A few weeks ago, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to the sound of a man singing in Arabic. The sound was the morning call to prayer coming from a loud speaker at one of the mosques near our hotel in Bethlehem, Palestine. I’m used to the sounds of church bells and chimes, but the sound of the Muslim call to prayer was new and strange to me.

In November, my spouse Kristin and I spent eight days visiting people and places in Israel and Palestine. Over and over again, the people and stories, sights and sounds challenged and stretched my heart and understanding of the world. I saw first-hand that newness and strangeness can carry hidden blessings.

One of our first experiences was worshipping with Palestinian Christians at Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem. The service was in a foreign language, but I quickly recognized a familiar pattern of worship and the same Holy Spirit. The congregation sang “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” in Arabic, and we sang along in English.

Near the end of our trip, we spent an afternoon picking olives with Palestinian farmers near Jenin. Our tour group split up to spend the night with host families. I hate to admit how nervous I was about this part of our trip. I wondered about our sleeping conditions, if we would be able to communicate, and even if it was safe. Many depictions of Palestinians in the U.S. portray them as terrorists and extremists. In many ways, I had been taught to fear my host family. Furthermore, our group was Christian and our host family was Muslim.

All my worries were soon brushed aside, however, by the warmth and hospitality of Remah, Ahmeed, and their children. They greeted us at the door with Arabic coffee, fed us a delicious meal, introduced us to their extended family and friends, took us on a tour of their town, and sent us away with gifts. Counter to what I had been taught about Palestinians, Remah and Ahmeed reminded me of so many warm and hard-working people in Wisconsin. Remah farmed olives, and Ahmeed drove a tour bus. They loved their children and grandchildren. Despite language, cultural, and religious differences, we encountered one another as friends.

I believe xenophobia – the fear or hatred of foreigners – is sinful, because all people are created in the image of God and Jesus calls us to courageous love of others. But fear and resentment seems to be growing in our country and world. In fact, Dictionary.com named xenophobia the Word of the Year for 2016 because of its prevalence in the world this year and based on the number of lookups on their website. Personally, I saw xenophobia in my own heart in my nervousness and assumptions in Palestine.

Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to radical hospitality. In Matthew 25:31-46, the Son of Man judges the nations in part based on whether they welcome the stranger. In the original Greek of the New Testament, the word “stranger” is xenos, which is a root word in xenophobia. He says, “I was a stranger (xenos) and you did not welcome me” (verse 43). He even threatens eternal punishment to nations that do not welcome the stranger (verse 46).

The biblical value of hospitality lies directly opposite to xenophobia. In the New Testament, the word for hospitable and hospitality often is philoxenos or philoxenia. (For example: 1 Peter 4:9.) The word combines philos meaning “love” with xenos for “stranger.” The word hospitality contains within it the idea that we should approach the foreigner with love. Xenophobia, on the other hand, combines stranger with phobos meaning fear. Anyone who fans the flames of fear and xenophobia is drawing us away from the hospitable people Christ calls us to be.

Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality (philoxenia) to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” This verse promises us that God will surprise us in our encounters with people different from ourselves, and this was my experience in Israel and Palestine. Beyond my fears and assumptions were blessings from God. May God make us courageous in love, welcome, and hospitality!

Note: This post originally appeared in the Brodhead Free Press and the Independent Register as part of their weekly “Pastor’s Corner” column.