The Power of Welcome - July 7, 2019

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Genesis 18: 1-8 As I thought about what it means to follow Jesus and what is asked of us—hospitality and welcoming others were a key theme that kept coming up. Commands to offer hospitality—even to the stranger—are repeated over and over again in the scriptures. Even as the Israelites are defined as the “chosen people” with clear lines of who is in and who is out—God consistently reminds them that their story isn’t just about them. What they have is to be shared. And that idea of sharing doesn’t go away in the New Testament. Jesus is constantly welcoming the outsider and the New Testament churches are focused on

sharing with each other and with others so that there aren’t strong lines of who has a lot and who has a little.

So what does that mean for us? What kind of hospitality are we to offer? Some of us have no desire to throw dinner parties. So does that mean we can’t be a true disciple? No, we don’t have to put on a feast like Abraham. But we are being asked to receive people with openness and warmth. Not just in our homes, but at work, on the street in everyday interactions, and at church. We’re meant to see people and connect with them. One of the key elements of hospitality is conveying “you matter” to the other person. This can happen in a multitude of ways.

Let’s talk about hospitality in the church. What is good hospitality? (kindness? Preparedness? Good coffee? Good cookies? Making people stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and introduce themselves?) It can be a lot of things.

It’s as simple as having the right hours posted for worship. I had a friend who last week went to go to church. The signage said worship started at 11. She was there at 10:55. All the doors were locked and no one was around. So she didn’t get to go to church. Rick and I had a similar experience at one church when I was on maternity leave. We looked up the info online and when we got there and the church was locked up. Apparently, they were worshipping off-site for a special Sunday…something apparently everyone knew…except those of us who were visiting from out of town. (And I’ll confess, that when I started to write this criticism of other churches, I went to double check our hours…and they were posted wrong on our Facebook page and in the app …so we did a little work this week.)

Hospitality involves being humble enough to share “our” seat. In one church I served, there was a couple that had been married 70 years and they always sat in the same spot. My parents had come to visit and managed to sit in “their” pew and when the couple came for worship they approached my parents and said, “Those are our seats, are you going to move or should we go home?” They were serious, if they weren’t sitting in their spot, they weren’t staying. Fortunately, of all people, it was my parents and they were gracious enough to move, but it would not have been good if it were a regular guest! At a church we visited while I was on maternity leave, we had Ruth, who was 4, Steven, who was a newborn, Rick and me, plus my dad and then my mom who was in a wheelchair with oxygen, and we managed to get the 6 of us settled into a pew and someone approached us and said, “oh, you’re in so and so’s spot” and there was just no way we were going to move all of us, so my dad said so and so could find a different spot for the morning. I know we are creatures of habit and we like where we sit for a reason, but we have to be willing to move and share our spots. I would hate for us to tell a guest they have to move because we’ve laid claim to some certain spot.

Hospitality conveys, “you matter to us; you matter to me.” And that might mean that someone else matters enough for us to move and sit somewhere else for the morning. It means, “you matter enough for me to stop what I’m doing today and say hello.” How many of us do church for us? We come for whatever reason that is good for us—it starts our week off right. It brings us comfort. It gives us hope. It helps us connect with others…it’s for us, right? But what if you being at church today isn’t about you at all, what if you being at church today is for someone else’s benefit? Maybe you have the warm greeting they need, or the encouragement, or the wisdom…what if you being here isn’t for you at all, but for you to be God’s servant to someone else? Are you hanging around long enough for God to use you? Hospitality means slowing down to be used by God in some way you may not even know or understand.
Hospitality involves being flexible, not just on where we sit, but also in what might “disrupt” the service. Our reactions matter. I would say this church is very kid friendly. We love kids. We know they like to move around a lot. They have lots of questions. They don’t conform well to the adult norms we might set. And you all do a great job of making space for that. And… we can always be thinking of ways we can do better. Bringing your kids to church on a Sunday morning can be exhausting. Often at home, it seems everything is conspiring against you….there are cereal spills, and wardrobe changes, and bathroom problems….and then you get here and your kids may or may not want to cooperate or participate. And if they’re squirrelly or noisy, it can be that much harder to participate in worship, to stay present, to enjoy what’s being offered that day. Hospitality means thinking of how we can help young families. Can we pick up the toy that dropped? Can we offer a reassuring smile? Can we be a pew buddy so a parent can have a minute to breathe and worship? Can we offer to get a coloring book or one of the quiet toys from the back for a kiddo? How can we be helpful? How can we help the parents know the struggle is real, and it’s normal, and they are loved and welcome here?
Hospitality takes intentionality and work. And we have to recognize that it’s not just the work of the ushers, or the pastor, or the staff, or the coffee hour host. Hospitality is everyone’s job. Every Sunday we get to help convey to each person here, “you matter”. That’s a gift and an opportunity. This month the Vision Team is taking the lead with hospitality. We are hosting coffee hour today. We’ll be greeting you each Sunday. And we’ll be writing about it in the e-spire. We want to offer the best we can to you and for all of us to see ourselves as part of the “you matter” welcoming team here at the church.