Holiness and Hospitality

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This is a holy Table, to be sure, but it is the holiness of hospitality—not the holiness of separation and distance. The Bible teaches us both kinds of holiness. In the Old Testament, the first lesson was the lesson of consecration and holy separation. Holiness was set apart; holiness was not contaminated with common things. With holiness understood in this way, whenever contact occurred between the two, the common would contaminate the holy. This is one aspect of holiness—given to us so that we might come to understand that light has no fellowship with darkness. This was enacted so that we would never be tempted to blur the lines between evil and righteousness.

But if that were the only picture we drew, we could come to the mistaken conclusion that holiness was fragile. God wanted us to have another picture, one that completes our vision. This is the vision of a triumphant holiness, a conquering holiness. When Jesus touched a dead body, the holiness of His life was transmitted to the death, not the other way around. When Jesus came into contact with lepers, it was His health that was contagious.

 

Hospitality must exhibit this second kind of holiness. When people come to your home, they track things in. Hospitality receives that; holiness conquers it. We can understand this about our own instances of hospitality by looking at this Table here—where God is showing the kindness of hospitality to us here, and where we showed up, having tracked in all kinds of stuff. His holiness deals with us. So come, and welcome, to Jesus Christ.

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