Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: You and I need to risk hospitality with new friends. Think of someone you wouldn't normally think of who is a part of your church family. God sees you as siblings, but they live way down the hall and I don't ever really... I don't even know that. I don't know, I see them. Broaden your circle and have that opportunity for God to do what He is going to do.

Dave Druey: Some of us are natural people persons. Meeting new acquaintances and making new friends come easily. But for many of us, we're a little more hesitant about opening up our lives to those we don't know. Well, today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Fabarez continues a series titled Countercultural Christians by helping us understand our calling to reach out to others.

By the way, you can find resources related to our study over on our website: focalpointradio.org. Well, now here's Pastor Mike with today's message titled "Sacrifice Instead of Selfishness."

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Open your Bibles if you haven't already to Hebrews chapter 13. Let's talk about what it means to be a countercultural Christian. The first seven verses are going to deal with a lot of topics. Let's start with the first topic that extends for three verses, and it happens syntactically in an increasing sacrificial measure. In other words, we go from a more simple statement in verse one to a more challenging statement in verse two to an even more challenging statement in verse three. Let's read it and then we'll study it.

Verse number one: The writer of Hebrews says, "Keep on loving each other as brothers." As a matter of fact, here's one demonstration of it, verse number two: "And don't forget to entertain strangers." Now here's a bizarre motivation: "For by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it." "Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners." Now, the first two verses, those painted pictures in my mind of something rather positive. This one doesn't feel so good. Empathy for those that are hurting. "And those," middle of verse three, "who are mistreated," literally badly treated, "as if you yourselves were suffering. You should live through that with them."

Three concentric circles, if you will, from what may be for us the easiest hurdle to a little more difficult one to the highest hurdle on verse three. Let's start with the easy one. How about that? Let's start with the easy one. Verse number one: Keep on loving each other as brothers. We ought to have a commitment to one another that is like a commitment and sacrifice that is demonstrated in a familial relationship. Now, we can use the word "friends" if we want, but it's a kind of friendship that's a little bit deeper, a little bit more sacrificial, and necessarily a little bit more selfless.

Because if you're a parent, you know how this is. You're always trying to get your kids to not just not fight. You would like them to help each other, wouldn't you? You want them to assist one another. Go to school, watch out for your brother. Hey, be nice to your sister, look out for her, watch her, make sure she doesn't... There's all this mutual kind of responsibility that's laid on siblings to not only get along, but to be serving one another. And that's what it's about. It's not just friendship. It's a kind of friendship that's more selfless and it's deeper.

So let's put it that way. Number one on your outline if you're taking notes, here it comes: You and I need to selflessly deepen your friendships. You have relationships that are based on the fact that you go to the same church, and those relationships need to not just be like friendships you might have had in the world; they need to be deeper than that. They need to be the kinds of relationships that you can imagine God looking from heaven as our Heavenly Father seeing two of His children in the same church saying, "Come on, guys, I want you to serve each other. I want you to look out for each other. I want you to be committed to each other."

Jot down three names under number one that come to mind. Just right off the top of your head that you say, "These are my friends." Just three. You got them down? Here we go. Now, let's think through what this means. Let's try and understand this. A passage that's going to parallel this entire section is Romans chapter 12, because Paul expands in the book of Romans on everything that the writer of Hebrews is saying here in the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 13, talking about our commitment to one another.

And again, the word, you Greek students with your Greek New Testaments on your lap, you know the word here is "Philadelphia," right? It's that word that we transliterate to the city in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: brotherly love. Matter of fact, it's a very short word in the Greek New Testament. He's got an article and then he says, just let brotherly love keep on going in your church, which isn't just let the friendships keep going. It's something deeper than that. So there is a challenge here for us. But make sure there are relationships in church that are a lot like sibling relationships in terms of the commitment and selflessness and care that you give for one another.

Look at verse number nine. Let's start and get a little context here. Love in this verse, agape, let it be sincere, without hypocrisy. Let this assignment prompt something from the heart. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good. Certainly, we're going to do things in the realm of what's righteous and good. Now, let's talk about it. Be devoted, verse 10, to brotherly love. That's our word again, Philadelphia. Honor one another above yourselves. I want them to have their interests come first in my life.

So if we're making some subpoints, this would be letter A: I would like you to pray for those three names every single day this week. All three names every day. And you're going to ask God to do something for their good before you ever pray for anything for yourself. That's honoring them above yourself. Prayer is the key ingredient.

Letter B, the second thing you can do: If you're going to express brotherly love that has a concern about them, here's how the scripture typifies and illustrates this for us. It does it with words. Here's the second assignment, letter B: I'm going to use my words at least once this week, intentionally, purposefully, specifically for the purpose of, I want all three of these people to be edified by my godly words. I want to say something that's going to lift these people up.

