A GOD-LIVED LIFE: Say "Hello" to Someone New

 INTRODUCTORY NOTE

          We are in the middle of a series of sermons with a Stewardship emphasis. Stewardship, ultimately, is about our entire life. We use what God gives us to his glory and for the good of our neighbor. Over the next few months, we will consider the various ways we use the gifts God gives us as is God-pleasing.

          Each month, I will be sending out an email to further encourage what we pondered on the first Sunday of that month. In this way, the thoughts do not perish by that Sunday evening, but each one can give intentional consideration how he or she may put into practice what was proclaimed as a God-pleasing way to serve him.
          For the month of December, we continue to consider what it means to have A Life of Hospitality.

A LIFE OF HOSPITALITY

Week #1       Say “Hello” to someone new.

            Our Lord commanded us, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Then he gave us neighbors to love.  Some of those neighbors become dear friends.  We find that we share interests with them, and we spend time with them talking about those interests.  The more we become acquainted, the more tightly we tie the bonds of that friendship.  It is a wonderful blessing to have a close friend like that.

            If there is a downside to that, it can be that we shut out other people from our circle of friends.  We don’t really do that intentionally.  We are just focused on our friendships and comfortable with the familiar to the extent that we overlook others who are new.  Most people will not crash our little circle of friends and incorporate themselves into our conversations.  They stay away and remain excluded from our “members only” clique—or at least, that is how they will see it.  It may not be fair, but if you are the one on the outs, you will appreciate their frustration.

            We are often intimidated to initiate the conversation with someone new.  If, however, the people are new to our congregation, they are the ones who are rightly intimidated.  You know everyone; they don’t.  They may be nervous and awkward; be gracious.  They may speak English as a second language; be patient.  You will be hard for them to understand, too.  They may be recently divorced, struggling with alcoholism, or unemployed; be kind.  Offer to help them through the service.  Invite them to have coffee.  Introduce them to someone else.  Making them feel at ease won’t help them believe God’s word, but it will help them come back to church.

            We help our congregation when we make efforts to welcome the new person.  Saying, “Hello, my name is ….” goes a long way to make a new person feel welcome.  It also establishes a pattern that the new person will adopt—looking for the next new person to make feel welcome.  This useful and beneficial hospitality is part of our God-lived life, springing from God-given grace.