Rosaria Butterfield has written a great deal on the Gospel power of hospitality. She, literally, wrote a book about it (The Gospel Comes With a House Key)! She has recently written an article at Crossway entitled, “Practice Hospitality, Especially during COVID-19.” I recommend reading through it as we think about how we can love our neighbours! I’m grateful that several in our church have offered to do shopping for people who don’t feel they can get out (Mark, Stefan, Mandy – and probably more). Hopefully we are keeping in good contact via phone, WhatsApp, Messages, etc. with one another. These are all ways that we show hospitality.
In her article she highlights four important truths for us to remember during this time. I’ll let you consider most of them, but I want to highlight/reiterate/stress the importance of the third. Here’s how she states it: “Practicing the Christian ethic of hospitality under COVID-19 means soaking ourselves in the means of grace; it means feasting on Scripture, not CNN.” If you’re not familiar with the term, means of grace are ways that God, through the Holy Spirit, ministers to us His grace – the power of His presence. These are the normal ways that we experience all that He longs to do in us – peace, nurtured faith, hope, etc. and are made more mature and Christlike (eg, Scripture, prayer, community, ordinances, etc.).
Butterfield’s very important point is this: CNN, BBC, RTE won’t nurture in you a deeper faith; or more confidence in the midst of this difficulty. News outlets won’t do one single thing to give you the peace that you long for – the kind of peace that we see in the life of the Psalmist, or the Apostles. That comes from the grace the Lord gives us as we seek Him.
I can’t say this strongly enough (if I was preaching I would start shouting at this point). If you find yourself giving in to fear or anxiety in this time. If you find yourself desperate for the peace that you have always heard about as being associated with the God of the Bible, don’t saturate yourself in news – saturate yourself with the Bible! Get off of RTE and get into the Word of God. That’s where God ministers His grace to you so that your faith is made strong.
You can read the article here. It’s worth reflecting upon.