Letter C, I have four things here, here's the third one: 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10. You're maybe familiar with this simple statement that Peter throws out to us. He says, "Whatever... whatever gift you've received, whatever enablement that you've gotten from God, any gracious ability, endowment, propensity, skill that God has given you." He says, "Employ that gift or that grace to serve others, faithfully administering the grace of God." I don't know what God has gifted you to do, but He's gifted each one of us.

The Bible makes that very clear in 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Peter 4. Now use whatever that giftedness, that insight, that ability, that skill is and serve those three people. Let it happen. It's a different kind of relationship. It's not like just the relationships in the world. We're to keep loving each other as brothers. Let that brotherly love continue.

Verse two, Hebrews chapter 13. And again, the syntax of this, the concentric circles of this text, moves us into each level. Each verse moves us into a more demanding area of sacrifice. If love is all about sacrifice, and it is, that first one, "Okay, I guess that's a challenge, but I really like those people." Now here is one that gets a little harder.

And again, you Greek students, if you have your Greek New Testament in your lap, look at the distinction here. It's a great play on words. The first verse, the centerpiece of that is "Philadelphia." "Phileo," you know that biblical word, you've been to Sunday school, and "adelphos," the word brother. Love your brothers, brotherly love. And then it adds this root at the end: "xenos." "Xenos" is the word for stranger or alien, outsider. And it says, love the outsider. That's the play on words. Love your brothers, love the outsider.

Now, the problem with the translation is that the word "philoxenos," you put those together, it also is the word that's just translated hospitality, which means in not only in English, but also in Greek oftentimes, having someone into your house. Which means you may not be a stranger to me, but you don't live here, and I'm inviting you in. Either way, they're both biblical concepts. They're both another level of discomfort.

Number two, second level of sacrifice: You and I need to risk hospitality with new friends. You put three names down, right? Here's the target for the second point: I want you to add a fourth name. The fourth name, let's start with the first aspect of this: someone who's not in my inner circle. I want you to include a fourth name that is an unlikely inclusion in your church friends. Now this one could be a little harder, but think of someone you wouldn't normally think of who you go to church with, who's a part of your church family.

God sees you as siblings, but they live way down the hall and I don't ever really... I don't even know them. I see them, I bump into them, I know their name, but I've never even had a meal with that person. Bring that name and put it under number two. So now we have four people on the list. What are we going to do with that fourth person? Well, we want to include them. We'd like to have them be a part of what I do.

Now, I told you to fold down Romans 12. Let's go back to Romans 12 because Paul hits this topic too in Romans 12 and he explains a little bit about this. This may be helpful. Verse 16, let's look at this: "Live in harmony with one another." That's a great word, musical word. We think of music, some of us do at least, big orchestra, harmony: the concept of all these different kinds of instruments, different sizes, different sounds. You've got the cello, the bassoon, the tuba, the timpanis, the piccolo, and all together they're making some kind of music and it all sounds good and it fits.

Harmony. "Live in harmony with one another." And to do that as a church, look at it, he says in the middle of verse 16, "You can't be proud. Do not be proud, but be willing," you brass players, "to associate with the flute players," okay? You see that there? That's the concept. For you band geeks, did you identify with that? I was a band geek, you know that, confessed. I'm still a geek, different kind of geek, but I was a band geek in high school.

Now here is the thing: flute players aren't lowly, I get it, I understand. But there are people in your mind you think, "Well, I don't know, they just wouldn't fit at our dinner party this week." That's the person I want on your list. To have that inclusion in your circle and say, "I wouldn't normally include them, I don't even really know them." And you don't know them because you don't include them.

So let's include them and put them on your list and say, "I'm going to include that person." And again, the problem will be conceit at the bottom of verse 16. If you stay in your circles, God is making a commentary about your heart. Branch out. Pull someone in you wouldn't normally pull in. Broaden your circle.

Now, again, you may be saying, "Well, I don't know if that's what that passage is really saying." I understand there is a context. Well, let's build the parameter first. The context is Christian fellowship here. We'll see this throughout all three verses. But there was this need that people had as the preachers and the Christians traveled about to not... because it wasn't only for the super-rich who could utilize the hotel system back then, and that was tough, as you know from the Christmas story.

But the bottom line is most people, if they were from out of town and traveling through, they would need a place to stay and people have to open up their homes to them. And I recognize that may have been a part of this: the stranger in your home. But since probably the people that we're dealing with here in our congregation don't need a place to stay, we do need to include them in our homes, because "philoxenos" is the word for hospitality, which means opening up my home.

