Mark 6:10-11
How
are you at receiving hospitality from other people? Are you a gracious guest? Being
a good guest is one of the traits of being a good Jesus-follower. We have to
learn how to be on the receiving end of someone else’s best efforts at making
us feel comfortable. This can be a hard task, especially when we don’t have the
opportunity to choose with whom we will be staying. It is one thing to visit and
pick the better relative to stay with, than to be thrust into a situation over
which you have no control.
Some
of us enjoy being a good host. We are able to open our homes and make people
feel comfortable. We serve our guests as if they were visiting dignitaries.
They become the objects of our pampering.
It
can be hard to offer this kind of service to someone who isn’t at all
agreeable. Perhaps they are too demanding right from the start. They have too
many nitpicky requirements. They have to have a feather pillow. They only drink
fare trade coffee made from Brazilian beans. They must have poached eggs for
breakfast, free-range raised of course.
As
Jesus is sending out His disciples he gives them some instructions. One set
deals with being a good guest. He says they are to stay at the first house they
are invited to stay. They are not to shop around for the best accommodations.
They are not to compare offers. They are to stay put. This means they must bend
to the hospitality of their host.
Effective
witness often involves our ability to not get offended. If we come off superior
to those to whom we are witnessing, they will not hear what we have to say.
This is because at the heart of the Gospel is a humble Savior. We must reflect
His character. If we don’t, then we invalidate His message. If we aren’t
humble, how much has the Gospel changed us?
Jesus
tells His disciples to put us with stuff until they leave the town. Then, if
their reception has not been good, He says to leave all that rejection behind.
Don’t carry the negative experience forward into the next experience. Shake it
off.
Bitterness
comes from carrying the negative forward and poisoning the next experience. If
we don’t learn to shake it off, every new experience tastes a bit like the
last. You start off looking for the injury, setting yourself up to be injured
and disappointed. You have to learn to shake it off, to start anew, to begin
with a clean slate.
Our
attitude toward the hospitality of others makes all the difference. If we
accept their efforts toward making us feel welcome, we will feel welcome. We
will be able to overlook the small things, the little inconveniences, to express
gratitude.
And
we will also learn to let things go. We won’t hold onto the negative
experiences and allow the past to poison the present and the future. We may not
be traveling and staying in stranger’s homes, but we do attend receptions,
meetings, get-togethers, BBQs, parties and other celebrations. We can become a
good guest.