Text Box: #“You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.” -Luke 7:45 The little girl got up early one Sunday. She put on her ragged coat and walked four blocks to a place she had never been before…a church. Would she receive what she was told she’d get? One of her friends, during a game of “pick up sticks,” told her that this church gave them out. She had always wanted one, but wasn’t sure where to get it. She had the idea that only grown-ups could get one. Maybe her friend was making the whole thing up. She resolved to go to that church and find out for herself. Oh, it was so cold that morning. She shivered with every step as the wind cut right through her flimsy coat as if it weren’t even there. The greeter at the church door was pleasant enough. “Hi, little one! I’m sorry you missed Sunday School. We have lots of children your age.” “That’s okay,” she said, too embarrassed to ask what Sunday School was. She took her seat on this big bench. Later, she learned it was called a pew. A nice man approached her with a great, big smile. His hair was combed, and he wore wire-rimmed glasses. He handed her a paper. “What did he say this was? A bullet?” She liked it alright, but it was not what she was told they were giving Text Box: out. Songs were sung, and then a man got up and talked about another grown-up. His name was Jesus, and He sounded like the most caring person who ever lived. She’d never met anybody that nice. The man doing the talking said a prayer, and the people headed towards the door. “Oh well,” she thought, “I didn’t really think they were giving them out.” At what seemed like the last second, a lady ‘grown-up’ stooped down and looked lovingly right into her eyes. The little girl held her breath. “Could this be it?” Yes, this was it! She had found the church that gave them out. For in that moment, she received…the hug!” Text Box: To write about hugs and kisses in the days of “Safe Sanctuary” is risky. There’s no doubt about it: the concerns that have given rise to Safe Sanctuary are more than valid. Yet the Bible clearly endorses holy affection for one another, and I don‘t know about you, but I’m not ready to throw out the baby with the bathwater. To that little girl, the hug seemed to be the ultimate proof that she was wanted. In our theme text, a kiss (in fact, several kisses on the feet) accomplished the same. That woman made Jesus feel wanted, and it wasn’t even her house. Outside of the invitation to his home, Simon made no tangible effort to demonstrate that this controversial character with a prophet complex was truly Text Box: Volume 3, Issue 2 Text Box: February 2009 Text Box: Old River Terrace UMC Text Box: A Word From the pastor Text Box: Terrace Talk

welcome.  I can see Simon thinking, “He ought to be grateful that I even took the time to have Him over.  You don’t see other Pharisees daring to do this.  Now I’m supposed to kiss His feet, too?  I don’t think so!”

I love the people at ORT.  You are the huggin’est bunch I ever did see!  (Grammar never was my strong suit.)  Frankly, I hope you keep it up…within Safe Sanctuary limits, that is! 

Having said that, chew on this: my point isn’t so much about hugs and kisses as it is demonstrating in tangible ways that people are wanted!  A church member once said to me, “I’d like to see our church families invite guests to go home with them for lunch.”  That’s what I’m talking about!  When someone visits our church home, and we don’t show them they are welcome and wanted, who do we resemble more?  Simon, or the woman?   

It‘s time to shine in 2009, and I believe a healthy dose of radical hospitality shines a long way!  What about it, folks!  Let’s make everybody welcome in the house of the Lord!    

                                           Clay

 

PS The story of the little girl was written by Dr. James R. Burke of Clovis, New Mexico.  Whether or not it actually happened, I don’t know.