Hospitality
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might…”
“.... but the greatest of these is love.”
—
My mother, Anne Green, passed away one year ago this week, on March 9th, 2021. I miss her very much. I had a deep and special relationship with my Mom. We talked for over an hour every week on the phone and, as often as I could, I would travel to Dahlonega to visit Mom and help her with a few projects around the house. She was a model of Christian character and virtue in all that she did, and she had a great influence on my life.
A special time where so much of Mother’s character, attributes, Christian values, and gifts crisscrossed our lives every week was Sunday Dinner. It was almost a sacred meal to her. She hosted family and guests almost every week of her life for as long as I can remember.
Mom had a commitment to excellence. She would often say, “If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right!” And she took that sage advice to heart. Surely this is a Christian virtue. She had a commitment to excellence in all things!
In the planning and preparation of each Sunday Dinner, my mother’s commitment to this value was on full display.
It began on Wednesday. Mom would develop in her mind the menu for the upcoming Sunday often considering which fruits and vegetables that were “in season” and what was on sale at the supermarket. On Thursday she would go grocery shopping for all the necessary items and ingredients. On Friday… well, on Friday afternoon she would get her hair done. As she would say, “This is very important to a lady!”
Saturday found her in the kitchen stirring together items for meal. Perhaps this included the potato salad, or a squash souffle, or maybe a green bean casserole, or chopping carrots and potatoes for the beef stew, or thawing out the hand-picked blackberries from the freezer for the cobbler.
On Sunday morning Mom was up before dawn baking the cobbler, cooking the vegetables, stirring the sweet tea, and making her amazing Angel Biscuits!!!
And, of course, she did all of this before getting ready for church wearing her “Sunday best,” greeting everyone she met with warmth and excitement, teaching Sunday School, helping with serve coffee and donuts, practicing the choir anthem, and singing her heart out from the Choir Loft during worship.
After the service she would stand beside my Father, Bob Green at the back door of the vestibule to greet people as they left. Mom would regularly spy someone – perhaps a young couple who had just moved to town, or some college students attending North Georgia, or someone who had recently lost a loved one, or even a guest from out-of-town – and she would invite them to lunch. “We have plenty! There’s more than enough to share. We would love to have you come for a visit!” And the invitation would be expressed with sincerity and warmth.
Like the movie “Babette’s Feast”, Mother poured herself into every dish, every recipe, every item on the menu. Only the best would do. And it was prepared with love overflowing. Mama saw the Sunday noon meal as a celebration of all that is good, worthwhile, and treasured in this world: family, friends, kindness, the love of Christ, and showing hospitality. The banquet was a tangible expression of the value Mom placed on others who could never really “return the favor”
We’re told in scripture that our Lord and Savior sat down at numerous meals with his disciples, on a couple of occasions with pharisees, with a despised tax collector, with a woman of bad reputation… He sanctified the table as a place where grace is found. Mama did the same. She graced her table with love for all. It was a banquet to be celebrated with joy and abandon!
Scriptures says… “Do not neglect to show hospitality when you see a stranger, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
I’ve often thought about this verse and this promise: that through hospitality you might be “entertaining angels unaware.” I wonder… what angels might have sat at our banquet table one of those Sunday afternoons? Who knows if we did?
But I do know this… even though we were unaware of it at the time… a true angel, my dear Mother… was serving us all along.
I thank God for my Mother and the Christian life she lived before us each day.
May all of us learn to share in that kind of love, acceptance, and hospitality in our lives as well.
You are loved!
Mark
Mark Green
Pastor for Senior Adults