HOSPITALITY

Being an Ambassador; Romans 12:9-13

Last summer, Neil and Carol made a little circle around the U.S., seeing the sights and visiting friends. While they were away on vacation they went to a different church every Sunday. When they came, back I was really excited to hear about all the different churches they had attended, to find out what was really cool, and were there any new ideas that we could implement here? What made a church experience really memorable, and what makes certain churches attractive? Neil said, not counting the church with the 300 member choir, the churches that made the best and most lasting impressions and the ones they would like to go to again, were the ones who warmly welcomed them. The churches who practiced hospitality. It wasn't a great message, outstanding worship, great music, or even an awesome use of technology, but it was warm and welcoming people who made the impression.

I was so jazzed to hear this because we can do this. We don= t have to have a membership of 8,000 with some multi-million dollar budget. Little old us can practice some good old fashioned hospitality, and make church a memorable experience for everyone. But it takes all of us, and this is one of the things that I really love about this church. We are all partners in this ministry. Together we are being Jesus= hands and feet. It is important we remember this as we welcome guests into our service, we are all ambassadors of Christ. We want our church to be the best little church we can be. Hospitality is the first step and it is oh so important, because we never know when we might even be entraining angels. Like it says in Hebrews 13.

Our text today is found in Romans chapter 12:13. Karan read the whole passage, but today I want to focus on just the second half of verse 13. We= re not even gong to cover a whole verse today. We can have it memorized in a second but spend the rest of our lives working out the details. Practice hospitality. The Greek word for hospitality, is > philoxeia= . The literal translation would be, "pursuing a love of strangers.@ People are not debated into the kingdom of heaven, they are loved in, and they don= t even care how much you know until they know how much you care. Practice being a lover of strangers. It= s what we= re here for. When we welcome strangers it is really a theological demonstration of God= s love and His grace. As God= s people we are to be welcomers, just is God is a welcomer. When we welcome newcomers into the church we are demonstrating the gracious love and care of God Himself. When we welcome unbelieving guests, we open the possibility that they may one day welcome God into their lives. I don= t care if you= re an axe murderer, if you repent and accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, God welcomes you in. This is the reason we exist as a church. To welcome people into the kingdom of Christ.

The reason I= m bringing this up today, is that next week in Mother= s Day. This is typically the second biggest day of the year for church attendance. So, as ministry partners, I want us all to put our best foot forward and welcome all our guest next week, and not just next week, EVERY week.

There was a e-mail circulating last year about a rescue station on the east coast. It is an old story. It could even be said that it is a worn out story.

But, sometimes old and worn out stories need re-telling from time to time. It's the story about the group of folks up on the New England coast who became concerned about the frequent shipwrecks near the place they lived. When ships floundered on nearby rocks, this group of brave men rowed their lifeboat out into the treacherous waters to rescue sailors from drowning. Many were saved on that dangerous coast by the courage of these men. As time went on, the group decided to get a bigger boat and then to build a rescue station.

This would provide a place for the boat and a place to bring those who were rescued. At first it was a sparse single room with cots, blankets and a wood stove. However, as time went on and the reputation of this group grew, they added more space and more comforts so that the members of the rescue team could gather there between rescues. The members also became more cautious. Sometimes they even decided to sit out a storm because it was too dangerous. Finally, no one went out from the rescue station into any storms. Storms still came. People were still in danger and many were lost. But, the rescue station was no longer in the rescue business. It was a gathering place, a haven, for old men to gather and talk about the great days when they went out into the dangerous waters to save the lives of lost sailors.

As we sit comfortably inside church, we cannot miss the point of the story of the rescue station, and we must ask ourselves, are we a rescue station, or a country club? Are we a clubhouse or a lighthouse?

Jesus has extended His mission to us. He came to seek and to save the lost and he passed this mission right on to the church. Do we still have a passion to see our friends and our family saved? I sure hope so. As we paid our last respects to our dear sister Mary Anna the other day, it renewed in me the sense of urgency. Our friends and family are in danger and they need a rescue. Every day is a gift, not a given. We can be snatched from this life at any moment. The first step in being a rescue station doesn't even involve us going out into the storm, but simply practicing some good old fashioned hospitality when a visitor walks in. Just make them feel welcome. This is imperative if we are to ever hope to impact our little corner of the world for Christ. Remembering we are first and foremost His ambassadors.

