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Welcome In 6.28.26 · St. Paul Podcast

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone and welcome to the St.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Paul Podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Mark Neethammer, Senior Pastor at St.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Paul Lutheran Church, located in Davenport, Iowa, part of the Greater Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right here each week you will find beautiful music and a message of hope and good news to guide your life.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hopeful that this podcast can inspire you and help you on your journey of faith as you grow in love and trust in our God.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's any number of things you could be doing with your time right now, so thank you for tuning in.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you find this podcast encouraging, renewing, maybe even a little bit challenging for you today.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: The message you'll hear in just a few moments could be summed up pretty easily in one word.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna unpack that a bit together.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to be a person of faith who welcomes others?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Who welcomes others in Christ's name, who follows God's invitation to welcome others as though we are welcoming Jesus Himself.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: The truth is, we hear this word a lot, welcome.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: I said at the beginning of my introduction just a few seconds ago, I'd ventured to guess it hardly even registered with you.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just about everyone you know has a welcome mat of some variety sitting at their front door.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: We have welcome signs and gestures of welcome with open arms or handshakes.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But part of what I we want to think about today is what it means to live that sense of welcome, that call to be hospitable to others day in and day out in everything we do.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: So there's lots to think about with even just a few very short verses, but let's get to that first.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Here are some words from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verses 40 to 42, where Jesus is uh speaking with his disciples, giving them some instructions before they are heading out uh into uh the world.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said to the disciples, Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: And whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these in the name of a disciple.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so we've heard these few verses where Jesus is talking about this sense, this action of welcome.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And now let's listen to this reflection that guides us to think a little bit about more how we welcome others into our own lives.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: One quick programming note early on, you'll hear me reference some welcome signs.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was showing pictures of these in with the worship service.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: You can find them with a quick internet search if you're interested or want to see them.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe just this helpful.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Just keep your eyes peeled for plenty of other examples that you will see uh along the way in your own daily life.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So for now, let's uh take a listen.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, welcome.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: It is a word we're used to hearing, especially around in this space.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you've heard it a few times already, yet this morning.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Although often I think we hardly give it much thought.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to think for a moment, actually, about the places maybe you have seen or heard this word recently.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking about it just in the last 24 hours.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: I saw a sign that welcomed me to the grocery store.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: We had a wedding here yesterday afternoon, and there was a big uh board greeting all of the guests, welcoming them to this wedding.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Iowa as I drove across the bridge from Illinois.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: That prompted me actually to do a little bit of investigating to see how the various states maybe welcome us as we arrive.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: We are used to seeing Iowa's fairly regularly, this freedom to flourish.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you're heading east, then you'll be welcomed into Illinois, the land of Lincoln, by all the people of Illinois, no less.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Omaha, where I knew I was getting closer to home when I saw the sign on the other side of the states that interestingly enough does not include any actual word of welcome to the states.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just the just the promise of a good life if you choose to stay, I guess.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh some more signs are a little more simple to the points, such as uh the state of Kansas.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Why include any more words than you need, I suppose.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: Although I do think there's a missed opportunity there for some sort of Wizard of Oz quotes or something.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Others might try to tell you a little something about what you can expect or maybe why you have chosen to visit the state, such as South Dakota, their great slogan, great faces, great places.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: We could do this all morning.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's 45 more to go if you want.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think you get the point.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: We encounter this word welcome so often that it hardly even registers with us.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we don't even notice those signs on the side of the road.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: We rarely pay much attention to when we hear it either.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, as evidenced by the displaying of these giant state welcome signs, I want to make an important distinction this morning between saying or displaying the word welcome and then actually doing something to make someone feel it.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Some might call that the act of hospitality around St.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Paul.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you've been here for very long, you know we name that as one of our core values.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: We hope to be a people and a church that not just offers any sort of welcome, but radical hospitality to every person who walks through those doors.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: For Jews and Christians alike, this idea of hospitality and care for others is among likely the most central tenets of our faith.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's countless stories in the Old Testament of people welcoming visitors, people who are passing from one town to the next, making sure they had food to eat or a place to sleep.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Even when there was no room for them in the inn, the owner somehow found a place, even a barn, where Joseph and Mary could lay down for the night.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that everyone should contribute to the needs of saints and pursue hospitality to strangers.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And there's that often quoted passage from Hebrews that reminds each of us to show hospitality to all, because in doing so you may be entertaining angels without even knowing it.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: There's no dis shortage of descriptions of welcome, of instructions to be welcoming.