Jesus’s itinerant ministry made him dependent on the hospitality of others. As a guest, Jesus bound himself to the lost, sharing meals with tax collectors, “sinners” and Pharisees alike.
Jesus stepped over the line of convention during his ministry to touch the lives of strangers and those who were looked down upon. Today, the sin of institutional racism is still alive in our nation’s workplaces, communities and even our congregations. The victims of racism are often treated as strangers in their own land.
Each of us has the opportunity in our congregations and communities to welcome those we don’t know and insist on sharing table and fellowship with those whose skin color, language or life experience is different from our own. The ELCA faces the challenge of becoming a truly welcoming church for all people.
What will you do, this week, to help make this happen?
This message is adapted from a stewardship devotion written by Rosemary Dyson for Women of the ELCA in 1998.