Listening is hospitality

I try so very hard to be a Mary. I try so hard to just sit at Jesus’ feet and listen. But when it comes to hospitality, to welcoming the stranger, I fear I go into a very, very Martha place. And sometimes I know that I look at visitors as people who might fill our church’s needs. But the congregation where I felt at once disarmed and at ease was where the lay member greeting me never once asked about my job or hometown or what I might want to do to help the church out. He just wanted to know about my journey.

This message is an excerpt from “More than Hospitality” by Susan K. Olsen in the May 2017 issue of Gather magazine. Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter. The readings are Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10.

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