“Who do you say that I am?” This question of Jesus still haunts us even two thousand years of research, thinking and practicing later. One clear identification that those around him had was that he was a friend of sinners, a glutton and a drunkard. The identification was meant as a criticism, but it becomes for us our hope.

Do we spend more time and energy defending the divinity of Jesus and the historicity of his resurrection rather than living in the way of Jesus and becoming a friend of sinners. Jesus spent his time, ate dinner and drank with those who hid their brokenness and with those who could not hide it. This is our great hope: the hospitality of Jesus. He welcomes us in our brokenness (hidden or not) to come and to eat and to enjoy life with him.

It is further our great hope when the hospitality is not just a singular private pleasure, but when we extend this hospitality to still other broken people. Is it difficult to see the brokenness around you? According to Mother Teresa, humanity’s greatest suffering is that of not being accepted and not being given the dignity of a life created in the image of God.

When you look in the faces of the people around you, what do you see? Do you see rich, poor, black, white, dirty, clean, pretty, handicapped, old, liar, greedy, lazy, promiscuous, drunkard, godless, or a sinner? With the eyes of Jesus, may we see some new friends to enjoy life with.

Though it begins with an invitation to dinner, hospitality in the way of Jesus is a way of life. It is the way of vulnerability to others; disclosing yourself as broken, but welcoming. It is the way of availability; actively looking for a table to sit with the “sinners” that God loves so much.