It is so important because if a visitor feels welcome, this may influence their feeling towards church, and the Lord, for years. When we extend our hand of welcome to a guest, we are extending God= s hand of grace to them. Greet them like we would greet Jesus, because we never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Mother= s day is next weekend and, I hope you mothers are working your motherly whiles and get your children to come with you to church. We are going to focus this week on being a good host to prepare for our guests next week. What do we need to do to prepare for company coming? It doesn't matter what we think as far as our being a friendly congregation or not, it= s what our guests think. Every church thinks they are a friendly church. One such friendly church I read about recently had 197 visitors over a 2 year period and only had 3 people who stayed. I think maybe they were only friendly in there own eyes. We have company coming over next weekend so what do we need to do to get ready? I don= t want to give the wrong impression. I don= t think we are rude or an unfriendly place, but this is the practice of Church, and when Jesus comes we= ll have it right. Until then, there is always going to be room for improvement. So what are some of the thing we need to do to prepare for company?

First we must remember that people need people and it's not enough just to invite them to church, we must make them feel welcome, and being a great host takes some planning and forethought. A lot of the things we do at home before we have guest we also apply here. Go empty the cat littler box, sweep the steps, mow the lawn. Well maybe not the cat littler box. This is all of our church home, and if we see something that needs to be done, a cigarette butt that needs to be picked up, or a scrap of paper, do it! First impressions really, really, really, count. Did I stress that enough? In the first 7 seconds of contact people have already made 11 decisions about the place. This is crowded, this is friendly, it= s dark dingy, it= s warm and inviting. Dirty or clean? Decorations are right out of the 50's, or the place looks well kept and loved. People are friendly, or where do I go, what do I do? No one is helping me. The stress level of walking into church for the first time is equal or greater than going for a job interview. Marriage, divorce, and loss of a loved one are some of the few things that rank higher. So we need to take this into account when preparing for guests, and do our best to make them feel comfortable. Sit with them and explain the order of worship as the service progresses. We stand up here and sing this, or the music is found in this book.

Remember walking into a job interview? This really caught my attention because I sure do. Last year I had to go down to Southern California to be interviewed by the ministerial to get my license. This was the group who held my faith in their hands. I knew these guys were going to be good Christian men and women who only wanted the best for me, but still. I had to give a 15 minute sermon to this group of guys who had PhDs in Theology! The directions said to prepare the sermon and wear business attire. I thought that meant of course to wear a suit. I am first off not comfortable in a tie, and I get there and there are people in shorts or jeans and flip-flops conducting the interviews! Not a suit to be seen! If I could have just taken a seat in the back right then and become part of the woodwork it would have been nice. So imagine walking into church, not knowing if you dressed right, wanting to be kind of obscure, because you are in a new place, not knowing for sure what= s expected of you, not knowing if you='l measure up. Wondering, will people recognize you for the sinner that you are?

Walking into church is like this for new people. So what can we do to make them feel comfortable and at ease? Well, for starters imagine if you walked in and there were no good seats available? If you guys who are comfortable here and call this your church home don= t want to take these nice seats up front, how awkward and down right scary do you think it would be for a newbie? To come in and have to walk down the middle of the church with all these weird Christians staring at them and take a seat near the front. Church is the only place in the world where you have to get here early so you can get a good seat in back. Trouble is, the people who are a little uncomfortable about coming to church in the first place also want these good seats, but typically they get here just in time so they don= t have to be put on the spot. They want to slip in and sit in back on the end of a row where they don't feel trapped. So one good first step in making our church a welcome place for guests is saving them some good seats. If I promise to stay up here where I belong, will you who call this church home, come, and sit in these less than desirable seats so to save the best ones for our guests? We= re all family and we don= t mind squeezing in to the center of a row but new people like to maintain some separation, so keep this in mind also. Save them some good seats on the ends of the rows and in the back. Pretend that your Grandma is coming, and save her a good seat.

