By the way, who are you?

by Dr. Everett Flanigan
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop
ELCA Southeastern Synod

I remember quite vividly our first visit to Grace Lutheran Church in Yorktown, NY. While it was our first time worshiping in a Lutheran church, my wife had visited with the pastor along with a new found friend a few days before.

“Pastor would you and this congregation be willing to sponsor a new Cub Scout pack?” The reply was yes, and he signed on the bottom line, as easily as he said yes.

“By the way, who are you?” asked Pastor Tim. One reply came from the friend who identified herself as a neighbor of the church, and who was happy as a member of the local Episcopal congregation. My wife Annette replied that we had just moved from Illinois into the subdivision, our three boys were interested in scouting, and yes, we would be looking for a church, “but not right now.”

“Well, how about visiting with us on Sunday? My wife and I have two boys who would also be interested in being members of the new Cub Scout pack.” And so it was, that we visited the church. Contrary to popular opinions about the “cold hearted” nature of New Yorkers, the members of the congregation were welcoming, even at coffee hours and during the various outings; maybe our four children were the keys to our being welcomed. It turns out that we were the first African-American family to become members of the church.

Recently we visited Grace and the old subdivision in Yorktown. There were many new faces, but there were also faces from almost thirty years ago that we remembered, and that remembered us. That welcome back was touching for us. We had to give an accounting of each of the children, and as well, received details of each of the families that we had known during the three years that we were members of Grace. We also saw that our little welcoming church had grown into its third campus and continues to welcome and care for strangers.

I sometimes wonder how many of us can recall the first time we visited the congregations in which we are members. Was it a pleasant visit? Did people welcome you? Were you “taken aback by the reception?” Did they give you a smiling face, and an invitation to coffee--not just during coffee hour following service, but during the week--or share information about local communities? Maybe you can recall the telephone call thanking you for sharing worship in the congregation, or the offer to introduce you to others in the neighborhood as well as in the church. What did you experience during your first visit?

At the heart of Christianity is the rather simple practice of hospitality. A practice of welcoming the stranger, and attending to their needs. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament admonishes us to welcome the stranger and take special care of them. The stranger plays a critical role in stories of faith. At the same time, the stranger represents an unknown to most of us: a giver or taker, resource or thief, like us or not like us. Jesus as the divine stranger, accounted for in the New Testament by the key events-Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. In each of the three events, it is the newcomer, or stranger that brings blessing that continue to disturb or change us. The mysterious stranger meets us as the child in the manger, a traveler on the road to Emmaus, or the mighty wind and fire of the Spirit.

In the coming week, Christ Lutheran Church in Nashville will host a second gathering of folks from middle Tennessee. The goal of the conference is to help congregations and leaders engage and welcome the stranger through cross cultural conversation. These cross cultural conversations are not limited to people of different ethnicities, but according to our Bishop, may include people of different ages, socio-economic groups, and cultures. They are designed to “meet again, for the first time” our neighbors; to engage in God’s mission and connect with communities through the three great listenings: listening to God, listening to each other and listening to our neighbors.

We need to ask ourselves, “Do we welcome the stranger?” The act of welcoming is showing Christ’s love to the world.