Three years ago, I started a new job with Hope into Action, a Christian charity providing homes for people who have been homeless, based in Peterborough.
There are always anxieties in taking on a new job, but one main concern I had was geographic: the charity is based nowhere near where I live in south London. I knew I needed to spend at least 2 days a week in the office, but wanted to avoid spending too much time and money on trains or using soulless hotels.
Kindness and generosity
And the solution to this challenge has come through the kindness of people who 3 years ago were complete strangers to me.
A couple who live in Peterborough, Clive and Florence (pictured above), have opened their home to me every single Tuesday night for the last 3 years. They have given me their spare room and a delicious meal every week so that I can stay over close to Hope into Action’s base.
Their generosity and trust was illustrated by the first time I ever met them when they handed me a set of their house keys so that I could stay even when they were not there. And the days since they have now given me over 150 nights of hospitality.
Incredible blessing
Clive and Florence’s generosity has made a massive difference to my life over these three years. The job has been demanding and they have given me far more than just a place to stay or food for my body: their friendship has nourished my mind and soul too.
We have enjoyed hundreds of hours of discussing literature, films, history, theology and politics. They have lent me some great books, such as Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and take this bread by Sara Miles.
We have agreed on many matters and disagreed on some too. And in everything, they have shared great wisdom through their rich life experiences in business, church life and spiritual direction. They have become great friends and I will always cherish the hours spent at their home.
Lifetime of commitment
Clive and Florence’s decision to open their home and trust me with their key has not come out of nowhere. It was a choice rooted in a lifetime of prayerful Christian commitment through the local church and in countless acts of service in their local community.
Before we eat, their practice is to hold hands across the table as they ‘say grace’. But this act embodies a grace that goes beyond words or religious habit: it distils what I experience every Tuesday: fellowship, generosity and gratitude to God.
Tangible grace
Grace – God’s free, unearned gift of kindness, forgiveness and love is at the heart of Christian faith. But this grace cannot be reduced to simply doctrine, theology or atonement theory. It is most powerful when its embodied: felt, seen, experienced, tasted.
These tangible forms of grace are a true blessing and can equip us to bless others. This is the ‘cascade of grace’ that Jesus spoke to his disciples about in Matthew 10:8:
“Freely you have received, freely give.”
This challenge is the heart of Christian discipleship: how do we respond to God’s grace?
A Sabbath meal
One of the books Clive and Florence and I have read and discussed this year is Practising the Way by John Mark Comer. It is a book that has had an enduring impact on me: not just in my thinking but in my actions, especially around hospitality and Sabbath.
After we did the Practising the Way course at our church, my wife and I realised that since covid we had pretty much stopped inviting people over for dinner. So in September we started hosting a Sabbath meal for a varied group of local people every Friday evening.
The format is simple: we use a set liturgy (shared below) to briefly pause, reflect and pray at the end of the week, before we enjoy a meal together. Some Fridays we have had 3 guests and sometimes as many as 11, but either way these evenings have been a great blessing. They have turned us outwards, reduced our selfishness, built community and have deepened our relationships.
Sharing food
Sara Miles’ book take this bread is a brilliant spiritual memoir of her journey from atheism to faith and is all centred on the act of taking of communion and sharing food with others.
Like what I have experienced at Clive and Florence’s on a Tuesday and at my home on a Friday, she describes beautifully how the embodied grace of eating and sharing food in community reflects the way of Jesus. She writes this prayer for the volunteers at the Food Pantry she sets up at her church:
‘O God of abundance, you feed us every day.
Rise in us now, make us into your bread,
That we may share your gifts with a hungry world,
And join in love all people, through
Jesus Christ our Lord.’
I know this prayer has been true for me.
Freely, I have received from the God of grace. In response, may I freely give.
This is the liturgy we use every Friday evening at our Sabbath meal:
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