6 PENTECOST                                                          GLORIA DEI, ANCHORAGE

JUNE 26, 2005                                                            PASTOR SCOTT FULLER

JER 28:5-9;   PS 89:1-4, 15-18;   ROMANS 6:12-23;   MATT 10:40-42

A Warm Welcome

Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word.  Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Back in the early seventies, my brother-in-law was sent to Germany by the Army.  With my very pregnant sister eager to join him, Jim had to find an apartment in town.  The fact that there was a housing shortage made it difficult.  The fact that Jim couldn’t speak a word of German made it that much more of a challenge.  But off he went to find a place for them to live. 

He found his way to a place where the apartment for rent sign was still in the window.  An elderly man appeared at the door and motioned him into his home.  After being seated at the kitchen table, Jim asked hopefully in his halting German: Sprechen Sie Englische?  The old man replied, Nein, Nein…Sprechen Sie Deutsche?  And Jim had to say, Nein, Nein…A few awkward moments of silence passed…then suddenly the host stood up and went to the cupboard, grabbed two glasses…and a big bottle of wine. 

The man filled the cups, raised his in a toast and began to drink.  Even though it was only 10:00 in the morning, Jim did not want to offend his potential landlord, so he raised his glass and did the same.  A second glass of wine did nothing to help them communicate about the apartment…but it  helped them find some humor in their predicament.  First the host shook his head and smiled.  Jim responded with a little snicker.  Then they both started to chuckle, and pretty soon, he said, they were giggling like school boys, pointing at each other and laughing so hard that tears ran down their cheeks. 

They never did get past Hello and Goodbye, but apparently they parted at the door like the best of friends.  And though he had to stop and get some good strong coffee before he continued his search, Jim said that he felt wonderfully blessed by that old man’s friendly welcome.

Though there’s no mention of God in their story, this is kind of the way that the church is supposed to operate…Not by getting visitors a little tipsy, mind you, but by welcoming, inviting, blessing our neighbors with a warmth that transcends languages, crosses boundaries, moves beyond the things that divide us and reaches out to the heart of the person in need.  Says Jesus,

Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me…and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me.

When my wife, Carolyn, was down visiting our son at the Air Force Academy last Labor Day, she got to meet the parents of some of Mark’s best friends.  We are from different: backgrounds, denominations, races, even from opposite corners of the country, but none of that mattered.  Simply because of the connection between our sons, they welcomed Carolyn as if she were a long lost sister.  And in that warm, wonderful welcome, she says, she felt the presence of God.

But that doesn’t always happen, does it?  We were talking with our dear friend, Vivian, today’s reader, about a cousin of hers who is currently visiting Anchorage after being away for years.  On a nostalgic drive through his old neighborhood, they stopped the car and sat looking at his childhood home.  Soon the current owner pulled up, frowned at them as she drove into the garage and shut the door before she even got out of her car. 

As Vivian’s cousin walked up the steps to ring the bell, the curtains fluttered but no one came to the door.  They were not welcomed in anyone’s name, and, in fact, were made to feel a little like they were doing something wrong.   Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me…and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me.

This is how important it is for our Church community to welcome people in the name of Christ.  We’re told that within five minutes of walking through the door, a visitor will decide whether or not to return.  You who worship here know that we have the reputation of being a friendly congregation, that we do a pretty good job of making visitors feel welcome. 

So you can imagine my surprise when I recently met someone who had experienced something different.  After a man delivered some topsoil to our home, he gave me kind of a funny look and asked, How’d you hear about my company?  I told him that I was the pastor at Gloria Dei and that he’d been recommended by one of our members. 

He smiled and said, I thought you looked familiar.  We’ve worshipped at Gloria Dei - my wife comes from a long line of Lutheran pastors.  But we’re at another church now…they’ve done a real good job of welcoming us into their fellowship, into their bible studies, even into their homes. 

The man was not trying to make me feel bad, he was honestly thankful for the faith community that they had found.  And I’m not trying to make you feel bad as if you’ve somehow failed to serve the Lord.  But, those words that sting are good to hear because though we are friendly, we also tend to be a little hesitant to greet someone whose name we don’t know.

Part of this has to do with who we are.  By now most of you have seen the picture of President Bush and the King of Saudi Arabia walking hand in hand during their recent meeting in Texas.  L. M. BOYD, in yesterday’s Daily News, noted how people from different cultural backgrounds tend to touch while they talk.  Apparently, Puerto Ricans touch as frequently as 180 times an hour.  The French, he says, touch about 110 times an hour.  Any guesses on how often we Americans touch each other while talking?  Only about 2 per hour!! 

We, of a northern European heritage, tend to like a lot of personal space, a distance between us and our neighbors.  Yet in this day and age, we also find ourselves longing to become more connected with our neighbors.  Isn’t’ it ironic, that though we can connect electronically with more people and over greater distances than ever before, we no longer do it in person.

But there is some good news here.  We in the church are uniquely positioned to positively effect people in this very area.  It all centers on the idea of hospitality, of welcoming into our midst, into God’s community, those who feel disconnected from society and estranged from God.

Some of you have heard about the community organizing ministry I’m involved in called AFACT (Anchorage Faith and Action – Congregations Together).  Our Director, Angela Liston, tells a great story from her work with St. Anthony’s Catholic Parish.  Her job is to go into a congregation and teach people how to do one-to-one conversations.  That almost sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it?  We should be able to do that in sleep.

But it’s a ministry of intentional listening…she teaches us how to listen to our neighbors, to hear what’s going on in their lives, and to build relationships, neighbor to neighbor and all of us to God.  One couple went through the training and then went off to make their first visit.  As they talked with these strangers, they quickly discovered that for the last 10 years they had worshiped at the same church, at the same service, even sat in the same section, just a few rows apart.  But they’d never met or spoken or touched.  Now, said the couple, these new friends are the first people they seek out at worship and they greet each other with holy hugs.  Says Jesus,

Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me…and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me.

Let’s get into the practice of welcoming each other, our neighbors, and our God into our lives.  Amen.