Day Fourteen

Day Fourteen // March 4 // Welcoming

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” – John Holmes –

One of the most powerful ways we’re invited to share in the work of Christ’s hands is to extend those hands in gracious welcome. Particularly to strangers. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25:35 should inspire us: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”

There is an old story originating in a Russian Orthodox monastery in which an older monk tells a younger one: “I have finally learned to accept people as they are. Whatever they are in the world, a prostitute, a prime minister, it is all the same to me. But sometimes I see a stranger coming up the road, and I say, ‘Oh, my Lord, is it you again?’”

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We never know how our welcome can make a difference. We begin by listening to others. We need to pay attention and notice what is on people’s minds. In so doing, we can discover areas of commonality and get to know each other better. Our choice to pay attention now could be what creates a friendship at a later moment. We will never know how many opportunities were missed because we were too busy to pause for a conversation. Too, if we are to become a welcoming people, we need to be careful not to jump to conclusions about others. We may be surprised that very few people are what they seem at first glance. Just as God doesn’t judge the exterior, we should take the same approach. Rather than allowing our personal bias to determine our outlook, we should be open to forming new relationships. There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So, he sent them each on a quest: he instructed them to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The

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second son said, no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful; it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that comes from a life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

Ultimately, there is only One who can judge a human heart. Our job is to love and to welcome all in His name: with Christ’s hands and with His heart. Who knows, when we least expect it, God can use us to fulfill Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”