We Welcome All
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes not just me but also him who sent me.” (Mark 9:37)
After the disciples argued over who was the greatest among them, Jesus taught them a lesson in humility. In ancient Israel, children were often ignored. They were often considered unimportant. But that’s not how it works in the kingdom of heaven. The one who wants to be the greatest must be a servant to all. He or she must be willing to serve everyone. That means welcoming those who are often regarded as unimportant, or insignificant, or even hard to please.
As Christians, we want to be servants to all people. We want to welcome all people to hear the message of salvation. We want all people to be saved because God wants all people to be saved. But that can be difficult sometimes. It can be difficult because he means serving the person who cut you off in traffic, or the person who stole from you, or the person who is just downright rude to everyone all the time. It means welcoming little children to hear about Jesus, even when they cry and scream and make so much noise that it becomes difficult for you to listen. It means having the patience to show these people that it isn’t all about us and how we feel. It’s about them hearing about a Savior who loved them and came into this world full of crying, screaming, rude sinners that had offended the perfect God, and make those people righteous before God.
When people look for a church, they often focus on how welcoming the church is. They want a church that welcomes all, regardless of how you look or how loud your children are. We want to be welcoming like that. We want to welcome all and serve all just as Jesus did for us. Amen.
The song for today is ”Servant of All” By Maranatha!Music