Tuesday, September 11: Luke 9 - Welcoming.

Thanks in large part to my church and the generosity of many people, I have the opportunity to spend 3-weeks teaching each summer in Nigeria, Africa. Among the many joys and blessings I gain from the trip is the incredible friendliness and welcoming I feel from the Nigerian people. Despite their many hardships, they are gracious and friendly people who always greet you with a smile, a hello and concern for you and your family. You cannot have a conversation without beginning with how life is going. Even emails usually begin with a greeting and warm welcome to one’s family.

Maybe it is this experience that cued me to see in the text what I noticed this morning… the welcoming nature of Jesus.

It first popped up in verse 11. Jesus has been on the move, teaching and healing. People were clamoring to see Him. One day a crowd found Him and Luke opens the account like this: but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. The fact that Jesus welcomed them, caught my attention.

Then later in the chapter, on a very different occasion, we find Jesus using a moment with a child as a teachable moment. Verses 47-48: Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest." Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes this little child”… He could have said ‘whoever receives’ or “whoever helps’ but He said ‘welcomes’.

Anyway, my wheels were turning… welcoming people.

Life, I thought, isn’t just ‘get down to business and do what you came to do’. It is about doing what you came to do, in the context of relationship, and relationships begin with welcoming and connecting.

Each of us somewhere inside crave relationships. We crave being known, being greeted –really greeted. We want to be more than a number; we want to be recognized as a person.

Jesus took time to welcome the crowd before He taught and healed…

I have much to learn from Jesus and friends in Nigeria…

Lord, open my closed get things done personality to understanding the importance of knowing and welcoming others who have dignity and wonder because they been made in Your image. Amen.