Open Hearts, Open Homes at Easter

Easter Sunday will soon be here. While there is a sense that every Sunday is Resurrection Day, this holiday is a special reminder of God the Father’s validation of the Son’s ministry by raising Him from the dead (Romans 1:4). For some, Easter Sunday is marred by secular appropriation. Bunny rabbits and Easter eggs can detract from the truth that Christ rose from the dead. On the other hand, Easter traditions might have a memorable role in your home. Does your family enjoy unique foods or activities during this season? Consider inviting others into your home to enjoy your family’s customs. For example, you could include newcomers for brunch after your sunrise service or enjoy Easter lunch with new friends after morning worship.

What are some reasons to include outsiders at your Easter meal?

Table fellowship is an important way to enhance Christian love

Your church is probably a welcoming place, especially during the holidays. You and your husband eagerly anticipate visitors who rarely attend church except at Christmas and Easter. As the pastor’s wife, you desire to get to know the people who have chosen to come to worship at your church.

Investing in the lives of others follows our Savior’s pattern.

Your example of Christian love not only models Christlikeness to the members of your church, but that love expands when you bring people into your home for a meal. The Bible has many instances of Jesus participating in table fellowship. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. He led the original Lord’s Supper with his disciples. This pattern continued into the early church, which devoted themselves to “…the breaking of bread…” as part of their worship (Acts 2:42).

These examples describe the joy believers share when they eat together. The warmth and joy around the pastor’s table have also impacted unbelievers. Read Rosaria Butterfield’s testimony to find out how the Lord used the hospitality of a pastor and his wife to bring her to faith. Consider preparing extra food at Easter so you can be ready to bring visitors into your home spontaneously for a meal.

Sharing the Easter meal with others is good for your children

In most families, children are not exposed to a wide variety of people from different traditions and cultures. Their small circle of friends can feel comfortable. Consider the benefits of bringing those with completely different backgrounds into your home. Maybe their first language isn’t English. Maybe they are more comfortable using chopsticks. Perhaps they prefer foods with fragrant and unusual spices.

When my children were little, we lived in a multicultural community where my husband worked as a bi-vocational pastor. We invited friends to join us for Easter dinner, and our children grew up with a sense of the worldwide church of God. Consider inviting international students to church and join your family for a meal afterward. Your family will be blessed when you ask your visitors how Christians in Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, or Africa celebrate Easter. Include your children by asking them to help decorate the table or draw pictures to give to your guests.

The Lord commends generosity

If you have the means to share a meal with someone from your church or community, you will be blessed. Jesus explained this in Luke 14:12-14:

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Here, we read a list of possible invitees. My husband and I have had various people sit at our table who fit Jesus’s description. We had a homeless man join us for a holiday meal. Another time, we had to figure out how to get a motorized wheelchair up our front walk and through the door. One disabled friend was amazingly adept at going up and down our stairs using his crutches. More than once, we have enjoyed table fellowship with a blind person.

Even if the above types of people don’t attend your church, I believe Jesus’ words are appropriate to describe others who cannot repay your hospitality. The pastor’s wife is aware of those in the church who are single and lonely. You know which of your members have no family nearby with whom to enjoy Easter. You know those in your church who are living on a limited income. You know the widows and widowers in your body. These guests are the equivalent of the people Jesus mentioned. They are likely unable to return the favor and invite you to Easter dinner next year. You will obtain a blessing when you share your meal with them.

Conclusion

Open your hearts and open your homes this Easter. You will demonstrate active Christian love, and your children will benefit by seeing this love. The pastor’s table will become a microcosm of the work of God around the world. Jesus promises that you will be blessed. When you heed his call, you can share your own testimony of the joys to be found in serving the Lord by serving others. May this Easter be filled with new friends and special memories.

©2024 Caroline Newheiser. Used with permission.