By Carson and Laura Foushee
The Foushees are CBF field personnel serving in partnership with the Japan Baptist Convention in Kanazawa, Japan.
“By faith Rahab and the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobident, because she had received the spies in peace,” Hebrews 11:31.
Growing up, I (Laura) do not particularly remember learning Rahab’s story or her example being highlighted as a “hero(ine) of the faith.” The story she is part of is a complex one; she makes her initial appearance in scripture in Joshua 2 as a part of there counting of Israel’s violent siege of Canaan in Israel’s quest for the promised land. Her own background as a prostitute, though disputed by some modern scholars, may make her seem like a less-than-noble character. Yet for one who is mentioned just twice in the book of Joshua, she is noted three times in the New Testament. She is among three women mentioned in Jesus’ lineage in Matthew 1 and she, along with Ruth, accounts for one of two of Jesus’ non-Israelite ancestors. In James and Hebrews, she is heralded alongside those like Abraham who lived lives of both faith and good works. Hebrews 11:31 summarizes the model of her faith in her act of receiving, or welcoming, the spies in peace.
Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to preach in several Japanese congregations, including delivering one sermon that explores Rahab’s example alongside our call as the church to welcome others in peace. Her feminine and ethnic-outsider perspective challenges us to view hospitality not in terms of etiquette or politeness, but as an act of faith that may change both the one giving and the one receiving hospitality. The hospitality Rahab initiates because of her faith in the Lord God is mutually reciprocated to her by Israel as she and her family are saved during the fall of Jericho and taken to live among the Israelites. As she learns to live in a new culture, Israel is also changed as she becomes a mother in the line that would lead to the Messiah. The risk we take in offering true hospitality is that it may change our lives. The possibility of offering hospitality is that it will become an act of faithful peacemaking
As a part of our call to cultivate beloved community in Japan, hospitality plays a central role in our day-to-day ministry. Rahab’s example has become a challenge for me and our partner congregation to engage in a similar model of mutual hospitality that brings about peace in this world. In working with our church on how to meet the needs of the internationals in our community so that they may lead full, healthy lives as minorities in a homogeneous society, we must be reminded that these relationships are mutual. We, too, can be recipients of hospitality as we open our hearts to one another. Hospitality is sharing meals together, worshiping together, supporting our congregation together and learning from one another. In this best kind of hospitality, no one leaves unchanged by the relationship, and we have a chance to sow a seed of God’s peace in the world.
Pray, Practice, Ponder
What does hospitality mean to you? Is it about etiquette and politeness, or something deeper: “an act of faith that may change both the one giving and the one receiving?” Today, ponder the meaning of hospitality. You may wish to read Rahab’s story found in Joshua 2. Can you recall a time when you experienced the kind of hospitality that transformed you, and others involved?
This appeared in the 2023-2024 edition of Prayers of the People. You can order online copies for you and your congregation here.