S OME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT 3 JOHN before we get into the sermon: This is the shortest book of the New Testament. It is also the only New Testament writing that does not mention the name Jesus or Christ.
“You are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.”
Those are John’s words of praise to Gaius. Gaius is greatly involved in the ministry of hospitality. Especially to traveling missionaries. These are the folks who go from place to place to preach the Gospel of Christ — similar to Paul. They come to a community, find Christians there or receptive non-Christians, then stay with welcoming strangers for a while (maybe a year or more) and then move on to other places to teach and preach.
This is a note of thanks and encouragement. Thanks for the care and hospitality you provides these traveling missionaries. Keep up the good work.
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GAIUS’ ACTIONS FALL IN LINE with the ancients of faith. The ancient Israelites were an alienated people dependent on God’s hospitality. God graciously met their needs. God redeemed them from Egypt. God fed and clothed them in the wilderness. Because they were once needy travelers, God ordered them to humbly and graciously receive aliens in their home for food, lodging and protection.
Hospitality, support and encouragement for our fellow Christians are some of the main precepts of the teachings of Jesus. Gaius continues this tradition. He is an outstanding example of this ministry.
We are to carry on that tradition of hospitality. Show hospitality to those who minister in the name of Christ. Not often can we welcome missionaries into our church or home.
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WE WERE PRIVILEGED last year to host John and Gwenda Fletcher, missionaries to the Congo. Their names are before us every week in the prayer concerns. After their visit they sent this thank-you note to us. It reads much like John’s thanks to Gaius:
“It was such a joy for us to be at Swift Presbyterian this past weekend! Please express our gratitude to the Swift congregation for the gracious and hospitable reception. What a friendly group you all are! So many people made a point of introducing themselves to us and welcoming us — we felt embraced by warmth from the moment we set foot in the church.”
We were Gaius to them.
That was a rare event. It’s not often that missionaries come in person to Swift to share their work.
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THIS YEAR, THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH celebrates 180 years of international mission work. Some people serve like the Fletchers — full time in foreign lands. Some in the church serve in shorter, temporary ways Just a quick list of possibilities for you:
● Young adult volunteers, ages 18–30s serve for one school year in places around the world or in the United States.
● Mission trips. Our presbytery sponsors two trips each year to Guatemala. Anyone who can handle the trip and the labor of building churches or schools is welcome to go.
● You can be a missionary and not go anywhere. You know about the food pantry. How can we be Gaius to folks who come to receive our assistance?
● Anything you do — evangelism, compassion, justice and peace and caring for God’s creation — any place you do it in the name of Christ.
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FOR 180 YEARS, PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARIES have planted churches. For 180 years Presbyterian missionaries have built hospitals. For 180 years Presbyterian missionaries have started schools. For 180 years the church has prayed for them. We can be like Gaius and pray for them as they educate. Pray as they perform surgeries and teach doctors and nurses. Pray for them as they till the soil and introduce new crops and production to generational farmers. Pray for them as they preach the gospel and start new churches.
Early in the missionary movement, some Presbyterian women saw a need for missionary support. Women’s Global Missionary Societies began in 1875. Within a year, 70 societies were formed. They were so successful in raising funds they paid the salaries of 10 women missionaries. Ten years later, the salaries of 56 women missionaries were covered. Today, nearly 130 mission co-workers are engaged in vital ministries in 70 countries. Like those dedicated women 140 years ago, we express hospitality to missionaries through our finances. There are three missionary couples that your regular offerings help support.
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ONE COUPLE IS BOB AND KRISTI RICE. In 2010 they began as mission workers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have supported them for much, if not all, of their time there. They came to the United States in 2016 for rest and relaxation but were not able to return, due to destabilization in the area where they were.
Last month they began a new call in South Sudan. Presbyterians have been involved in Sudan for more than a century. In recent years brutal violence has caused widespread famine. Three million people are displaced from their homes and livelihoods. The infrastructure is in ruins and the people are traumatized. Not exactly paradise. Yet, Bob and Kristi have gone there in the name of Jesus Christ:
✓ Learning a new language.
✓ Meeting a new people.
✓ Receiving and returning hospitality. Sharing the love of Christ.
Bob and Kristi work, in the name of Christ, to make a difference. They recognize that South Sudan will not be an easy place to live and serve. They write:
“There is so much potential for the impact and reach of the gospel as Christians in South Sudan are coming together and identifying the body of Christ as their primary loyalty over tribe and ethnicity.”
If only we could do that in the United States … .
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WE ARE A PART OF THEIR MINISTRY through our prayers. And others. Through our offerings.
John praised Gaius for his hospitality toward mission workers. I offer you the same praise:
Keep up the good work.
