by
the ravens, and that same cloak was what he wrapped around his face as he left the
cave to hear the still, small voice of God.
Yes, there was no doubt that Elijah’s
cloak had seen a lot of miles. But most
of those miles had come before Elisha knew the old prophet. Elisha was the young man Elijah was mentoring. He was the one who would follow in the old
prophet’s footsteps, and even though he had not seen all the roads that cloak
had traveled, he knew the stories. He
also knew that old cloak of Elijah’s was special. He knew this because he was there when Elijah took it off and struck
the water of the Jordan. Instantly, the
water had parted, and the two of them walked across on the dry land, just like
Moses at the Red Sea.
So you can understand why Elisha would
have been honored and humbled to pick up that cloak after the old prophet had
been taken up in a whirlwind. One of
the first things Elisha did after his mentor has been taken up into heaven was
to strike the waters of the Jordan river with the cloak just like the old
prophet had done. The waters parted
just like they did for Elijah. As
Elisha walked across on dry land again I could just see him putting on the old
cloak with its stains and tatters. I
could picture him walking a little taller as he recalled all the miles his
mentor had walked in that cloak—as he recalled all the ups and downs his mentor
had gone through, all the struggles he had endured and yet still remained
faithful. I can picture Elisha feeling
older, stronger, and more like a man of God.
It’s funny how there can be power in a piece of clothing.
But is it really that funny? Is it really that strange to think about
clothing having that kind of power?
Haven’t many of us had similar experiences? Besides my dad’s old coat, I remember as a kid receiving
hand-me-downs from older family friends whom I looked up to. I remember putting on their shirts and
feeling somehow more cool. I remember
putting on their jerseys and picturing myself playing sports like they did. Now that my wife and I are parents we have
experienced how clothing has the power to evoke memories. When we have pulled out old baby clothes to
give to a younger sibling or family friend we are immediately connected to that
time when our son or daughter was an earlier age. Holding that well-worn shirt or onesie in your hand is almost like
going back in time and holding that five-year old when she was an infant. And what about the experience of having to
go through the clothes of that loved one who is now gone? Think about the overwhelming emotions you
would feel—the memories that would come flooding back when as you sort through
what to donate to the thrift you suddenly discover the dress she wore to that
special anniversary dinner or you trace your hands over that one suit he used
to always wear to the office.
There is something intimate and
powerful about a piece of clothing that can vividly connect us to the ones we
love and respect. I believe St. Paul
knew about this power and that is why he chooses to use the image of clothing
to describe what happens in baptism. In
chapter three verse 27 of Galatians he writes, “…for all of you who were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Imagine, putting on Christ like an old
coat. Picture the love of Jesus
covering you, not in a way that is constrictive, but in a way that is
loose-fitting and comfortable, kind of like Elijah’s cloak. Like Elijah’s cloak the coat of Christ is
powerful. It is more powerful, however,
than anything the prophet ever would have worn. For the coat of Christ has the power to overcome sin and
death.
That coat of Christ longs to surround you with its warmth. It longs to protect you in its embrace of
unconditional love. It longs to connect you with all the faithful believers of
past and present. It longs to lend you
its strength to see you through the ups and downs of life. It is there every morning just waiting to be
put on. So I urge you, the next time
you go out of the house don’t leave it just hanging in the closet.
“The Others”
14th Sunday after
Pentecost, August 17, 2008
Mark 4:35-41 & Mark
5:1-20
Psalm 51:10-12
Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not
cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore
to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
It’s too bad Jesus couldn’t get all of
the demons out. There seems to have
been at least 6,827 present but he could not get the last one out.
Speaking of demons, you know whose picture I would up at the absolute and complete opposite end of the spectrum from the demon filled guy from this morning’s Gospel passage? Michael Phelps. As I try to comprehend his achievements this past week – his energy and strength, his speed and stamina, his concentration and determination… Single-minded. That seems to describe him best. As he started each of his races, no other thought could have been on his mind except that he summon all of his strength and call upon all of his training and preparation and focus it on the goal. And to touch first in all those races, to have achieved a world record in 7 out of 8 of those races. As I say: he is the poster boy for single-mindedness.
