Reflections From Sunday Evening

Hospitality. Radical Hospitality is what we are calling it. It has to do with our invitational spirit. One thing we seek to do is be inviting. That means we want our atmosphere to be welcoming. When someone comes to our church we want them to be greeted by friendly, gracious, Spirit-filled people. In addition we want people to have a nice, neat facility.

But there is more. Radical Hospitality does not begin merely when someone drives into the parking lot or walks in the door. An invitational spirit extends outward into the community. The more enlivened we are by the Holy Spirit the more "contagious" we become. Contagious with the grace of God! We find ourselves naturally thinking and speaking about what God is doing in the church. We naturally speak up for Christ when we are in conversation with people outside the walls of the church. Radical Hospitality extends outward to welcome others.

Sometimes opportunities for hospitality jump right up in front of us. When the election board called and asked if we would consider being a voting place for the upcoming election we did not have to think about it. It is obviously an opportunity to exercise radical hospitality. There are 1800 registered voters involved. A large turnout (80%?) is expected. That means over 1400 people could walk through the door of our church on election day. My guess is that over half of them will be walking in for the first time. This is our opportunity to show radical hospitality to everyone who enters our church. People will be met with kindness and grace. I'll let you know how many people we need to fill "hospitality" slots sometime this week. What an opportunity.

We are already showing some great signs in radical hospitality. Last night there must have been 700 people served at the Scout chili supper. What a joy to be able to host such a great event. At the same time Memorial Hall was filled with people joining together for an Emmaus Gathering. What a joy to host such a great group. While all that was going on we also held a memorial service for one of ours. The congregation consisted primarily of people who are not members of our church. Many came down from the Narcotics Anonymous group that meets here. It was a special time: I would consider it radical hospitality.

So I say to Platte Woods UMC -- good job. You continue to show real signs of radical hospitality. There is more to come. It excites me to think of all that God seems to be up to around here. It's been a good day of reflecting on our hospitality. I hope you've had a good day too.