Acts 21:4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days
Perhaps you know what it feels like to be lonely. I think all of us have felt lonely. I travel a lot, so I could write an entire book on being lonely on the road. I could write an entire chapter just about blowouts, having your tires blowout or having some mishap with your truck or trailer. In fact, I could have an entire chapter just on blowouts I’ve had in my truck in the desert.
I remember once in New Mexico it was getting dark and I had a blowout. Here we were miles from a real city, it was getting dark, and it was very lonely. Once I was east of Van Horn, Texas, which is not a large place on the map, and I had a major mishap there. We were safe, but we were far from any help, didn’t have cell service, and felt very much alone. Another time in Needles, California, again in the desert, I was pulling a big trailer, and the trailer had a tire blow out. I felt very lonely indeed. I remember calling a friend back in Tennessee to get some advice on how to fix the problem I had. So, maybe you know the feeling of being lonely.
Maybe you’ve been in a foreign country. I remember being with a pastor in a foreign country and he took us to Denny’s. It was like a little piece of America. You can argue whether that was a good piece of America or not, but we enjoyed it. It felt a little bit like home for me. Maybe you have been in the hospital when you were thousands of miles from home. That is indeed a very lonely feeling.
Paul was a guy who knew loneliness and the feeling of loneliness. Paul was often in danger because he was giving the gospel. He traveled frequently and that meant that he was away from anything that really was home. In Acts 21 Paul is traveling on a ship that has put into port. Verse 4 says, “And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days.” This just illustrates something you find throughout this chapter. Chapter 21 is full of examples of hospitality that people showed Paul. In some cases, they were complete strangers. They did not know the Apostle Paul personally, but they were all family. They all belonged to God.
In I Peter 4 the Bible says in the context of living in a hostile world that believers are to “use hospitality…without grudging.” It is biblical and right for us to show hospitality, and certainly to those who are of the household of faith. When you do, you are acting like the Comforter and you are acting with the Comforter. Jesus said that when He went to Heaven, He was leaving a Comforter, a Person, literally the Holy Spirit of God, who would be with us and give us comfort. Sometimes people may be at home and still feel lonely. They need hospitality, someone to provide both the comfort of home and the comforts of home, just as you would to a traveler.
What can we provide? If you look at Acts 21, you find that the friends of Paul, people who may not have known him before but were of God’s family, provided prayer, shelter, food, directions, and talk of Scripture. They were showing hospitality to Paul who greatly needed it.
You may feel lonely today, but one of the best ways to receive hospitality is to give it. One of the best ways to receive comfort is to give it. One of the best ways to receive help is to give it. We will reap what we sow. Today, realize that there are other people who may have trouble with their car, be in a foreign country, be in a hospital far from home, or live right here in your own hometown, but they might be strangers and pilgrims who need a prayer, shelter, food, guidance, or help. They might just need someone to show them hospitality. You might be the one to do that.