Making Room at the Table
Why Everyone is Invited
What if hospitality isn’t about a perfect home, but an open heart? The Kingdom of God isn’t a polished dinner party. It’s a messy, grace-filled family of ordinary people—welcomed by Jesus and invited to sit at His table. That’s why biblical hospitality matters so much. When we open our tables and our lives, we reflect the very heart of the Kingdom: strangers become family, sojourners are welcomed, and the overlooked find their place.
The Kingdom of God isn’t a polished dinner party. It’s a messy, grace-filled family of ordinary people—welcomed by Jesus and invited to sit at His table.
A few years ago, we met a student from Egypt on our local college campus. He quickly became a friend, and we invited him over for dinner. We told him to bring a few friends. That evening, he arrived with five others, all from Middle Eastern countries. Something holy happened around that beat-up kitchen table on Williamsburg Drive. It was so much more than a meal. It was a collision of cultures, languages, and beliefs. We laughed, shared stories, and caught glimpses into each other’s worlds.
It was messy. It was loud. It was incredibly beautiful. That night wasn’t about food—it was about making room for people. People nothing like me in faith, culture, or belief. Yet around that table, and in the Kingdom of God, they weren’t outsiders but family. Hospitality is a kingdom value woven throughout Scripture. Abraham welcomed three strangers into his tent only to realize he was hosting the very presence of God. Israel was commanded, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them… Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Yet, somewhere along the way, our Western lens has narrowed the concept of hospitality. We’ve reduced it to tidy homes, pretty tables, and perfect Pinterest-worthy desserts. We make it about performance—about us. But biblical hospitality is much deeper. The word translated “hospitality” in the New Testament is the Greek word philoxenia: philo (love) and xenia (of strangers). True hospitality isn’t about impressing others. It’s about welcoming the stranger God puts in our path.
No one embodied hospitality more perfectly than Jesus. He came as a sojourner, stepping into our broken world to reconcile us to God's family. He shared meals with sinners, welcomed children others pushed aside, and touched the sick when others avoided them.
Entertainment focuses on us. Biblical hospitality centers on them. No one embodied hospitality more perfectly than Jesus. He came as a sojourner, stepping into our broken world to reconcile us to God's family. He shared meals with sinners, welcomed children others pushed aside, and touched the sick when others avoided them. “I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Matthew 25:35). “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (Luke 14:13-14). For Jesus, hospitality wasn’t a one-time event. It was a way of life.
And if we’re honest, this type of hospitality isn’t easy. It’s costly. It requires us to be centered on others—sometimes giving a ride, rearranging our evening, or saying no to one thing so we can say yes to someone. Biblical hospitality also takes time. It isn’t built in a single meal. It grows through countless small moments—everyday interactions, honest conversations, ordinary kindness. Over time, these ordinary touchpoints become the very soil where God grows extraordinary love. Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:26-28 that “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith… There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The table becomes a living picture of this truth. At God’s table, all are welcome. Hospitality tears down the barriers and invites people into the Kingdom story.
Over the years, that scratched-up kitchen table has become holy ground. Hundreds of friends have eaten there—Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, seekers, and believers. We’ve shared laughter, tears, struggles, questions—but most of all, love. Times around that table turned strangers into friends. A Muslim friend started driving my husband to doctor’s appointments when I couldn’t take him. That student we met from Egypt? Years later, we stood in Cairo as honored guests at his wedding.
So, where do you begin? Start simple. Invite someone to join you for coffee, a walk, or a meal. Embrace the mess. Don’t wait for perfect conditions—whether in your home or in your heart. Hospitality happens in real life, not perfect life. Listen well. Ask questions. Be curious. Be present. Open your circle. Notice the outsider—the coworker eating alone, the student far from home, the new neighbor down the block—and invite them in. Biblical hospitality is Kingdom work. It reflects Christ, who welcomed us first. It proclaims that His Kingdom is open to all who come to Him.
And here’s the beautiful part: that kind of hospitality always looks like Jesus. Every time we make room at our table, in our life, we give the world a glimpse of the Kingdom to come. Your table—no matter how scratched, messy, or ordinary—can be a glimpse of the Kingdom feast. Every invitation reflects God’s heart, and every act of welcome whispers the truth of His Kingdom: there is always room for one more. And that, my friends, is infinitely more beautiful than any perfect table or dessert. Who will you make room for at your table? How might your life look different if you did? And, what glimpse of the Kingdom might they see when they sit with you?
