Summer Blessings

We pick up the next part of Paul’s shipwreck venture in Acts 28:1-2 “Once everyone was accounted for and we realised we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it.” (The Message)

Luke reported that the ship carrying Paul was abandoned as it broke up in the storm and that all the passengers, prisoners, sailors, and officers got ashore safely, as God had promised through the apostle Paul. Then Luke continued: The people of the island were very kind to us, building a bonfire on the beach to welcome and warm us in the rain and cold.

What a wonderful blessing! After two weeks in a horrendous storm and the ship breaking up, all the people on board with Paul were safely ashore and welcomed by the kindness of the people of Malta. Despite the bad weather, they came outside and greeted these weary, hungry, cold, and shipwrecked people with a warm fire. Hospitality is a gift that we give to others and that demonstrates the loving welcome of God. While believers were not the people offering hospitality in this situation, these unbelievers on the island displayed the heart of God by welcoming and caring for outsiders. Hospitality is a gift we share with others because it is one we received when we became children of God!

Today, Malta has seemingly more churches per member of the population than any other country.  With a land mass smaller than that of the Isle of Wight there are a total of 359 churches (313 in Malta and 46 in Gozo). Perhaps that shows how  a simple act of kindness can have a profound and lasting effect. Perhaps we need to remember the words of Jesus, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Matthew 25:35

God, we are aliens and sojourners in this world,

but you invite us to be your guests.

You lavishly offer us your hospitality

and lovingly welcome us into your family,

You invite us to share in the abundance of your kingdom.

God, you have shown us that providing hospitality to strangers

opens a doorway into the Kingdom of God.

Remind us that when we offer hospitality to others,

we are receiving Christ into our midst and so fulfilling the law of love.

We open our hearts to embrace the stranger, the friend, the rich, and the poor,

We open our lives to offer a generous heart toward all. Amen