Heart of Hospitality

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
John 14:2-3

The original word for hospitality is a combination of two different words: love and stranger. The ultimate form of hospitality is when you show or extend love to a stranger, an outcast, or a person in need. When you stop and think about it, isn’t that precisely what God did for us? While we were strangers, sinners, and enemies of the cross, God sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ down to earth to pay the price that we could never pay so that we might be welcomed into His family as His children. And even though Jesus was homeless for the last three years of His life, Jesus was the most hospitable person to have ever existed because He made every stranger, outcast, and person in need feel welcomed and loved as they were. Jesus showed us that hospitality has more to do with your heart than your home and hospitality is the first step of love.

Aloha!

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew‬ ‭25:35-36, 40‬

Aloha! That’s the word you hear all over Hawai’i. As my family and I are waiting for our flight back home, we are still hearing it at the airport. It’s supposed to make visitors feel welcomed and comforted. It made me realize that hotels, resorts, and vacation destinations make billions of dollars on hospitality, a precious service that all humans need but seldom experience. Many believe that hospitality is a practice only for a select few with the “gift” of hospitality and for people with nice homes. But we will discover this Sunday that hospitality is something Jesus expects from all of His followers and the host has just as much to benefit as the guest.

Peacemaking Through Healthy Conflicts

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” 
Matthew 5:9

Did you attend a high school where fights broke out on campus? When this happens, there are generally three types of people: Just War Theorists, Pacifists, and Peacemakers. Just War Theorists are the ones who gather around the fight and enjoy watching it happen. Pacifists are the ones who find no interest in fights and want nothing to do with it. Peacemakers are the ones who actually get in the middle of the fight to break it up. Peacemakers have to be willing to enter into conflict in order to bring about peace. This is especially true when it comes to relationships and communities. Relationships or communities that do not have healthy conflicts are, at best, shallow, immature, or insincere. While we should not love getting into conflicts, we should not try to avoid them. What Jesus wants for His people is to enter into conflict in a healthy way, because when we do, healthy conflict leads to communication, clarity, and closeness.

Flow of Spirituality

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
Mark 6:30-32

There is a constant ‘flow’ in our spiritual lives… flowing in and flowing out. As followers of Christ, we are to receive from God and other believers spiritual inspiration and renewal. This is what flows into us. There should also be a flowing out where we serve others, give to those in need, and love selflessly. When there is too much ‘flowing in’ without any outward flow, we become bloated, stagnant, or consumeristic in our faith. When there is too much ‘flowing out’ without enough inward flow, we become burned out, bitter, or lonely. This is why Jesus had His Disciples spend times of solitude before assisting Jesus perform one of the most famous miracles in the Bible, the feeding of thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish. It is in this spiritual rhythm of flowing in and flowing out that we experience the vibrancy and richness of Christian life.

Moses and Third Culture People

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
Exodus 2:11

While Moses grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh, he knew that he was a Hebrew and not an Egyptian. He was able to navigate in both worlds, but he was also in a category of his own, a Hebrew-Egyptian. Moses was a third culture person. This made Moses the perfect candidate to lead the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. I’ve been wrestling with this as an Asian-American, especially in the context of building church. Starting a new church is difficult, which is why I’m glad I’m not doing this alone. As we began this journey of building a new church together, I sought to have all of my questions answered. I joined various cohorts and church planting networks for the purpose of giving me clarity and assurance. But instead, I’m often left with new questions. “How can we remain faithful to biblical truths and genuinely make space for those who identify as LGBTQ? Can we blend the sanctity of traditional ‘high church’ with the relevancy and approachability of modern ‘low church’? Is there another model of building a church besides the white man’s model?” But basically, I most often find myself asking, “Is there a third way?” These questions make me more excited to explore deeper into faith with my fellow brothers and sisters.