And there's a parallel word, which we know this is in view because of the motivation under that bizarre statement in verse two: entertaining strangers, that love for outsiders, and some have entertained angels without knowing it. We'll get into that in a second, but let's deal with that issue of opening up our home. Because either way, it's an uncomfortable thing. What I'm saying is I want to bring those people into the place in which I live.

Now, for some of you, you're going, "Oh, I love to do that! I do it all the time." You're the exception. Most of us don't naturally say, "Let's have more people over this week, honey," right? I mean, that's not where most of us live. I have to clean the house and who knows and we don't have the right stuff. That's where most of us live, unfortunately. And the Bible says stop, break down that wall. And let's get real specific. Let's bring people in to where we live.

And some of you have not done that for years in your house. And perhaps it's because you've been burned when you've done it. That's why this point started with the word "risk." It will feel like a risk. But you need to bring people in.

Why would I want to do that? Well, it says to do it for one, and it is the pattern of the church. It is how the church functions. You might say, "Well, that's because churches met in homes." No, let's look at an example when they didn't. Acts chapter 2. Do you remember this passage? The church had just gotten started and they had a place to meet. At this point, they weren't being persecuted quite yet, and they were free to meet in the temple courts, and that's a big space.

There were up to 5,000 people by the first few chapters of Acts meeting there on the temple courts. Big church! But you know what? The big church got together also as people opened up their homes. Look at verse 44, just to get some context: They were all together. Acts 2:44. They had everything in common. It doesn't mean they all had the same hobbies, but they all shared that common commitment to Christ.

Verse 45: They were selling their possessions and goods and they gave to anyone as he had need. That's the first point, we've already covered it. Let's move on to the next one. Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. That's where they had "church," okay? But look where else church spilled out into. Middle of verse 46: and they broke bread in their homes, which by the way is not communion if you think it is, and it makes it clear in the next phrase: And they ate together, took their meals together with glad and sincere hearts.

Different setting. It's a different context. It's a casual context. It's in someone's home, it's meeting over dinner. I know Bobby challenged you to take someone out to dinner, but this is pushing us further here. It says the people were praising God and they were enjoying the favor of all the people because they couldn't mistake these people are committed to one another. What an amazing group of people! Man, they love each other. And the Lord, here's the most encouraging statement, added to their number daily those who were being saved. New Christians were pouring into this.

Now, here's the thing: You've got to see this again from God's perspective. A lot of us say, "Well, we're all about good doctrine and all that," and we expend all our energy on Bible study. "We don't have energy to entertain in our houses, come on, isn't that extra credit?" Here's the deal: When God is looking for places to put His new converts and to bring people into the family of God, because that's really what it's all about, fill up the bus. When the bus is full, God's going to bring us home.

Get our work done, go home. That's what the Christian life is all about. So we're trying to see people join this thing called the Christian life. That's what it's all about. Here's the deal: God is looking for places to have that happen. The Bible makes it clear, it's really easy. You don't have to wonder what to do. Get your house, open it up. Bring those people. You have four people on a list already. Send out the card, pick a day. It's holiday time. Whatever! This is more important. And bring them into your home and have that opportunity for God to do what He's going to do. That would be unique, exciting, and distinctive.

What about that motivation there in the bottom of verse two? It's a good question. "For by so doing," entertaining strangers, "some people have entertained angels without even knowing it." Now, before you start saying, "Well, that's great, we're going to invite people over tonight to our home because one of them might be non-human and that will be interesting," understand this: that angels don't need dinner. They are not going, "I need a taco salad. Where am I going to have a taco salad? I need to go to Earth and get some hot dogs."

They don't need that. They don't need a place to stay tonight. And you might be saying, "Well, wait a minute, and if you're a real Sunday school grad, Lot and Abraham, weren't they having meals with these angels?" Remember the context there, though. We were confirming the Abrahamic covenant and we were destroying the cities of the plain, an entire group of people. And the angelic hosts went out to warn Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain. And we were confirming the covenant that would start the whole thing called the Bible, basically.

Those are big deals. It's really not the day-to-day work of the church. So I doubt that there is an angelic visitor who needs a place to come and announce some huge catastrophic revelatory act of God in your living room. That's probably not what is in view here.

What do we know from Hebrews about angelic beings? Here is the play on words, if you will. I'm going to set this up from context. What do we learn? Well, I know this was 25 years ago when we started Hebrews, but chapter 1. Do you remember chapter 1? Hebrews chapter 1, we had this whole comparison of Christ against angels. And we tried to see that Christ, the writer of Hebrews says, is better than angels. Do you remember how that chapter ended?

If not, look at it. Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 14. It says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" That's the last reference that we've had here to understanding angels and their service or their purpose in the book of Hebrews. Now he says, "Hey, you might obey the scripture and bring people into your home, people maybe you don't even know well, you're going to entertain them in your home, you know, you can entertain an angel without knowing it."

Some have done that. Are we talking about spiritual non-corporeal beings looking for a place to lodge tonight? No, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people that might serve that role. Well, okay, that's a stretch. No, it's not. The word "angelos," the Greek word that's transliterated angel into English, did you know that angel is just a Greek word? The baseball team the Angels, that's a Greek word, angelos, just transliterated letter by letter over.

It has a meaning, though. And in your Bibles, the word angelos in the Greek New Testament is translated angel sometimes, just transliterated over as these spirit beings. But that same exact word is also applied to human beings, and that not infrequently. It's in the Bible several places. John the Baptist, for instance, is repeatedly called an angelos, a messenger. And that's why you didn't notice that, because it's translated in English as messenger.

But was he some non-human being? No, we know all about his origins, his parents, how he was conceived and his mom was infertile. Not non-human, but he's called a messenger. John's friends that he sends to talk to Christ are called angelos. Jesus calls his disciples angelos. The pastors in Revelation 2 and 3 that preach to the churches are called the angelos.

This word is applied to human beings, but it's applied to human beings who serve, who minister, who do something good, who bring blessing to other people. That's what the angelos do. Now check this out again with all those balls in the air. Look at verse 2 again: "Some by doing this," opening up their home, entertaining people, "have entertained angelos without even knowing it." They didn't intend to do it.

Why would you obey this verse? Because you want to be a blessing to people, right? The Bible says you may do that without intention, but the bottom line will be in scripture that those people will end up ministering to you or other people and you didn't even intend that. When you open up your home for people to come over and have this different context than church for there to be edification to take place, you're doing it hopefully to edify them.

The Bible says you may host angelos without even knowing it. That's what people have done in the past. Wasn't their intention, but that's what happened. They may be there to minister to you. Has that ever happened? You brought someone over to minister to them and they ended up ministering to you? Or how about this? This happened to me not too long ago. Someone opened up their house and allowed me and some other couples to come to their home.

Because of the chaos of the night, I didn't get much time with the host, but there were relationships happening there where I was blessed by those people. And the point is the person who opened up their house and had us in their home eating all their food, messing up all their stuff. By the time the night was over, they didn't know it, but the people that they hosted who were there ended up ministering to me. See, they hosted angelos and they didn't even know that.

They didn't even intend that. But because they opened up their house in that casual environment that wasn't church with seats side by side, and it wasn't a restaurant wondering who is going to pay for the check, it was a time where everyone was casual, ministry took place and they didn't even know it. You're providing an environment for church to happen at a different level, and it's going to happen when you open up your home.

If that were happening in our church all the time and people were having people over in the body of Christ, you think that changed the nature of the church? All kinds. Ministry would be taking place all the time, that sometimes is unplanned and unexpected. Don't forget to do that. Don't forget to practice hospitality, to open up your home to people that maybe you're not even familiar with. Because if you do that, like other people have done it, you might entertain a season of ministry, an incident of ministry you didn't even plan on.

Dave Druey: You may be opening doors to new opportunities for ministry when you extend hospitality. That's the reminder from Pastor Mike Fabarez today on Focal Point. It's a message titled "Sacrifice Instead of Selfishness," and it's part of our larger study in Hebrews 13 called Countercultural Christians. You can revisit or share any part of this series online at focalpointradio.org or pull it up through the free Focal Point app and take the whole study with you, good for a commute, a walk, or any stretch of quiet.

R.C. Sproul never let Christians off the hook with vague talk about living out your faith. In his book, *Making a Difference: Impacting Culture and Society as a Christian*, he gets specific. What does obedience actually look like when you're negotiating a contract, disciplining your kids, or sitting across from a coworker who thinks your beliefs are outdated? Sproul doesn't deal in Sunday morning platitudes; he hands you a framework for Tuesday afternoon when nobody's watching and the cost of standing firm is real.

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Reach out at focalpointradio.org or call us at 888-320-5885. Well, I'm Dave Druey. Join us again tomorrow for the conclusion of our lesson titled "Sacrifice Instead of Selfishness," Tuesday on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hi, Pastor Mike here. God's word promises it will never return void. So I wonder, how is God's word moving in your heart right now? Drop us a line, let us know. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to be praying for you here. Just go to focalpointradio.org and then be sure to join us again tomorrow right here as we continue to explore the depths of scripture. We'll see you then.

Dave Druey: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.