Speaking of Michael Phelps and world records, what
world record do you plan to break?
Don’t think necessarily of the speed of Michael Phelps. Think of his accomplishments as being the
first one to explore a certain territory.
He is the first Olympian to bring home a total of 8 gold medals.
Just because you don’t have the arm and leg muscles
of Phelps doesn’t mean you are not capable of being the first one into new
territory. You might be the first
person in the world who was able to describe to another the mercy of God in
such a personal way that they felt their heart touched for the very first
time. That’s just one example. So what world record or world first have you
got your sights on? And if your answer
is, “I wasn’t planning to,” I’ll say it again: it is too bad Jesus has not
gotten all of the demons out.
As I said, if Michael Phelps is on one end of the
spectrum, the man Jesus and his disciples met when they climbed out of the boat
on the far side of the Sea of Galilee is at the absolute far other end of that
spectrum. If Michael Phelps is
single-minded, this guy is 6,826 minded. When Jesus asked, “What is your name?” the
answer the demons send out of the man’s mouth was “Legion, for we are
many.” Was he being precise,
was he being general or was he being figurative?
Ø
If
he was being precise, then the number of demons inside of him was 6,826,
the number that some assign to a typical Roman legion of the day.
Ø
If
he was being general, then we could round it off to 6,000 and probably
not be too far off.
Ø
If
he was being figurative then we can understand him to mean he had
probably seen a Roman Legion march past and the noise and the fear and the
threat implied by the seemingly endless column of warriors is what he felt like
inside.
Imagine trying to concentrate on any task or goal
with 6,826 distractions inside of your head.
If Phelps is on one end and the demoniac on the other, I have a feeling
that most of us are probably – and thankfully – much closer to Michael Phelps
than that other fellow.
Haven’t you had days when the number of things on
your mind may have been two or three or even a dozen, and yet it felt like
6,826? You were unfocused,
harried.
I hope you have also had days when you could put
yourself in God’s pocket, so to speak, and leave the worry over all the things
facing you to the Lord.
Some of those thoughts that plague you might be
called demonic. There are always voices
– some nearly silent, some screaming for you to abandon God’s way in favor of
some other route. Some of the thoughts
are not evil at all, like how to juggle all your responsibilities to your
family, your work, your community, yourself.
I
can imagine everyone feeling a sense of awe at the miracle Jesus performs on
the beach that day. Just as he had
restored order out of chaos on the lake not long before, he reached into the
life, the mind, the heart of that troubled man and restored order out of his
chaos. Did you catch what it says about
him: “They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting
there, clothed and in his right mind…”
Just one mind; he was restored to single-mindedness. And in addition, it says he was sitting –
the posture of a student in the presence of his teacher.
You have come into the presence of that One who has and
who can restore order from chaos. On
the cross he silenced forever the storm of death that would threaten to sink
the boat of your life. That peace he
has given to you no less than the peace he gave the demon filled man that day.
I hope and pray that what we sang earlier in this service
is the gift you know you have received:
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
whose blood set us free to be
single-minded, focused, committed, dedicated and
disciplined
people of God.
Alleluia! Thanks be to God for
that gift!
The miracle of that man’s deliverance on the beach
is truly amazing and awe inspiring. But
in this story there is one more feature that is to me even more amazing, but in
a head-scratching way. It says in
verses 14 through 17 that after what happened had been told in the city and in
the country, after the people came to see and hear what had happened, after
they saw the man whom Jesus had restored, they were afraid and began to beg
Jesus to leave their neighborhood.
Can you believe that?
Isn’t that amazing? Wouldn’t you
think they would begin to think of all of the people who would benefit from
having this healing power present.
Can’t you imagine at least one person on the beach thinking, “Whoa! If Jesus could restore to a single focus a
mind that had been frenzied by thousands of distractions, I want some of
that. And I know lots of others who do,
too.”
