It is heart-warming to hear stories,
wonderful stories, of people extending hospitality to strangers. For example, one family invited four or five
runners to come to their home and stay in the hours following the Boston
Marathon bombing. Indeed, “I was a stranger
and you invited me in” (Mat. 25:35 NKJV) does find expression in our modern
world.
According to
Webster’s 7th New Collegiate
Dictionary, a stranger can be a foreigner, a visitor or alien, someone who
we do not know in our midst. One
description especially grabs my attention:
“one who does not belong to or is kept from the activities of a
group.” It is not unusual to find
ourselves in circumstances where we are the strangers on the outside of things.
Collectively,
our children (in their 30s) have lived in 9 states in less than 10 years,
ranging from New York to Alabama, Missouri to North Carolina. I think I might qualify to be a “professional
stranger” after all these experiences visiting around the country. Frequently, our travels have brought us to
various churches on a Sunday morning, places that should be the most expressive
of welcoming love and kindness.
On a recent Sunday during greeting
time in a new church setting, a lady sitting in front of my husband and me personally
invited us to stay for a potluck lunch after the service. She not only issued the invitation, but she
and her husband made sure we sat together during the meal. This wonderful bit of invitation made the
difference between us choosing to leave or choosing to stay for lunch. And even better, it also made us feel a
little less “on the outside.”
One of the
loneliest times for me is being in a group of people who are connected in some
way but don’t offer me even a “twig” of friendliness or invitation. Such situations, both in town and out of town,
are always uncomfortable and unpleasant.
Surely, this common experience of feeling like a stranger should not be
happening in our churches where love is to be the distinguishing quality of our
fellowship. In my unsought career as a
professional visitor, I am sad to report that simple kindness and inclusion too
often are the exception rather than the rule.
In Mathew
25, Jesus reveals just how important our treatment of others is. Clearly, we are expected to deeply care for one
another and show that affection by helping others in need: the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the
naked, the sick and imprisoned. Jesus
equates lovingly responding to those in need as the same thing as lovingly
responding to Him: “In as much as you
did it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me” (Mat. 25:40
NKJV).
We can all
grow in our awareness of others around us.
We can all more frequently demonstrate the love that “invites” another
in and expresses the love of Christ in our midst—in church and out of church,
in town and out of town. It is a
ministry unto Jesus Himself.
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