Hospitality in the Neighborhood

Have you ever thought about lending out your entire neighborhood as an act of hospitality? I haven’t either, until this morning.

The Bible talks about serving others and even says “seek to show hospitality.” Romans 12:13b

We should be generous toward others and this past week it feels like we have had a few different discussions of and encounters with the gift of hospitality. Because of these discussions, I have had a heightened awareness to the concept of showing hospitality. 

This leads me to the main story I want to share. Our neighborhood is off a main two-lane road which is the only way to get into and out of our neighborhood. We have a lake that makes the other border. There is a small creek that the main road passes over and two weeks ago they started to replace the bridge. This required that they close the road. While this road is the only way to access our neighborhood, we have two entrances and they happen to be one on either side of the creek. That also means that they are on either side of the closed road. 

Well, you can imagine the amount of traffic that this is running through our neighborhood. The city did a good job of putting signs up well before our section encouraging people to take alternate routes. I’m sure some have. There are many, however, who have not found alternate routes as intended and instead, use our neighborhood as a bypass.

The cars that go through our neighborhood go fast and they don’t stop for stop signs. The city has done a good job of trying to keep the road safe - they have police stationed watching for people who don’t come to a complete stop. By the number of cars that we have seen pulled over I’m guessing that they are making a good bit of money on fines this month. At one point I actually called the city and they came out and out up one of those signs that tells you how fast you’re going. The city is doing their best.

Regardless of how well the city is doing, it seems like the extra traffic causes a “not in my neighborhood” type feeling in me, Erica, and others in our neighborhood. For the past few weeks, all I could think about is how the increased traffic is making it less safe for Erica and the kids to take walks or, how the extra traffic in our neighborhood is creating congestion. Bottom line, I didn’t like all the extra cars. That is, until this morning.

As I was driving out of the neighborhood, I connected this idea of hospitality and being hospitable to the cars that have to come through by graciously allowing them to drive on through. I was reminded of the time our next door neighbors didn’t have water and we let them come over to shower. I remember the time our air conditioning went out and we slept and our neighbors house. Or what about that time when the power went out and the guy down the street knocked on our door to see if we needed to use his generator. I’m okay letting others use my things. I am okay using the neighbors stuff. Why wouldn’t I be hospitable with the street in my neighborhood that I don’t even live on?

It gave me a new perspective as I took my usual shortcut through the next neighborhood over to shave a few minutes off my drive to the office.

How is God calling you to show hospitality to others?