Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest

"Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest." And he came-as a homeless man, a stranger, a friend.

Marian Korth and her partner, Mim Jacobson, have served breakfast to thousands of overnight guests in their home, but they didn't bother to offer a cup of coffee to a homeless man huddling on their doorstep one cold winter morning. Why didn't they welcome this "Jesus" into their home?

Marian has more to learn about hospitality, even after sixty years of adventures in hospitality. She can tell stories about being hospitable (or not) from:

Growing up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin

Living in Chicago for twenty years

Returning to Wisconsin and turning their farmhouse into a bed and breakfast

Providing end-of-life care for guests who live with Marian and Mim in their home

Transforming their bed and breakfast into a spiritual retreat center

Kindness is the common thread that runs through all these adventures in hospitality. The first verse Marian memorized as a child was Ephesians 4:32, "Be ye kind, one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (She memorized it and still thinks about it in the King James Version.)

In these stories, Marian reflects on what God is telling her about being hospitable. She thinks it's pretty exciting to know that God has told us, "Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it!" (Hebrews 13:2 The Message)