The Way of Welcome

Matthew 10:40-42

I remember a skit that we used to do when I worked at Bible camp. It was called “Jesus is coming to dinner.” A visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks for food. The host turns the visitor away without any food. Another visitor comes and knocks on the host’s door and asks to use the bathroom. The host says no and shuts the door. The next visitor to knock on the door asks to use the phone. But the host again closes the door providing no help to the visitor. The host was too busy preparing for Jesus to come to dinner, to assist the visitors with their needs. Lo and behold, Jesus never comes, or at least Jesus doesn’t come in the form that the host was expecting. Actually it had been Jesus that had come asking for food, a bathroom, and to use the phone. Clearly the host was not attempting to take our text for today into consideration. Jesus had come, but the host was too busy preparing for Jesus’ arrival to even take time to extend hospitality to the one at the door. The host was too busy to take time to welcome the guest, the Christ.

Now I know that we don’t get many strangers in these parts, but just imagine what you would do if a stranger showed up on Sunday morning. What if you got to church and someone was already sitting in your pew—you know the one that has your imprint on it? Maybe you would just go and sit somewhere else and ignore the stranger in your pew. Maybe you would sit next to the stranger and still ignore them. Maybe, just maybe, you would sit next to the stranger and actually welcome them. Maybe you would even give them a cold cup of water. What if that person was Jesus?

When I think about welcomes, that take our Gospel text for today into consideration, I immediately think of some of the different places where I feel a strong sense of hospitality. One of those places is right here at Good Hope Lutheran Church. I have always felt welcome. I think it is that sense of welcome that caused me to like church and encouraged me to become a leader in the church. You showed that hospitality today. You welcomed this group from my internship site in Washington, DC. Not only did you make sure that there would be worship, you provided breakfast, and my grandma ensured that we would not go hungry at lunch. You very easily could have said, “Cassandra, we are not scheduled to have worship that Sunday, so I don’t think it will work.”

Another place that I always feel an overwhelming welcome is at camp. It is like a second home for me, even as the years go on and I know less people at camp, I still feel welcome. Not only is camp a place of welcome for me, it is a place of welcome for everyone that drives onto the property, young and old alike. When I was on staff, we were taught by words and actions from day one to always welcome everyone who steps onto camp property.

And when I think about welcome I think about one more experience. In January of 2010 I spent ten days in Nicaragua and Honduras. During my visit, with other students from seminary, we stayed in the homes of some of the local people. In Somoto, for the first home-stay, I stayed by myself with Angie and Roger and their three daughters. They did not really know any English and I do not know a whole lot of Spanish, but we managed to communicate to some extent with the help of my Spanish-English dictionary and a lot of patience. Roger and Angie let me use their room and full size bed, while they all crowded into the room that their three daughters typically used. It was a very comfortable two-day stay. They served me some incredible Nicaraguan food, which I had to eat alone. Almost all of our meals on this trip were eaten without the Nicaraguan people. If that was not the case, our group was always served first, served the most food, and served the best food. In one community they even killed a chicken so that they could provide the best welcome by serving us meat, which is not eaten very often and is reserved for special occasions.

It’s these experiences of welcome that inspire me to be hospitable, as well. This week while I am here in South Dakota, receiving the welcome of friends and new acquaintances, I have a classmate staying at my house in DC while she takes a class. It is really difficult for me to imagine her coming to my house and me not being there to welcome her. In fact, it was so difficult that I had to leave her a page long note apologizing and giving her tips on where to find things in my house. Welcome and hospitality are really at the core of who I am as a person.

Now I don’t want it to seem like I am telling you that you must do x, y, and z in order to be hospitable. I know that you are hospitable people. After all, you have taught me hospitality and welcome from a very young age. However, hospitality looks different for all people and it looks different in different places. Regardless of how the welcome looks, we are called to be hospitable to the stranger—the one in our midst. We are called to welcome everyone, regardless of what they look like, the color of their skin, or the amount of money they make. In being welcoming we are also being hospitable to Jesus. We are showing love to God and the stranger. In welcoming people we also welcome Jesus, the one who has sent us, and God, the one who sent Jesus to live among us teaching us the way of welcome. May we, who have been welcomed by a loving God, always be ready to welcome the stranger because we never know when Jesus might actually show up for dinner. May this be the melody we sing as we welcome our friends and our foes, those we know and those who we do not.

All are welcome, friend and stranger

At the banquet of our Savior.

All are welcome, all are welcome here.

Go into the streets and cities.

To the farms and families.

Tell about the splendid table.

God’s mercy.

All are welcome, friend and stranger

At the banquet of our Savior.

All are welcome, all are welcome here.

Amen.