But no. Jesus
cast out 6,826 demons that day, but the one that remained was perhaps the most
evil of them all. The one that remained
was called the status quo. They
didn’t say it out loud, so far as we know.
They were like good church people.
But inside they were saying, “It is fine that you made old what’s his
name feel better, but you don’t need to go messing around in my life. I don’t need anyone coming in and
rearranging my mental or spiritual furniture, thank you very much. I’ve got things arranged so that I am quite
comfortable with my life. Don’t disturb
my comfort. Don’t disturb my
possessions. Don’t disturb my
religion.”
This demonic thinking had infected everyone who came down to the beach that day. It was so strong that they begged Jesus to leave. The very same word that had been used twice earlier in the passage of the demons inside of the man.
So the story ends…
I’m sorry: the story continues with Jesus handing over a task that would
make Michael Phelps wilt. All Phelps
had to do was try to win all 8 events in which he was entered, manage to do so
and set a few world records along the way.
But the task that Jesus hands over at the end is far more daunting. As Jesus is about to leave, the man with the
new mind says he wants to go with Jesus, become a 13th
disciple. Jesus denies the request to
get in the boat, but grants the request to become a disciple. In fact he orders him to go home, to his own
people – the very ones who still have that demon thinking going on - and tell
them how much the Lord has done for him and what mercy he has shown. And that is exactly what he did.
The story told in Mark chapter five doesn’t end
there. It ends here. How does the story end? With a question:
Is there still a demon that needs to be cast out. Or has Jesus just renewed your commission to be a disciple who will go and tell stories of God’s mercy?
“We Live In A Glass House”
12th Sunday after Pentecost, August 3, 2008
1st Corinthians 12:1-11, 27
Pastor John W. Soyster
We’ll take a moment to catch our breath with a verse
from 1st Corinthians 2:12:
We have received not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us
by God.
- - -
The
church in Corinth was a glass house and it was making Paul nervous. Not that someone would throw a stone. He was concerned with what people would see
when they looked inside.
Last Sunday, Pastor Erik addressed the challenge being
able to see through walls. It is not
always easy to overcome the spiritual blindness that he addressed in his
sermon. There are some people, however,
who have no problem at all seeing through walls. They are the people outside of the church who look inside
of places like this to see what is going on. And this church – every church – is a glass house.
Saint Paul knew this and when he thought about what was
going on inside the church in Corinth he freaked out. What was going on in the Corinthian church concerned Paul enough
to occasion a sixteen chapter letter, and most of the letter addresses the many
problems and conflicts going on inside the glass house.
In 1st
Corinthians Paul is like a firefighter trying to put out a variety of difficult
and sometimes harmful blazes:
·
In chapter one he addresses the problem of unhealthy
divisions within the congregation.
·
In chapter 2 he tries to straighten them out as to the
true meaning of wisdom
·
In chapter 5 he addresses some serious sexual issues.
·
In chapter six he tries to discourage members of the
church from taking each other to civil court instead of working it out within the
church.
·
In chapter 8 he counsels them on whether or not to eat
meat that was first offered to a pagan god as a sacrifice.
·
In chapter 11 he tries to straighten them out on a few
matters regarding worship and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper
·
In chapter 14 it is the problem of those who think that
if they speak in tongues they are superior Christians.
·
In chapter 15 it is misunderstandings about the
resurrection.
Someone might ask why he’s getting so worked up over so
many issues. Doesn’t he know that in
the church, when you get two people together you often end up with three
opinions on the matter at hand?
I am sure Paul was aware of that. But his concern was what people outside of
the Christian community would think when they looked in on what was happening
within this fairly new organization that called itself the “body of
Christ.” If someone looked in, through
the glass walls, and saw that life was the same, or possibly even worse inside
the church than it was on the outside, what would the attraction be? Who would want to trade one set of troubles
for another?
Paul worked very hard to put out fires so that the church
in Corinth would live up to its mission statement. In 1st Corinthians 4:1-2 Paul explains what this
is. He says, “Think of us in this way,
as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that
they be found trustworthy.” What a
great mission statement!
Servants of Christ and stewards of God’s
mysteries.
