Reflection on the Rule: Hospitality

HOSPITALITY—Living one’s life in service to others, in a commitment to welcome guests in love and a spirit of prayer.


Of the twelve Rules that bind us together as a community and keep us going up here at Richmond Hill, this is a biggie. I happen to think this rule is one powerful catalytic converter that can help bring about change and transformation in the City.

Hospitality’s Latin root is “hospes,” meaning “to have power over.” In its own quiet way, hospitality can be quite powerful. I’m not surprised to see “hospital” at root in there as well — since this is a word that brings transforming healing with it wherever it is present.

Culture today is so hectic and fast-paced, it seems we rarely have time for hospitality any more. Many of us are hustling so hard to make ends meet, no one is ever home to experience hospitality, much less to teach it to our children. We’ve come to regard it as a nice option, forgetting that in the culture of our nomadic ancestors, hospitality was a law that helped them survive the treacherous climate of the desert they inhabited.

These days, many of us inhabit virtual deserts, where we live isolated lives, locked in routines and locked in our cars. Cut off from living community, we invest our time and energy in constructing and maintaining virtual community, where Facebook replaces face time.

Hospitality is simply not digital. It is an analog, real-time art form. What makes it work is not just smiling, opening the door, or putting good food on the table. Or doing the dishes. Or cleaning up after someone departs. All of these are important actions, but, if rendered merely out of habit, they become perfunctory and superficial. Hardly the stuff of effective, transformative change.

Hospitality works its magic in the anticipation of arrival. Hospitable posture is modeled for us in scripture by both Mary and Martha, as well as the prodigal son’s father. It is all about believing in abundance. And being willing to share with others from the outpouring of grace we have experienced in our own lives. It anticipates another’s needs, graciously meeting them, often before they are spoken or even known.

Hospitality is an affirmation of grace. It is the joy of giving—whether that gift be food, water, rest, or a kind word. It’s all good. And it all works toward transforming change. Sometimes, all that is required is opening one’s eyes, ear, or hand. At the root of these gestures is the open heart, and that, dear friends, is the real agent of change.

Richard Rumble
October 2012