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0:20 Alright, I appreciate you guys being here all week. 0:22 This week and next week, we're looking at the Odyssey by Homer. 0:26 We're pulling out biblical truths and applicable life lessons that we can all use. 0:31 So, twenty years after leaving to fight in the Trojan War, Odysseus finally returns home to his beloved Ithaca. 0:38 And you would think that he would just immediately walk right back into his palace, but he does not. 0:42 So Athena disguises him as a busted up beggar and sends him first to the hut of Eumaeus, who is Odysseus' own swine herd, and Eumaeus has no idea that this is his master standing before him. 0:53 So Eumaeus says this to Odysseus, Stranger, though a still poorer man should come here, it would not be right for me to insult him, for all strangers and beggars are from Jove. 1:05 Again, Jove is Zeus here. 1:07 So he takes Odysseus into his own hut, he lays down a skin for him to sit on, and then he butchers two of his own pigs to feed Odysseus. 1:15 So Eumaeus, you know, a poor man who owns almost nothing, is caring for this total stranger from his own very limited resources. 1:23 So he likely recognizes that the beggar before him, you know, could be a con man or a criminal or dangerous in some way. 1:29 But just like the princess on the beach that we talked about earlier this week, Eumaeus believes that there's a divine law attached to how you treat someone that is in a desperate state. 1:38 And if you go back a few books in the Odyssey, you'll find uh, you know, the flip side of this. 1:42 So in book nine, before things go bad with the Cyclops in the cave, Odysseus makes this same appeal to Polyphemus. 1:49 And so here it is. 1:51 Jove takes all respectable travelers under his protection, for he is the avenger of all suppliants and foreigners in distress. 1:58 Polyphemus' answer. 2:01 We Cyclopses do not care about Jove or any of your blessed gods, for we are ever so much stronger than they. 2:08 And then, you know, from there he eats several of the Odysseus's men. 2:12 So it's the same code of hospitality. 2:15 One poor swine herd honors this with almost nothing to give, and one powerful giant Sycalops tramples it because he has the strength to get away with it. 2:25 So Homer isn't implying a question here with this dichotomy of the two characters, and it's which one would you rather be? 2:33 So the Bible actually runs the same test. 2:35 So here's what Hebrews 13, verses 1 and 2 say. 2:39 Let brotherly love continue. 2:41 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 2:48 So actually, believe it or not, I've actually thought a lot about this verse lately. 2:51 Like every time I have that inkling, like to talk to someone, a stranger, or to pray for them, offer to pray for them, to share the gospel, you know, part of me is wondering, like, am I in the presence of an angel? 3:01 Is this a test of some kind? 3:02 And so that Hebrews verse is a direct reference to Genesis 18, where Abraham runs out to serve a full meal to three unannounced travelers, not knowing that it is Yahweh himself. 3:14 And on the other side of that story in Genesis 19, we have the exact opposite happening in Sodom, and the outcome of that is complete destruction. 3:21 And just as a side reminder to any of y'all out there that think it's okay not to yell about the things that the Bible only whispers about, I'm assuming that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was actually pretty loud. 3:32 And then we see this elucidated further in Leviticus 19, verses 33 and 34. 3:38 When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall do you shall not do him wrong. 3:44 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as a native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 3:52 I am the Lord your God. 3:54 So in that verse, it's like God is trying to get us to remember what it felt like to have nothing and to need something and you know, really someone to just open a door for us. 4:04 So in the Odyssey, Eumaeus had every excuse not to do what he actually ended up doing. 4:09 He himself was poor. 4:11 He was a serving in the role of a s as a servant, right? 4:14 And you know, at this point in the narrative, his entire household is being bled dry by Penelope's suitors. 4:20 So a reasonable man would have said, Look, I don't have anything to give, sorry about you. 4:25 But instead he slaughtered two of his own animals in order to feed the stranger. 4:29 So compare that to how most of us operate, myself included, sometimes. 4:33 We wait until we're comfortable or until we're in a time of plenty before we're generous. 4:39 We wait until there's excess margin in the schedule before we volunteer to help. 4:43 We wait until we determine that the person before us is deserving of help before we offer help. 4:49 So it's like we're running background checks on our compassion, and then we sit around and wonder why our faith feels thin. 4:55 So Eumaeus did not, you know, give out of his excess, right? 5:00 He didn't have a lot of excess. 5:02 He gave out of his lack because hospitality and compassion do not wait for convenient timing. 5:08 It's a test of whether or not you actually believe that God will provide. 5:12 So I've got an assignment for y'all this week, and before I tell you what it is, obviously I want you to have wisdom and use discernment in this. 5:18 This is what I want you to do, okay? 5:20 I want you to find someone who has nothing that they can offer you and treat them like Eumaeus did Odysseus. 5:29 So this person will have no social capital. 5:32 Uh, you know, there's no way that they could repay you, but you are to serve them. 5:37 You know, it might look like feeding them, sitting with them, listening to them, give them a lift, give them your attention and focus like they matter more than they look, right? 5:46 And here's the interesting thing about this scene Eumaeus never actually learns the true identity of the person he is serving. 5:52 Like, not at this time. 5:54 Like he's extending very personally costly hospitality to a man he believes is of no importance. 6:01 He wasn't giving in the off chance that this beggar was actually the king. 6:05 And that's actually the test, right? 6:07 It's not generosity after you've confirmed someone deserves it, but it's generosity regardless of who they are. 6:14 He mayus gave from his lack to a stranger and ended up getting his king back for it. 6:19 And he had no idea that's what was going on, but it was. 6:23 And guys, you're never going to know in advance which stranger will matter. 6:28 It might be Christ at your door, because Scripture says it might be. 6:32 It could be an angel that you're entertaining unawares. 6:35 So, guys, thank you for your attention this week. 6:37 Come back next week for week two of this series. 6:40 Stay sharp.