If someone was simply contemplating joining a country
club, that would be one thing. But if
someone is going to throw in with a group of people that claims eternal
security for one’s most treasured possession – your soul – then that group
needs to be found absolutely trustworthy of such valuables.
Is Paul still fighting fires? In many cases Paul’s “fire list” does not apply in quite the same
way. For example, I can’t remember the
last time a market in Camarillo sold sirloin steaks that had previously been
offered as a sacrifice to the god Melquart.
But there are some sections of his letter that still
offer profound guidance to a congregation like Mount Cross. Because the heart of the matter has not
changed in over 20 centuries. If
someone who is not yet a disciple of Jesus looks into this glass house, they
need to find a quality of life and mercy and service and compassion that is
noticeably different from what is going on around them. They need to hear words of faith and grace
and see actions that back up those words.
We’re headed toward another election in which what we all
say – by way of our vote – will determine who leads the country for the
next four years. In the reading from 1st
Corinthians you heard a bit ago, Paul reminds us that with our words we take
part in the most important election ever.
Not: who we believe should lead the country, but who we believe has
always, does now and always will lead all of reality and eternity, too. As far as I know, the most radical political
statement in the whole Bible is found in 1st Corinthians 12:3. What is this radical phrase? “Jesus is Lord.”
To our 21st century ears it doesn’t sound so
radical. In the 1st century,
however, it was a phrase the Christians stole from the Romans, who had already
been using it for awhile. Of course,
they didn’t say “Jesus is Lord.” They
said, “Caesar is Lord.” The Romans had
assigned divinity to their emperor and expected all subjects of the empire to
say so. The confession of faith, “Jesus
is Lord” was therefore an act of high treason, at the same time that it is a
confession of the highest faith.
When people look into this glass house – and listen, too
– may they see and hear a group of people who are absolutely clear who is
Lord. That it is not one view of
morality or another, not one’s political or social or economic views. That it is not what color the carpet in the
sanctuary should be or anything else.
Jesus is Lord.
They
are listening to our words. But they
are especially looking through the walls of this glass house to see our
deeds. Words and deeds. If 1st Corinthians chapter 12 has
in it the most radical political statement you can find, it also has in it a
most exciting spiritual statement, too:
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1st Corinthians 12:7
Think of it this way: Every Sunday we have a birthday party for Jesus. Not his birth in Bethlehem, but his birth
from the grave on Easter Sunday. But
this birthday party is different. All
of the presents are for us. Paul calls
them spiritual gifts and explains that “there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all
of them in everyone.”
It is
clear to me that each and every one has been given gifts. But do you know what it is? Or what they are?
One of my core beliefs about the church is that God
has already given the members of our congregation all of the gifts we need to
be the church God needs in our part of Camarillo in these days. The challenge is not getting the gifts; the
challenge is discovering the gifts, developing and using them. This morning I hope to whet your appetite to
discover, develop and use them.
Grab a pen or a pencil and open to page 7 in your
worship folder where you will find this little chart:
|
4 consistently
true __ __
__ |
3 frequently
true __ __
__ |
2 occasionally
true __ __
__ |
1 infrequently
true __ __
__ |
0 rarely /
never true __ __
__ |
SCORE xxxx |
I
am going to ask you three simple questions.
When you hear and see each one, think for a moment and then respond by
making a check mark on the chart that corresponds to your feelings about that
question – whether it is true at the present time or you would like it to
be. Pens and pencils ready?
#1 - I enjoy meeting new people and
becoming acquainted with them.
#2 - I am often asked to open my home
for small group gatherings or social occasions.
#3 - I enjoy welcoming guests and
helping them to feel at ease.
Scoring
this little questionnaire is easy: Just
add up the values of each checkmark. If
you had one in 4 and one in 3 and one in 2, then your score would be 9.
If your score = 7 or more, it may be that you have the spiritual gift of
hospitality, which you could define as
the
gift that causes a believer to joyfully welcome and receive guests and those in
need of food and lodging.
Hospitality
is just one of the gifts the Spirit has given to us. Here are some others: