2 Corinthians 13:11 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.

The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimated there were 34,000 denominations in 2000, rising to an estimated 43,000 in 2012. Numbers have exploded from 1,600 in the year 1900. Denominations are described as separate organisations, not necessarily separate beliefs. However, there will be many nuances of belief that led to each one establishing an independent identity.

It is clearly not an ideal use of energy and resources to constantly create new expressions of Christian organisation. There is strength when we discover the willingness and ability to work together while holding our differences in tension. There may well be significant issues of difference that make it impossible for me to maintain unity; however, these are few and far between.

It was only as I trained and then worked as a mediator I discovered the essential nature of unity, even though I’d already been a Christian for many years. As followers of Christ, we are invited to find joy in our hearts. When I settle upon a position to defend, I lose my capacity to be joyful. I grow defensive and aggressively advance my cause. This, Paul reminds us, is a sign of immaturity even as we seek to grow up into maturity in Christ.

Maturity generates a positive mindset. With this we encourage each other, and which of us fails to find joy when encouraged? We also create a context in which we want to listen to each other, and from such active listening, we establish a harmonious relationship. This is attractive and draws others in, for each of us seeks a peaceful space in which to build friendships and to flourish. This is truly a God-centred space, one within which the love of God is both experienced and shared with those beyond its borders.

QUESTION: What steps do you need to take to find and then sustain your joy?

PRAYER: May I be joyful, encourage others, live today in harmony and peace, and grow in maturity as your disciple today.

Proverbs 3:3-4 NLT

'Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favour with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.'

The origins of Valentine’s Day are unclear. One possibility is that St Valentine ignored a decree from the Roman emperor Claudius II, which banned marriage. Claudius decided that single men made far better fighting soldiers, and so outlawed weddings. Valentine, a Christian priest, considered this unjust and continued to marry couples, which cost him his life.

Scripture is clear that commitment to another, especially those we make in marriage, are to be closely guarded. Love is not simply a feeling that we can set aside the moment a new feeling comes along. Commitment does not, however, excuse bad behaviour, for the promises of enduring love demand that I put the interests of my spouse higher than my own.

God loves us with an enduring love. God’s commitment remains strong even when we choose to disregard him. This offers us a picture of what love means. Marriage, itself the chosen vehicle for expressing intimate commitment to another, is therefore identified by Paul with the relationship between Jesus and his Church. We are members of that wayward Church, regardless of any congregational affiliation we may or may not have. Therefore, as a spouse, we have a template for how we are to build our marriage and love each other.

At one level, marriage is a state-recorded transaction. Hence the paperwork completed by the official registrar at any formal wedding. However, marriage is defined by God as the moment I leave, cleave and become one with another. For practical reasons the state certification may prove important, but the eternal reality of my commitment to my lover is declared by those three steps of leaving, cleaving or living together, and becoming one flesh. We are to choose carefully, for we may be married in God’s eyes, if not those of the state.

QUESTION: If you are married, have you thought of giving thanks to God and restating your commitment to one another and to God?

PRAYER: Thank you for showing me your commitment and true love.

Proverbs 3:3-4 NLT

'Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favour with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.'

The origins of Valentine’s Day are unclear. One possibility is that St Valentine ignored a decree from the Roman emperor Claudius II, which banned marriage. Claudius decided that single men made far better fighting soldiers, and so outlawed weddings. Valentine, a Christian priest, considered this unjust and continued to marry couples, which cost him his life.

Scripture is clear that commitment to another, especially those we make in marriage, are to be closely guarded. Love is not simply a feeling that we can set aside the moment a new feeling comes along. Commitment does not, however, excuse bad behaviour, for the promises of enduring love demand that I put the interests of my spouse higher than my own.

God loves us with an enduring love. God’s commitment remains strong even when we choose to disregard him. This offers us a picture of what love means. Marriage, itself the chosen vehicle for expressing intimate commitment to another, is therefore identified by Paul with the relationship between Jesus and his Church. We are members of that wayward Church, regardless of any congregational affiliation we may or may not have. Therefore, as a spouse, we have a template for how we are to build our marriage and love each other.

At one level, marriage is a state-recorded transaction. Hence the paperwork completed by the official registrar at any formal wedding. However, marriage is defined by God as the moment I leave, cleave and become one with another. For practical reasons the state certification may prove important, but the eternal reality of my commitment to my lover is declared by those three steps of leaving, cleaving or living together, and becoming one flesh. We are to choose carefully, for we may be married in God’s eyes, if not those of the state.

QUESTION: If you are married, have you thought of giving thanks to God and restating your commitment to one another and to God?

PRAYER: Thank you for showing me your commitment and true love.

Philippians 1:27 NLT

'Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.'

A citizen is an inhabitant; it’s where we live and where we are known. The 18th-century Scottish economist, Adam Smith, created the moral component to a citizen’s behaviour in his book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Gutenberg Publishers). It suggested that while self-interest was the primary driver for human action, on occasion the welfare of another influenced someone’s behaviour. This was only for the “pleasure of seeing it”. I find this a depressing and dystopian view on social interaction and human development.

When speaking of national citizenship, English, Scots, Welsh, Irish and many other nationalities may describe with warmth the characteristics that describe the elements of their identity. Heaven’s citizens may equally present a very positive nature of their citizenship.

However, our instruction comes from the creator of all. God requires me to exercise hospitality to everyone. This moral imperative reveals my credentials as a citizen of heaven.

It has a purpose in demonstrating the effectiveness of the citizen’s charter enshrined in scripture. It operates under the leadership of a benevolent dictator. It insists that those at the margins are treated with the greatest dignity and that everyone’s welfare is the responsibility of every citizen. It offers every citizen an opportunity to explore living this charter in a foreign land before journeying back home for an eternity where this charter ensures happiness for all such citizens. Living as a citizen of heaven means that I inhabit my heavenly home even while I live in a foreign land; it also presents me with a set of moral sentiments whereby the interests of ‘the other’ are placed ahead of my own. Sacrificial living was exactly what the founder of this heavenly kingdom demonstrated.

QUESTION: How well are you doing, and where are the roadblocks in your behaviour as a citizen of heaven?

PRAYER: Thank you for adopting me into your family and offering me citizenship of heaven.

Philippians 1:27 NLT

'Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.'

A citizen is an inhabitant; it’s where we live and where we are known. The 18th-century Scottish economist, Adam Smith, created the moral component to a citizen’s behaviour in his book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Gutenberg Publishers). It suggested that while self-interest was the primary driver for human action, on occasion the welfare of another influenced someone’s behaviour. This was only for the “pleasure of seeing it”. I find this a depressing and dystopian view on social interaction and human development.

When speaking of national citizenship, English, Scots, Welsh, Irish and many other nationalities may describe with warmth the characteristics that describe the elements of their identity. Heaven’s citizens may equally present a very positive nature of their citizenship.

However, our instruction comes from the creator of all. God requires me to exercise hospitality to everyone. This moral imperative reveals my credentials as a citizen of heaven.

It has a purpose in demonstrating the effectiveness of the citizen’s charter enshrined in scripture. It operates under the leadership of a benevolent dictator. It insists that those at the margins are treated with the greatest dignity and that everyone’s welfare is the responsibility of every citizen. It offers every citizen an opportunity to explore living this charter in a foreign land before journeying back home for an eternity where this charter ensures happiness for all such citizens. Living as a citizen of heaven means that I inhabit my heavenly home even while I live in a foreign land; it also presents me with a set of moral sentiments whereby the interests of ‘the other’ are placed ahead of my own. Sacrificial living was exactly what the founder of this heavenly kingdom demonstrated.

QUESTION: How well are you doing, and where are the roadblocks in your behaviour as a citizen of heaven?

PRAYER: Thank you for adopting me into your family and offering me citizenship of heaven.

Luke 10:5-6 NLT

Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, “May God’s peace be on this house.” If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.

I remember the transfer of responsibility for the welfare of my parents being passed onto me. With a diagnosis of terminal cancer, my dad, a strong if silent individual, who had fought through the whole of the Second World War, including participating in three land invasions, mentally accepted that he would soon pass from mortality into eternity. He asked me to oversee my parents’ move from their family home in London to a flat in Portsmouth, the city where I lived. In the fraction of time it took for me to accept my father’s request, I felt the weight of that responsibility settle on my shoulders.

It has taken far longer for me to acknowledge and then accept the responsibility of serving God’s kingdom objectives with my whole heart and life. I am to see all of life through eyes redeemed through God’s grace. My decisions are to be made in the light of eternity. I am to live in ways that demonstrate that “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20-21, NIV). So, I am required to practise hospitality. One part of that responsibility is to share the peace of Christ’s presence and rule with all those who I meet. I am to respect them and to pray for them. Such prayers are always for their well-being.

For me this means that whenever anyone visits me, I seek to welcome them as I would welcome Jesus. If I visit someone, then I am to carry God’s peace into their home and pray for their good. I have learned from my interest in St Francis to adopt his greeting as my prayer. “[itals]Pax et Bonum[end itals],” he would say – peace and goodness be with you and your household: my simple understanding. I don’t use the Latin as a greeting, but I do pray both for my host.

QUESTION: Do you want to be a channel of peace and goodness?

PRAYER: May the peace of Christ go with me and rest on those places I visit this week.

Luke 10:5-6 NLT

Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, “May God’s peace be on this house.” If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.

I remember the transfer of responsibility for the welfare of my parents being passed onto me. With a diagnosis of terminal cancer, my dad, a strong if silent individual, who had fought through the whole of the Second World War, including participating in three land invasions, mentally accepted that he would soon pass from mortality into eternity. He asked me to oversee my parents’ move from their family home in London to a flat in Portsmouth, the city where I lived. In the fraction of time it took for me to accept my father’s request, I felt the weight of that responsibility settle on my shoulders.

It has taken far longer for me to acknowledge and then accept the responsibility of serving God’s kingdom objectives with my whole heart and life. I am to see all of life through eyes redeemed through God’s grace. My decisions are to be made in the light of eternity. I am to live in ways that demonstrate that “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20-21, NIV). So, I am required to practise hospitality. One part of that responsibility is to share the peace of Christ’s presence and rule with all those who I meet. I am to respect them and to pray for them. Such prayers are always for their well-being.

