No Trespassing. Private Property. Do Not Enter.

Have you seen these signs? You’ll find them nailed to a tree at the start of a long driveway. You’ll see them hanging from chain-link fences. They all communicate one message loud and clear: you’re not welcome here.

But signs like this aren’t the only way that we sense we aren’t welcome. When we approach a group and the conversation abruptly stops, we know we aren’t welcome. When we take a seat and people move away, we know we aren’t welcome. When people ignore us and play with their phones instead, we know we aren’t welcome.

God calls his people to be different. In Deuteronomy, God was preparing his people to enter the promised land. In Deuteronomy 10:19, Moses told the Israelites to “Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” The Israelites weren’t welcome in Egypt. They were exploited, enslaved by Pharaoh. But in his mercy, God brought them out of Egypt and gave them a home in Canaan. Therefore, they were instructed to remember those who were strangers. The unwelcome Israelites knew what it was like to be welcomed by God, so they were supposed to offer that same welcome to every stranger they met.

This call to welcome isn’t just for Israel back then. It’s for God’s people throughout time. The gospel is a message of welcoming hospitality. In Christ, God is welcoming even his enemies to be reconciled with him and dwell in his house forever. The gospel is a message of welcome.

So many of us know what it’s like to feel unwelcome. And, in moments like that, how refreshing is it when someone welcomes you in? One of the ways that you can display the welcome of God is through your hospitality. So many of us are private people. Since moving into my neighborhood almost three months ago, I know the name of exactly one of my neighbors. I think one of the reasons we live in these private bubbles is because we’re afraid of being unwelcome. We’re afraid to be vulnerable because we expect to be met on the other side by a shut door. Afraid of being unwelcome, we don’t welcome anyone else in either. But the gospel reminds us that in Christ we are always welcome. We are welcomed into a home more splendid than we’ve ever known before because we’ve been welcomed by God himself.

Church of Christ, let’s greet our neighbors with an open door. Let’s welcome them into our homes – into our lives – as Christ himself has welcomed us.

In Him,

Tom