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And most of us, I think, would like to think that we're pretty good at it, that we are generally hospitable people, we are kind to those around us, or based on the welcome mat that we display in front in our front door, we'd like to think we are welcoming to others, strangers or otherwise.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Accept that.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: If scripture fill feels the need to spend so much time telling us to welcome others, to care for one another, to be intentional in our interactions with those you might otherwise never associate with, then this could be one way that God is kind of nudging us, saying maybe we aren't quite as good at this hospitality thing as we'd like to think.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Which brings us to these couple of very short to the point verses from Matthew's gospel that I read for you a moment ago, where Jesus is saying to his disciples, Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these, truly I tell you, none of them will lose their reward.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: It seems to me, both from these few verses and so many others like them in scripture.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: There's maybe a few things we could pick up on, a few pieces of wisdom we could glean about what it means both to be a person of faith and someone committed to authentic hospitality of care for the other.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: So there's three things I want to highlight this morning.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: First is this welcoming is not something we do, it's something we are.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Ideally, it's at its core.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's something we practice enough that it simply becomes a part of who we are, a part of our approach to the world.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: It should be like air moving in and out of our lungs.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: It just happens.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: If we are eager to welcome others, unaware that we may be welcoming God, then ideally it's just part of who we are.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's natural.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Writer and poet Kathleen Norris, she tells this beautiful story in her book, Amazing Grace, about an older Benedictine nun that she got to know at this uh care facility when she was visiting a family member.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not aware, the Benedictines are particularly focused on hospitality and welcome for anyone who might come to their monasteries.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And she described uh in her book this older woman who had all Alzheimer's for several years, and she would see her at the door whenever she every time she arrived to go visit her family member.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: She learned later that every morning this nun would ask to be rolled in her wheelchair to the front door of this nursing home and greet every single guest as they arrived throughout the day.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: One of the nurses mentioned Sister Jean, she's no longer certain about what she's welcoming people to, but it's so deeply ingrained in her that she knows nothing else.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: How beautiful.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: That openness, hospitality can become such a part of who we are.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: That it's just this natural extension of everything we do.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Even if we're not even certain what we're welcoming people to, it seeps into every part of who we are.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, the genuine aspect of hospitality is this it is extended to all, extended to everyone, no exceptions.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Nowhere in any of the stories about welcoming in the Bible does it ever say, extend welcome to those who think or look or live like you.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Nowhere does it say welcome those who you are certain believe the right things or have correct theology, take an informal survey first to see who is most deserving of that warm welcome.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Decide to what degree you might want to embrace them.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: If we are to care for others as though we are caring for Christ, then that love is extended to all.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: This feels like a particularly important point to dwell on because there has been plenty of conversation about who is welcome in this great country of ours lately, who should be allowed in, who is allowed to stay.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Just this week the Supreme Court ruled about who is able to seek refuge in this country, and we debate what our obligation is to those to care for those who are here.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: A man named Jonathan Sachs, who 20 years ago was the chief rabbi in Great Britain, wrote this wonderful line.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: He said, one belief more than any other is responsible for some of the greatest tragedies in human history.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: It is the belief that those who do not share my faith or my race or my ideology do not share my humanity.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say that one more time.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It is the belief that those who do not share my faith or my race or my ideology do not share my humanity.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: If we can acknowledge that all people share our own humanity, then we also have to believe that every person is worthy of love and belonging, of welcome, of water, and food and safety.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever I would want for myself, I should offer to another.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever I would offer to God, I would want to offer to the person right in front of me.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's not our job to determine who is deserving of what.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to anyone, Jesus says.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Something that's easily accessible, easily served, a gift that almost anyone could give, and for that particular person might be life-saving, life-giving.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think God is impressed with welcome mats on our front doors or the great signs that greet visitors and tourists.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: It is the smallest of intentional actions, even the simplest of inconveniences that actually make a difference that God calls us to today.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: It is the person who gives without expecting anything in return, opens a door, extends a hand, offers whatever they have, even as something as simple as a cup of water.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: We find God in the smallest of good deeds.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's be honest this morning.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: But today we are asked to consider how we will live it.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's my prayer that God might open our hearts and our hands so that it's not just with our mouths, but with our whole lives that we could say to every person, welcome.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Give us today our daily bread.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now and forever.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever you might hear or see that word welcome in the coming days, may God guide you also to live with a welcoming spirit and radical hospitality at the heart of who you are.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because of what God has first given you, may you live with that welcoming heart each and every day.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you've enjoyed this podcast and thanks for your support of the ministries of St.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Paul Lutheran Church.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Our commitment to endeavors that lend hope to other people stretches across the country and around the world.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: We hope that in a good way you feel a part of that reach.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in next Thursday for another edition of the St.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Paul Podcast.