This extends even out to the parking lot. If a guest comes and has to park down the block a hundred yards, they may not want to come back, especially if they have a hard time walking. So part of being a good host even extends out to the parking lot, we can save the good parking spots. It= s not going to put the hurt on any of us too much to park across the street. Whenever we had a party in Glencoe, I would park all our cars up at the barn so our guests wouldn't have as far to walk. It is just part of preparing for company. True friendship in a church starts by welcoming new people to our church as honored guests. A Whatever you did to the least of these, my brothers, you did for me.@ We are Christ= s ambassadors and how we act reflects on our king.

Singer John Charles Thomas, at age sixty-six, wrote a letter to the editor. He said, "I am presently completing the second year of a three-year survey on the hospitality, or lack of it, in churches. To date, of the 195 churches I have visited, I was spoken to in only one by someone other than an official greeter, and that was to ask me to move my feet."

I sure hope he never came here. People make 11 observation about a place in the first 7 seconds. So it is imperative we make a good first impression. Guests are looking to see A are people outgoing and friendly?@ , A are they approachable and accepting?@ Simple actions like smiling leave a lasting impression, and we never get a second chance to make a good first impression. When people first come in they can get a sense for the morale of the congregation. Some of the questions they might be asking themselves are, A is there room for me? Physically room, seating and parking? Why is no one sitting up front? Does the pastor spit a lot?@ I was in a cooking show one time. It was in a tiny little bitty theater and people in the front sat right up to the stage. The people in the front row had garbage bags so they wouldn't get hit with flying food! Once inside a church and seated, people look around and ask, A Is there anyone here I might have something in common with? Is there anyone here I could be friends with?@ People want more than a friendly church, they want friends. And then they ask, A will this be worth my time?@ Newcomers don= t come with Velcro already applied, it= s up to the congregation to make them stick

I made a list in our bulletins of some little things we can all do to give our church a more welcome feel, some action steps:

1) Save the best parking spots for guests.

2) Watch for new people and greet them. Some churches observe a A 10 foot rule@ ; whenever you get within ten feet of a person you don= t know, just say hi. How simple is that?

3) Save the best seats for guests. If this is your church home, be a good host and save the best seats for the guests; towards the back and on the ends of the rows.

4) I didn't mention this yet but create a positive atmosphere. Avoid negative talk, especially at church. Create some positive gossip about the place. There is a rule in business which applies here as well. It is known as the 3-33 rule. For every 3 people willing to say something positive there are 33 people willing to say something negative. Negative talk spreads like wildfire. In fact James compares it to just that. He says "the tongue is a consuming fire, a whole forest is set on fire by a tiny spark.@ That is how explosive a negative comment is. We all know this to be true. If we have a negative experience with a bank, a mechanic, a store statistics say 33 people will hear about this. This same rule applies at church, so avoid negative talk at all costs. And start some positive talk!

5) Last impressions count for a lot. We need to finish well. One church practices what they called the A 5 minute rule.@ After the service was over, for the next 5 minutes you were to seek out people you didn't already know to visit with. I would like us to extend this even to people we don= t know well. People are neat, everyone has a story if we just take time to ask. Last impressions count for a lot.

If a guest has a good experience or a bad one is up to all of us. The message is not the sermon, the message is the service. Be doers of the word, not just hearers. Rom 12:13 the verse we memorized, Practice hospitality. When we roll out the welcome mat we are not just welcoming guests in the name of West Point Community Covenant, we are welcoming them in the name of Jesus Christ Himself.

Let's Pray. Our most gracious Heavenly Father I just thank you for the awesome privilege of being your ambassador and Lord, I just pray that we all take this job seriously, because you expect us to be very serious and intentional about are welcoming guests so that one day you can welcome them into your eternal kingdom. Help us to never forget that we represent you, dear Lord. May we be know as a place who puts out the welcome mat, not the do not disturb sign. May we always reflect the love you have shown us to the world around us, and be good hosts. Lord may your will be done in all our hearts and lives and in your church. In your most precious name we pray, Amen.