Tag Archives: Welcoming

The Welcoming Table

Kingdom Building

September 15, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-10

So he told them this parable: ‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ –Luke 15:1-3, 8-10

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

All people at one time or another lose their way, miss the mark.  To paraphrase Matthew 7:3, we too often see the speck in our neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in our own eye. The church does not exist to provide a haven for groups of people with similar logs while ostracizing those with specks they do not have. That seems to be what was happening in the faith community addressing Jesus in our scripture above. It also seems to happen in faith communities today.

There is an old gospel song that recognizes that Jesus invited all to come to his table. This song, however, indicates for the people singing it, their being welcomed was not available to them in this life.

I’m gonna eat at the welcome table,
I’m going to eat at the welcome table, Allelu.
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table,
I’m gonna eat at the welcome table, Allelu.

I’m gonna eat and drink with my Jesus,
I’m gonna eat and drink with my Jesus, Allelu.
I’m gonna eat and drink with my Jesus,
I’m gonna eat and drink with my Jesus, Allelu.

Our call as Christ followers is to invite all to feast at the Lord’s table now as we strive to bring the reality of God’s Kingdom of love to the world in real time.

Prayer: Lord forgive us when we fail to see the log in our eyes as individuals and as collections of people. Open our hearts to love all your children and welcome them into our lives. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Welcoming God

CartoonKidsLiving in the Spirit
September 20, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:30-37

Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ –Mark 9:36-37

There was a cute little video making the Facebook rounds sent to me recently. It shows a little girl, probably eighteen months to two years old, just having a fit standing in what appears to be the back seat of a car. Someone in the front seat apparently pops a CD in the player and it starts playing a children’s song. The voice over notes that it is the girl’s favorite song. In a moment, a twink of an eye, if you will, the tantrum turns to glee as she starts bouncing up and down smiling broadly and singing along. Someone no doubt who loved her knew her favorite song and gifted her with it when the frustrations of becoming an independent two year old had overwhelmed her for a time. She felt welcomed into the world on her road to maturity just as she was.

It is indeed easier to welcome some than others. I probably get most frustrated with myself because I do not always do what I know is healthy or productive or God’s will. I thus do not welcome myself as I would Jesus. I can get just as frustrated with others because they are not doing what I think is best for them. While in some instances I may be right in my judgment, I have never known trying to enforce my will on someone else to ever work. I am not welcoming them as I would Jesus recognizing that they are on the same journey as I am and that they must walk the path themselves just as I must. God does not enforce God’s will on any of us. Jesus understands that we must welcome God’s love and guidance for it to become our will recognizing it as what is best for our lives.

The great joy is God, when welcomed fully into our lives, is like the little girl’s favorite song. God makes all the puzzled pieces of our lives fit together making us whole.

Prayer:
Into my heart, into my heart,
 Come into my heart, Lord Jesus;
 Come in today, come in to stay;
 Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. 

Out of my heart, out of my heart,
 Shine out of my heart, Lord Jesus;
 Shine out today, shine out always;
 Shine out of my heart, Lord Jesus.* Amen.

*Into my Heart by Harry Clarke. See at http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/m/y/imyheart.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Two by Two

Spiritual HungerLiving in the Spirit
July 18, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.—Mark 6:30-34

People today are hungry for spiritual food as they were in the first century when Jesus walked among them. Jesus took all who came to him, just as they were. We are not so good at that today. We like to run litmus tests before we welcome people to our tables. And we say it is a good thing we do this because look at what happened in Charleston. A small group of twelve dedicated Christians studying the Bible welcomed a young man who killed nine of them.

My pastor shared a story in a recent sermon about a group of young adults who came to the church to see if the sanctuary was available to a couple for a wedding. We have an older, more traditional building with a long center aisle, popular for weddings. The pastor described the group as having about as many hair colors as exists in bottles today wearing many pierced pieces of jewelry. He said, “Let me give you the tour.” And they were shocked because they had already been turned away from two other churches who refused to even talk with them. By all reports it was a beautiful, colorful wedding.

It is often the small, what seem to be insignificant actions that may change our lives completely. Being accepted for who we are as we are is one of those small things that means a lot. And yes Christians have had to face danger in their openness to loving from the very beginning. I am not saying we should be careless with safety. Our being prudent not only protects us but protects the one who is may be out of control. What I am saying is we need to trust in God to use us as God needs us to feed people who are hungry for God.

Prayer: Lord, you sent your disciples out two by two. Perhaps that was because there is safety in numbers. Perhaps that was because there is more courage when two or three are working together. Be present with us as we welcome all your children to your church. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Seeing Christ in Everyone

Living in the Spirit
June 28, 2014 

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:40-42 

‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; — Matthew 10:40-41

One of my goals in life is to see the Christ in each person I encounter. I must confess I have to work really hard at this and sometimes I slip up and sometimes I go for days without it even crossing my mind. What I have discovered though is that if someone is vexing me in some way, God’s little reminder often goes off and a message pops into my head from Christ saying Here I am, see me?

It may have been as selfish as wishing the person in line in front of me had gotten her coupons out before the cashier finished checking out her cart load. It may have been while watching one of the multitude of campaign ads currently running when someone is espousing something with which I totally disagree or more likely over simplifying something that is exceedingly complex.  I hate 30 second sound bites. It may have been when I hear on the news about one more senseless killing in a school, in a mall, on the street. I don’t need a lot of help seeing Christ in victims. It is perpetrators that fall from my grace, but not from God’s.

Welcoming, truly welcoming someone entails accepting them as a child of God just as they are. I doubt if anyone ever entered my mother’s house who was not offered a comfortable place to sit and some type of refreshment even a glass of water. When I was five or six a very poor family that lived near us stopped at our house to get my dad’s assistance in welding a broken piece of equipment. Mom invited the mother and the children into the house and gave the little girls the free paper dolls that had come with my hair permanent to play with. I was mad about that but knew better than to say anything. After they left, Mom gathered the paper dolls up and threw them in the wood stove.  I was more than mad then! She explained to me that the girls had something called impetigo, a highly contagious skin condition, and that she burned the paper dolls to protect me from getting it. In my mother’s mind it would never have been right to not give the children something with which to play. She saw the Christ in everyone.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to see the Christ in everyone. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.