Christ and the Chocolaterie
Hilary Brand
Week Two: Giving Out – The Power of a Gift
To start you thinking
Pause for thought
Try and remember times when others have done something or said something that has made you feel loved and accepted.
The gift of encouragement
I am frequently surprised by things that other people remember that I have forgotten completely.
'Do you remember; said my very oldest friend recently, 'when I was eleven you and some of the others bought me a pencil case for my birthday? It was the first time anyone except my immediate family had bought me a present and it meant such a lot:
'I always remember; said another friend, 'when you organised a party for my twenty-first birthday:
A letter arrived a few months ago. It was from the minister of a church we once attended, someone I hadn't seen for twenty years or so, who had just read an article I had written. 'I still remember your kindness,' he said, 'in travelling all the way to see us in our new church:
All these things I had forgotten. I am not writing them now to tell you what a nice person I am — rather the opposite. I think God may have sent these little reminders to tell me something else I was in danger of forgetting- that little kindnesses may be far more important in the scheme of things than running an efficient office or writing successful books.
There are certain other things I remember though, that the person who did them has probably long since forgotten.
The encouraging words spoken by another student on a writing course, when I had just nervously shared my first attempts at fiction and was feeling completely out of my depth. The girl at my new job, whom I hardly knew but who bothered to say, 'I like your outfit. You always wear nice clothes: I'm not sure it was true, but it made me feel so much better.
The card that arrived one day months after we had moved to a new area, from an old friend just to say she missed us. It didn't matter that it was so late, God arranged it that it came at just the right time when we needed encouragement.
Some other things that frequently take me by surprise:
- The number of times someone who at first glance I thought might be boring or 'not my type' turns out to be someone whose company I enjoy.
- The number of times I think I am doing a good turn for someone, only to find that the benefits I receive back far outweigh what I gave.
- The number of times getting to know someone from another country, another culture or another belief system has enriched me.
The gift of acceptance
Read Luke 14:1:24
This parable is often taken to refer to the Jews and Gentiles: God had invited the Jews to become part of his kingdom and too often they had refused, so now he was opening it up to the Gentiles. While that may be true, Jesus' forthright comment in verses 12 - 14 shows that he Was not just trying to make a religious point He meant it quite - shockingly - literally.
Pause for thought
What could you say to encourage someone today? How could you show acceptance this week to someone who feels unaccepted?
Christ and the Chocolaterie
Hilary Brand
To continue your thinking
The gift of hospitality
One thing that disappoints me about the Gospels is that Jesus never gave a party (except perhaps the Last Supper which was understandably somewhat sombre in tone).
But even if he never gave one, he was a welcome guest at several, spoke of others, and never showed any hint of disapproval, no matter how disreputable the company. His followers certainly made it clear that welcoming others into your home was an important factor of this new religion.
'Practise hospitality: says Paul succinctly to the Roman church (Romans 12:13).
'Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling: writes Peter (1 Peter 4:9).
The first Christians, according to their chronicler Luke, 'broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts' (Acts 2:46).
In a way, Christianity did not need to say a great deal about hospitality. When Moses formulated the Jewish religion by listening to God and recording what he heard, periods of feasting and celebration were set in place as a vital part of the cycle of life.
And of course, entertaining strangers was so ingrained into the Jewish way of life — indeed of all Middle Eastern life, as it is today — that the writer to the Hebrews needed only to remind them: 'Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it' (Hebrews 13:2). The story of Abraham, who found that the travellers he had invited into his tent were actually messengers from God, was so well known as not to need naming.
But of the many good things that have transferred from biblical times into Western Christianity, sadly, hospitality is not always one of them. It almost seems that the more we have the less willing we are to share it.
Pause for thought
What do you think are the reasons why you and those you know are sometimes reluctant to invite others into your homes?
Read John 2:1-11
I often wonder how the staunch Temperance supporters of previous centuries managed to explain this one. Jesus' first miracle, and he uses it for something as frivolous as providing wine for a party. And not just for the toasts either. Verse 10 suggests that the celebrations were already fairly far gone by the time this occurred. Do you think Jesus did this to make a statement, or just to give help where it was needed? Whether it was an intentional statement or not, what messages does this story send to you?
Pause for thought
What act of hospitality could you perform in the next few weeks? It need not be anything grand — the aim is to make someone feel loved and accepted, not to impress them.