This week: God as welcome. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]We don't welcome everyone. If we are honest - we just don't. That is one of the
many reasons we are sent to the Scriptures. There we read stories of God as welcome
- Jesus making a fool of himself - the eunuch attached to the community - the lost
coin found - the wounded healed and made a part of the whole again. God as welcome
is the God who inspires us to do something more than talk. We are invited to turn
the 'we welcome all' into a reality that refreshes folks who may not be welcomed
very often - but long for a place and a people that will treat them as ones who
are welcome. God as welcome is always stretching those of us who attempt to listen
to the story of God in the flesh and really long for that life to be ours. God as
welcome is the power that will turn our heads to see the stranger in the middle
of worship or at an event and then pull us to greet the stranger so that s/he will
have a real place among us. Isn't it strange that the followers of Jesus - when
we gather for worship - have a way of leaving the strangers to fend for themselves
or stand alone or walk out of the building without a simple yet blessed 'welcome'?
O God of love and new life, as you bring us home to life with you, remind us to
bring along our neighbor and maybe a stranger who has recently been touch by our
welcome. Amen.
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