A Prayer When You Need to Welcome a Difficult Person
By Kyle Norman
Bible Reading:
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not just me, but the one who sent me.” – Mark 9:37
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We like to think that welcoming is simple, easy, and uncomplicated. As Christian people, Jesus calls us to welcome people in his name and, by doing so, welcome him and the one who sent him. And so, we open our homes and enjoy times of fellowship or fun. We host bible studies and dinners; we build up our blessed small groups. Sure, arranging for a dinner party or a social gathering may be hectic at times, but the payoff is worth it. We surround ourselves with the people we enjoy, and, if we welcome others well, then, in turn, they welcome us. It’s a win/win situation.
But welcoming people, in the way Jesus calls us to, is not as polite or as neat as we might think. To welcome people, as Jesus does, is to reach out to the people we would rather not associate with – the people who don’t belong to our friend group or our inner circle. In Luke 14:12-13, Jesus advises, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” Jesus turns the very idea of welcoming on its head, and it is this call to radical welcoming that he illustrates when he tells the disciples to welcome a child.
Now, today, we might think that it’s easy; “Who wouldn’t want to welcome children?” we might say. Children are cute and cuddly; they are the symbol of innocence and purity. But in Jesus’ day, that’s not how children were viewed. Children were a nuisance. They were bothersome. They were a symbol of people who were dependent and in the way and who couldn’t contribute. The child was an image of the quintessential other, a person we would rather not have in our midst.
But this is the call of Christ. We must be willing to see the presence of Christ in the other. Jesus says, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.” To welcome others in Jesus’ name is not just to think about Jesus as we embrace the other person but to embrace the other just like you would embrace Jesus – with respect, with care, with love, and with service. And where the proverbial rubber means the road is the call to do that to the people we would rather not associate with: the other, the annoying, the critical, the bothersome, the unfriendly. Can we welcome them as we would welcome Jesus?
Now this may make us feel uncomfortable. But welcoming involves bearing possible discomfort for the sake of another person’s inclusion, care, and healing. After all, that’s what Jesus did for us. The biggest example is the cross, where Jesus is handed over to suffering and death, so that we might feel the welcoming embrace of God.
There are times when Jesus stretches us beyond our comforts and calls us to welcome someone we would rather not welcome. We might even find ourselves praying, “Oh Jesus, please not them!” But Jesus makes clear that when we open our homes, our hands, and our hearts to the other—whoever they might be—He is present, and his gracious and healing love is revealed in powerful ways.
Let’s Pray:
Precious Jesus, I thank you for all the ways that you welcome me. I thank you that despite my failings and my sin, your arms are continually open to me. Time and again, despite what I have done, you extend your love to me – not because I deserve it, but because you are gracious and merciful and abounding in love. In that love, I hear your call to welcome others – to open my heart in an expression of your care. Lord, today, I feel your call to welcome someone whom I regard as different from me. Inside, I feel a lack of desire to welcome them; I may even go so far as to say that I dislike them. This person doesn’t fit my comfortable idea of welcoming.
But you remind me that refusing to be stretched marks a refusal to be transformed, and so I ask you to help me step forward in faith. Give me the strength to follow you outside my comforts. Help me embrace the people you bring me to, regardless of who they are. Give me eyes to see you in the people I welcome. And when this call makes me uncomfortable, remind me of the grace in which I stand—and the grace you call me to express. I pray all this in your holy name, Jesus, Amen.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/dragana991
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