Dana Reardon - Extending a welcome to all

Extending a real welcome to all

I have been thinking for the past several weeks about welcoming. It started with going to a different church on Sunday and worrying about the welcome I would get. And then the lesson about the cup of cold water and Jesus saying, "Whoever welcomes, you welcomes me."

But then I think of Jesus saying, " I was hungry and you fed me, and I was naked and you clothed me...."

I started thinking that this whole life of discipleship and stewardship is about welcoming. How welcome do I make people feel in my home or in my church or in this whole kingdom that it has been "the Father's good pleasure to give"?

Too often I worry about my welcome and how I am treated. But if I really am an heir to the kingdom, then it is always about how I welcome others. Yesterday at lunch in a restaurant, we had a nice young waitress, but she seemed new. So do I worry about how welcomed I am made, or do I welcome her to my table and treat her as a beloved child of God? No, I did not invite her to sit -- she was doing her job -- but there is a way of graciousness that we should practice that makes people glad that they met you. I am sure that you have encountered people who do that. I hope I am working on being one of those people.

It goes to welcoming the strangers to our land. It goes to paying people enough to live on so that they can feel a welcome part of our society. It goes to the way we drive and the way we are with every encounter of our day.

At my congregation we have several groups that use the space in our church on weekdays. One person who has attended a group that predates my pastorate told me how welcome they have always felt by our church. I only hope that I have continued this.

The more I think about it, the more ways that I know I can be more welcoming in all the areas and encounters of my life. Often we are called ambassadors for Christ, but that is supposing we go out to a strange place. If we see the kingdom all around us then we are the hosts and hostesses of the kingdom. Sometimes we are the first encounter people have with the kingdom of God. Make them want to come in and know more.

Lord, May I learn from your love and graciousness to be your welcoming arms in this world. Amen

The Rev. Dana Reardon is pastor at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, Warwick, RI. A lifelong Lutheran, she came to ordained ministry after 21 years in nursing, mostly in pediatric intensive care. She graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1998 and served 4 ½ years in Upstate New York before becoming a New Englander. She is still trying to understand the accent. While in the Upstate New York Synod she chaired the Stewardship Team. That began her fascination with what makes stewards -- and more, what makes for generosity. She has three amazing daughters: Pastor Reardon says much of what she knows of life she learned from them.