The Christian’s Finest Emblem

June 30, 2002

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Matthew 10: 40-42

Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

Well, God was in the news again! I guess we all read the stories about the Pledge of Allegiance, eh? One nation, under God. How many of you were at the Hillsborough fireworks last night? The Starlite Chorale was singing there, and Dr. Bell accompanied us so beautifully. At the beginning of the ceremony they said the Pledge of Allegiance. I stood there, saluting the flag with everyone else. And I thought, “This Pledge of Allegiance has sure been in the news a lot this past week. We’re coming up on those two words, yes we are. I think that when I get to those words,” I thought to myself, “I’m going to say them just a tiny bit louder than I usually do. Not so that anybody will notice, but…”

“And for the Republic for which it stands, one nation …” And it seemed to me that everybody around me went, “under God.” And we all looked at each other, because we all had the same thought.

Whatever this controversy brings, it brings one good thing. It makes us think. It makes us think about what we value; it makes us think about what we cherish; and it makes us think about the idea that religious expression is nothing to be taken for granted. It is something we ought to think about, ought to cherish, and maybe we ought to say the words just a little louder, because we cherish God and our religious freedom.

***

Let’s dig into the Scripture together. There is one word that was mentioned over and over in this Scripture – did you hear that one word, the word that Jesus cherishes? It’s one of the sweetest words in the Christian’s vocabulary. The word is “welcome.” Welcome. I’m sure that if Jesus could be with us today that is the one word He would like to say. Welcome.

Welcome. It was precious to His heart. If somebody asks you, “What did the preacher talk about today?” tell him or her, “The preacher talked about welcome.” Be a welcomer for God.

It was summertime, quite a few years ago now. I was on vacation out in Pennsylvania. I scouted out a church to go to Sunday morning. It was a beautiful church. As I recall, the sermon was pretty good; the singing was good. And then there was the coffee hour afterwards. Let me tell you, the coffee hour was wonderful! They had coffee, they had tea, and they had fruit salad, which is my favorite. They had little cakes. It was wonderful!

But there was one thing missing. Can you guess what it was? Nobody said hello! I pasted on one of those stickers that said, “Hi, I’m a visitor this morning.” I wasn’t wearing my clerics – I was dressed like a normal person. I was standing there, eating my fruit salad and wearing my visitor button, and nobody said hello. The church did everything right – fine music, fine preaching, fine facility, great fruit salad – but nobody said hello. I felt like the song from the musical Chicago, “Mr. Cellophane”:

Cellophane
Mr. Cellophane
Don't even know my name
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Look right through me
And never know that I'm there!

I felt like that!

And then one gentleman came up to me. Let me tell you who it was. It was a gentleman of foreign extraction who had a serious speech impediment. The gentleman had a stutter. I will not imitate it, but every word was produced with great effort. That man came up to me and said, “Hello. Welcome to our church. Are you a visitor?” That took a long time for him to get out.

I said, “Thank you very much.” And he said, “This is a nice church. We have nice people. I hope you come back again.” And I said, “Thank you, sir. Thank you for your blessing.” Do you know how that felt? It was absolutely wonderful. He is probably not the person any of us would have chosen as the principal greeter, but he was the principal greeter, and he offered a welcome in Christ’s name.

I don’t remember what the sermon was about. I don’t remember what the anthem was. But I remember that dear Christian soul who gave a welcome in Jesus’s name.

Won’t you be a welcomer for Christ? Won’t you do it? God needs you to spread His welcome. Jesus said, “When you welcome someone, it’s like welcoming me.”

Three reasons why you should be welcomer: Number 1. You are a powerful and important person, and somebody needs you. I don’t know who it will be. Somebody needs you to welcome him in Jesus’ name, just as that gentleman welcomed me. And I give you that wonderful example because that fellow, perhaps, had every reason to believe that he couldn’t be the bearer of Christ’s gifts. But he was. He was powerful and important, and he gave me a great gift. And you are, too.

The second reason to be a welcomer for God is because you are a follower of God. God may need you to answer somebody’s prayer this week. God may be tapping you on the shoulder and saying, “I need you to be my hands, my encouraging voice, my loving heart.” I don’t know who it will be for you, but I feel so strongly moved about this word of Scripture.

Last week I was riding in my car down a long stretch of road. There was just forest on the right-hand side. I saw, walking on the grass off the shoulder, a young woman carrying a very tiny baby. I thought, “Maybe her house is right nearby.” It didn’t look that way; it was a pretty desolate area. I rode on by, another half mile, far enough to realize that there were no houses nearby. So I stopped the car, put it in reverse, carefully backed up, rolled down the window, and said, “God bless you, young lady. Is there some way I can help you? Do you need a ride?”

And there was something about her; you could tell she was not an affluent person. She said, “Well, I live just a little bit down the road.”

I said, “Do you want a ride?”

She said, “If you don’t mind.” So she got into the car with the tiny baby. She said, “I live up in the next development here.” So we drove.

I said, “How old is your baby?”

She said, “Three months.” She explained that her husband had the car and needed it for work. Let me tell you, her house was a long way. We drove to her house, and she said, “Thank you very much.”

And I said, “God bless you, young lady.”

She said, “Thank you,” and got out of the car. Now, I don’t know if she was praying for a ride or not, but it really doesn’t matter. Maybe, just maybe, God needed to give me the gift of being helpful.

How will God need you this week? Don’t forget about our friend in the other church. Don’t think you can’t do it. Don’t think you’re too young or too old. Somebody is going to need your love. Somebody is going to need you to fulfill a prayer. God is going to need you to fulfill somebody’s prayer.

And third, be a welcomer because you and I need to be welcomed. Oh, dear Christian friends, five Fourth of Julys ago, right this time of year, I came to be with you. I remember your welcome and graciousness. In the midst of your broken-heartedness over losing your beloved pastor of 13 years, and in the midst of my brokenness, having served my previous church 16 years, you were welcoming. You said, “We don’t know you, but come on in.”

That’s what welcome is about. Welcome is a state of mind that is accepting and openhearted. Welcome is a state of mind that is vulnerable. Welcome is a state of mind that says, “I accept you because I believe God made you, and when God made you He made something good. And I believe that when God made me, He made something good. Come on in and let’s shake hands.”

Be a welcomer, because you and I need to be welcomed, too.

I invite you to do one more thing. Would you think back in your mind to a time when you received a Christian welcome from somebody? Was there somebody when you were lonely, when you needed to be accepted just the way you are, that said, “God made something good when He made you. Let’s shake hands”? Can you remember somebody like that? What a blessing!

I invite you, dear friends, to be open to being a welcomer for Christ, sharing His love. Jesus said, “Whoever does the welcoming welcomes me, too.” And I know you will, because you are a blessing. God loves you. I do, too. Have a wonderful week. Amen.