Hospitality

May 8

(Acts 9:43 NIV) "Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon."

(Romans 12:13 NIV) "Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

(Romans 16:23 NIV) "Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings."

(1 Peter 4:8-9 NIV) "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. {9} Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling."

It would be easy to skip over Acts 9:43 as an insignificant addition to a miraculous story of healing and resurrection. But it’s an important detail. It highlights the hospitality of a common working man named Simon. He was a tanner, and probably good at his trade, but he is not immortalized for excelling at his craft. He is known because he hosted Peter for “some time”. The early apostles depended on hospitality wherever they traveled. The gospel was not a money-making business, and they had no “travel benefits”. It is safe to say that the gospel would not have prospered like it did in those early days had there not been people willing to host those who were fearlessly preaching. Common everyday people, most of them nameless, helped propel the name of Jesus onto the world stage, by sacrificing to practice hospitality. Take a moment today and thank God for their work. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day