For me this means that whenever anyone visits me, I seek to welcome them as I would welcome Jesus. If I visit someone, then I am to carry God’s peace into their home and pray for their good. I have learned from my interest in St Francis to adopt his greeting as my prayer. “[itals]Pax et Bonum[end itals],” he would say – peace and goodness be with you and your household: my simple understanding. I don’t use the Latin as a greeting, but I do pray both for my host.

QUESTION: Do you want to be a channel of peace and goodness?

PRAYER: May the peace of Christ go with me and rest on those places I visit this week.

Romans 13:8-10 NLT

Owe nothing to anyone – except for your obligation to love one another...For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These – and other such commandments – are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law.

God sent his Son among his enemies with a message of divine hospitality. Enemies and strangers were invited to become friends; the very heart of hospitality.

We often look at the Ten Commandments as a moral code of behaviour. It reminds us of how to calibrate our moral compass. However, it is much deeper than that. It’s an expression of our hospitality. When I steal from another, be it their spouse, their reputation, their goods, I prove my protestations of respect for humanity to be no more than an empty lie. It reveals a disrespect for myself, my family, as well as complete strangers. Where I do wrong to one individual, I undermine the very sanctity of human interaction. My one act, however justified, is another nail in the coffin of peaceful coexistence. Where I point the finger at the violence that breaks out through knife crime and the like, I lay its foundations with my every refusal to practise hospitality. Every act that betrays the way of hospitality modelled by Jesus builds both the momentum and common acceptance of bad behaviour. I’m invited to take responsibility for my approach to others, from my thinking about them through to my actions towards them.

Managing your thought life, which in turn will give rise to actions that express a message of love towards others, is a challenge. But I want to train myself in the way of God, since I am convinced this is the best way to build an enduring social life that benefits all.

QUESTION: Are you committed to living a hospitable lifestyle? This is directing the best of you for the best interests of everyone else.

PRAYER: May my thoughts, words, deeds and lifestyle be transformed by the power of your love.

Romans 13:8-10 NLT

Owe nothing to anyone – except for your obligation to love one another...For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These – and other such commandments – are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfils the requirements of God’s law.

God sent his Son among his enemies with a message of divine hospitality. Enemies and strangers were invited to become friends; the very heart of hospitality.

We often look at the Ten Commandments as a moral code of behaviour. It reminds us of how to calibrate our moral compass. However, it is much deeper than that. It’s an expression of our hospitality. When I steal from another, be it their spouse, their reputation, their goods, I prove my protestations of respect for humanity to be no more than an empty lie. It reveals a disrespect for myself, my family, as well as complete strangers. Where I do wrong to one individual, I undermine the very sanctity of human interaction. My one act, however justified, is another nail in the coffin of peaceful coexistence. Where I point the finger at the violence that breaks out through knife crime and the like, I lay its foundations with my every refusal to practise hospitality. Every act that betrays the way of hospitality modelled by Jesus builds both the momentum and common acceptance of bad behaviour. I’m invited to take responsibility for my approach to others, from my thinking about them through to my actions towards them.

Managing your thought life, which in turn will give rise to actions that express a message of love towards others, is a challenge. But I want to train myself in the way of God, since I am convinced this is the best way to build an enduring social life that benefits all.

QUESTION: Are you committed to living a hospitable lifestyle? This is directing the best of you for the best interests of everyone else.

PRAYER: May my thoughts, words, deeds and lifestyle be transformed by the power of your love.

Hebrews 13:2 NLT

'Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!'

The word “hospitality” is an interesting mix, which brings together two opposites; the word for a stranger or an enemy (Latin: [itals]hostis[end itals]) and the word for host (Latin: hospes). So, hospitality is hosting strangers, even enemies, and a willingness to receive such hosting from a stranger. Our world “hospital” really means a guesthouse, which puts a whole new complexion on the objectives for the NHS!

Hospitality is one of the cornerstones of the Christian gospel. Jesus entertained strangers with a view to them catching sight of the kingdom of God. What they did with that sighting was up to them. Only one of the ten healed lepers felt the need to return and pay a debt of gratitude, and he was a foreigner (Luke 17:11-19). The tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) was pressed into offering Jesus hospitality, an encounter that turned his life upside down. Hospitality has a habit of reaching beyond the tea and cake!

I grew up in a culture where an Englishman’s home is his castle. My front door marked a territorial boundary where I exercised total control over who entered. In surrendering to God, all my boundaries became subject to redefinition. I cannot accept salvation and then lock it away in my box of special things within the security of my own home. Jesus expands my horizons and with them, all my precious lines of demarcation inherited from parents, school and wider culture.

I am invited to redraw the map of my life along the contours of God’s kingdom. I have to work on my instinctive reaction to people and agree with God that I will develop a hospitable heart and build a hospitable home.

QUESTION: How high is your hospitality quotient? Do you welcome in others, or are you a reluctant host?

PRAYER: Help me this week to be sensitive to the needs of others and to grow in the gift of hospitality.