Evendays

April 26: I woke up on Saturday morning at 6:45 AM. Our company had already left. Actually, this was the first time we’d had folks stay with us without us seeing them. The Marseilles church football team (soccer to USAers) arrived after midnight and left around 6:00 AM, I think. They were welcomed by Sons 1 and 2. Us old folks were in bed. I don’t know how many players came (perhaps 13?). They were as quiet as church mice.

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April 27:

Yep, she beat me.

Again.

We enjoy visits. In fact, let me just say, on the record, that most of you are welcome to come to our place anytime.

We had a wonderful visit with the children of some schoolmates from ACU days. I haven’t seen the Powell’s (parents) for many years, but Wife has been able to hook up with them on her infrequent visits to Abilene. We got a Sunday morning email from our “old” friends telling us the boys were traveling in Switzerland and would it be okay for them to drop by. OF COURSE! The only thing that wouldn’t have been okay is if they had come through without stopping (which does happen, from time to time…)

Wife and I both back-to-the-futured as one of the sons is exactly like his dad some 27 years ago (different hair, same size, face and voice…). Their visit reminded me how important those Abilene friendships were in helping me find my way in life.

5 minutes from our house, 10,000 youth gathered for a New Year’s Eve party. They’d each paid $36.00 to get into the 5 dance halls where DJ’s animated the evening. Even though professionals had been hired to assure security, there was much fighting outside the halls and in the streets. A riot started in the cloak room and it took 80 policemen 90 minutes to clear out that one room.

From December 28 to January 2, 40,000 youth, ages 17 to 35, met in the Palexpo Hall in Geneva for singing, Scripture reading and prayer. Authorities said there was a minimum police presence. There was no violence, even though Serbs and Croatians, Bosnians and Kosovars sat next to each other. They all praised God through Jesus. They all prayed for peace.

Being filled with the Spirit beats being filled with spirits, doesn’t it?

14 Taizé people stayed at our place… 9 from Croatia and 5 from Catalonia (Barcelona area). The Croatians worshipped with us on Sunday. During our farewell meal on Tuesday, we sang to each other about God, Christmas and hope in Christ. They gave us gifts. We exchanged addresses and took pictures.

Overall, a very enriching experience.

There are some 40 students who are participating in this years Pepperdine program here in Lausanne. 4 or 5 come to church on Sunday mornings, a brave crew who sings along in French, praying and listening to a worship which is indeed foreign to them.

About 2 months ago, Wife started inviting students over on Monday evenings for a meal. They’ve always been between 6 and 9, but tonight they were 15. It has been such a joy for me (and even for Wife, though it is a lot of work) just to sit at the table, ask them questions about their lives, studies, and recent travel experiences. I think they enjoy it too. They keep coming back. Of course, free food is a great draw.

We always have a “question” for the evening (favorite film, dessert, one person they’d like to meet… They always ask: What’s tonight’s question? Such excitement!) Tonight two of them brought their homework and another 3 hung out till late. I don’t know how much they got done, but it felt like home. Not just for them, but they represent a part of America that I miss.

The word “hospitality” in our New Testament comes from the Greek PHILOXENIA. I know. I looked it up. I really did.

It’s evident that words evolve over time. This word at one time meant “affection for the foreigner, for the stranger”. Yet it is consistently translated “hospitality”, a word defined in most our churches as “having the gang over”.

There seems to be a move by modern translators to enlarge our vision of hospitality. The NRSV translates Romans 12.13:

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. (Emphasis mine.)

Peterson, in The Message, translates 1 Peter 4.9:

Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully.

What do you think? Have we so limited our hospitality as to eliminate the welcome of the “foreigner” into our homes? The visiting teacher, or the Swiss preacher’s family, we’ll welcome them (for a few days). But what about the real, homeless foreigner? Do we offer him (or her) a roof over their heads?