SECOND SATURDAY IN ADVENT
Saturday, December 11, 2010
ROMANS 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God
In the Second Reading for the Second Week in Advent St. Paul gives us some hints on how to wait for the our Lord’s coming. He says, “Welcome one another.”
We have several Indian neighbors. When we first moved into the neighborhood, it was Ravi and his wife who were the first and only neighbors to welcome us and offer any assistance in getting settled in a new place. Several years ago when my son and I were moving a load of 80 pound bricks from the driveway to the back yard, it was Rakeesh and his father (who speaks very little English) who, unbidden, came out of their house and began to help us. Janeeka knew I liked Indian food. Often when she made Indian delicacies, she would bring a plate over for me.
Although these people are not Christian, God was showing me through them what it means to be a welcoming person. Carolyn and I have tried to follow their example by being welcoming people in our neighborhood and in our lives.
SO WHEN have you been welcomed or welcoming? Did you understand it to be part of what St. Paul is telling us in his letter to the Romans? Do you see it as a way of life as you wait?
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come. Open our lives to be welcoming people . AMEN
When we first moved to Liverpool, almost 24 years ago, there were 2 people that I remember welcomed us.
ReplyDeleteFirst, it was Rod Lilley, the pastor at the time. He stopped by the apartment we were living in and welcomed us to Liverpool and the church. We are still friends.
The second was Claire Benner. He helped us find our apartment and then became our neighbor when we bought and moved into the house we still live in now. We are still good friends with his family, Tom and Deb.
Establishing long term friendships can start off just by being Welcoming...
When we welcomed our daughter into our family, our neighbors went out of their ways to make us feel welcomed too. Phyll made a cake, Betty & Therese stopped by with gifts, Jane sent her grandson over to snowplow the driveway the week before Kelly arrived and all have been caring and supportive since them. My neighbors were welcoming (almost 18 years ago) and still are =]
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought before that welcoming shows the glory of our welcoming Savior. I'll look for opportunities.
ReplyDeleteOne of the populations least welcomed in some segments of the Lutheran Church (& others) is the LGBT (homosexual/transgender) population. I have 2 cousins (to my knowledge) who are gay, as well as several friends. Last year, 2 weeks or less after I had left the parish and gone full-time into my new editing business, God linked me (it had to be God, b/c it happened in such a round-about way) with a lesbian publisher of a website that supports and lifts up the stories of committed, same-sex couples (and their families) worldwide. I've been copyediting for her ever since, and I have learned so much from their stories. Mostly, I've learned again and again what I have known for a long time: that, far and away, the majority of them are just regular people w/ families (many w/ children), jobs, busy schedules, dreams, fears, community activities, faith-practices, etc., etc. I have also been stunned at how moved many of the web-zine's writers are when they learn, along the way, that I am NOT gay, but am as involved as I am in the project b/c I am a supporter and one who cares about the injustice done against them. The Christian Church, of ALL places, preaching God's WELCOMING grace for all, should show itself as more welcoming of this group of people. And "welcoming" means not just on the surface or "love the sinner, hate the [so-called] sin." It means welcoming their full involvement in ministry and family life.
ReplyDelete(Didn't mean to get up on a soapbox, y'all, but I do see the whole concept of WELCOME as tightly interwoven with the above.)