Small Beginnings

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.
Zechariah 4:10a (NLT)

One of the fun activities I did for my bachelor party over ten years ago was go wine tasting at a winery in Santa Barbara. My best friends and I went into the winery as charlatans pretending like we were wine connoisseurs, but we really didn’t know anything about wine. As we sat down to enjoy different varieties of wine, the wine bartender told us a lot of information on the different glasses of wine we were drinking… far more than we needed to know. Playing the part of someone who knew wine, I randomly asked, “What kind of irrigation does the winemaker use?” The bartender replied, “Our winemakers don’t really believe in irrigation. They might irrigation for a few weeks in late summer when it’s extremely dry, but for the most part they leave the vines alone. They believe the vines need to work hard to allow the roots to grow deep in order to search for water deep in the dirt, otherwise the grapes don’t turn out too good. The vines need to fully experience the various seasons in order to truly grow. The dryness of summer and the harshness of winter are just as important as the richness of spring.” What kind of season are you in? For God is with you through it all and He allows various seasons of life to happen in order for us to experience true and healthy growth.

New Year, New Goals, New Plans... Sorta

In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9

My life never really turned out the way I planned it. It turned out better. For example, I didn’t love and marry the girl I thought I would when I was younger. When I was a teenager, I thought I wanted a passive, submissive, and slightly less intelligent woman as a wife; but instead I ended up marrying a strong-willed, assertive, and smarter woman than myself. I also didn’t end up with the kids I thought I would have; they’re way funnier, sweeter, and more interesting than I could have ever imagined. And I ended up in the career of ministry that I’ve been running away from for many years... TWICE. I’m guessing 2019 will be more or less the same I’ve experienced for most of my life up until this point. I hope your 2019 will be similar.

The Moon Is Not Small, It's Just Far Away

Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my soul rejoices in God my Savior.”
Luke 1:46-47

The word “glorify” is synonymous with “magnify,” which means to make bigger or greater like a magnifying glass. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago while I was driving my son Drew in the early evening one day. He saw the moon in the sky and he yelled out, “Appa! The moon!” He yelled it so loud it almost caused a car accident. But then he said, “Appa, the moon is small.” I responded by saying, “The moon is not small, it’s really big. It’s just really far away.” The moon might look small to us, but for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the moon must have seemed gigantic.

Does God seem small to you? Perhaps He’s just really far away and we just need to magnify Him.

Break In the Hike

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

I went on a hike this past Monday up at Eaton Canyon Trail. It was very nice because it’s the first time in many years where I was able to go on a hike by myself. If you’re ever looking for a nice relatively easy hike, Eaton Canyon is a nice one because it’s mostly shaded and it’s alongside a stream. So I parked my car at the top of the hill, walked down the mountain to the stream at the foothills where the trail started. The first part of the trail was gorgeous... I was surrounded by trees, the serenading sound of the stream, and the crispness of the morning air. It was hiking alongside a stream which was my favorite part of the hike. But after about half a mile, the stream just disappeared. I don’t know where it went; I couldn’t even hear it anymore. I kept walking on, hoping that it would magically reappear but it was nowhere to be found. I was disappointed because the stream was the best part of the hike. But the place I was standing was utterly quiet. So I waited.

There was a stillness and a calm that was present in that part of the hike that didn’t exist at the beginning or the end of the hike. So I adjusted my attitude a little bit, found a comfortable place to sit and enjoyed the quiet, the soft breeze, and the solitude. After a few minutes, I pressed on towards the hike and the stream reappeared. Eventually, I got to the end of the hike where there was a little waterfall and that’s where there were a lot more people were hanging out. It was loud, crowded, and cold. And I remember that little break in the hike when I was waiting... where I didn’t hear the noise of the creek, there was nobody around, and I felt the soft breeze on my cheek. It was really nice.

Advent Means Waiting

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Psalm 130:5-6

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “arrival” or “coming.” Advent marks the period of waiting prior to Jesus’ birth. Most of us these days hate waiting and we see it as a waste of time. But in actuality, it’s only a waste of time if we treat it that way. Many of the most significant occurrences in the Bible happened while people were “waiting.” Abraham was waiting in the shade of his tent in the hot afternoon when he was visited by God and two angels. Moses was wondering around the mountain when he came across the Burning Bush. Daniel and his three friends were great witnesses in Babylon when they were waiting to go back to Jerusalem. Are you in a period of waiting? If so, how does God want to shape you, speak to you, or grow you during your time of waiting?