“You’re Welcome!”

Romans 14:1-12

August 30, 2009 + Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ

400 Glenwood Drive

Chattanooga, Tennessee 37404

I love the way our scripture lesson for today begins. It begins with one of my favorite New Testament words: “Welcome.” Now we all like to believe that Pilgrim is a welcoming church but some people may think that is a side issue, not the main thing. But it is not a side issue in the New Testament. Just check any Bible concordance and see how many times the word “welcome” appears. My concordance lists 59 places in the New Testament where it is used. “Welcome” is found more frequently than the word “praise,” more than “compassion,” more than “healing,” more than “comfort.”

That’s good news, really. Few of us think of ourselves as healers. Few of us claim to be world-class praisers. We’ll leave that up to Dave and Barbara, Brad and the choir. Few of us expect to be recognized for the vast amount of comfort and compassion we hand out to others. But what does it take to be a welcomer? Actually, not all that much. Anybody can do it. All it takes is an extended hand, a heart that is opened just a crack wider, and a mouth that says the word out loud to other people now and then: “Welcome.” That doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? But the New Testament believes it is one of the most important things we can do as Christian people.

Paul thought so and that’s why he begins this letter to the Roman churches with the word, “Welcome. . .” But welcome to whom? Ah, that’s the tricky part for churches, isn’t it? Who is welcome and who isn’t? Sometimes we like to say that a church is like a family and in many ways it is. But in one important way a church is not a family. For nearly every one of us, we didn’t get to choose our family and our family didn’t get to choose us. We just arrived and we were stuck with them and they were stuck with us. But it’s not the same with church. We get to decide whether we want to be part of a particular church family and the church family decides whether or not to welcome us in. Actually that last part – the part about the church deciding whether or not to welcome us – isn’t really true.

According to Paul, everyone should be welcome in church. Welcome is the first word we should hear in church, not some qualifying test. Whoever you are, wherever you are on your life’s journey, you’re welcome here. Whatever baggage – literal or figurative – you carry in here, you’re welcome. Maybe you wear a tie every Sunday; maybe you don’t even own a tie; maybe your blouse could stand ironing; maybe you have a tad too much starch in your blouse; maybe you don’t like gospel hymns that much; maybe gospel hymns are your favorites; maybe you think the organ music is too loud; maybe you think it can’t be loud enough; maybe your skin tone is a shade or two darker than this white pallor some of us are stuck with; maybe you’re a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative in things theological and political; maybe you’re married; maybe you’re single; and maybe,  just maybe, you’re gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered. Whoever you are, wherever you are on your life’s journey, you’re  welcome. You’re welcome in this church and I believe you ought to be welcome in any church – any real church, that is. If we’re a real church we ought to be in the business of welcoming people . . . Anybody, everybody.

At this point, somebody is surely thinking to themselves: “Why is he making such a big deal out of this. Of course, we welcome people.” Maybe somebody was thinking that when they first heard this letter of Paul read to them. What’s the problem? The problem for the Roman church was that they were filled with U.C.C.ers, people who were ready, willing and able to disagree about anything and everything.

In the case of the Roman church, some of the members had formerly been Jews, some had formerly been pagans, some may have been a mixture of both, and some may not have been anything. The problem this sweet diversity caused, believe it or not, was what to serve at church dinners. Former pagans wouldn’t eat meat because nearly all the meat you could buy in the markets had first been offered as a sacrifice to one of the hundreds of pagan gods whose shrines dotted the city. Former pagans didn’t want to support these shrines. No meat for them. They were vegetarians.

Other people in the church, former Jews, could have cared less. What difference did it make if the meat had been offered to some pagan god? Those gods didn’t exist anyway. So bring on the roast beef, though some former Jews were not too happy about having a ham dinner at church.

You may think this all sounds rather silly  but, believe me, it was serious in the Christian churches of the first century. It was dividing Christians six ways from Sunday which, by the way, was another problem. Some former Jews wanted to have worship on Saturday, the Sabbath, while the rest of the church wanted to have services on Sunday, the Lord’s day, the day of Christ’s resurrection. And what was true in the first century has been true ever since. Churches always seem to find something to fight about. The place where everyone should feel welcome is the place where some feel very unwelcome.

Last week, Christy (Bonner) shared with me what is supposed to be a true story. During the Depression, a man living in the Appalachian area went to Knoxville for the first time to transact some business. While there he saw a refrigerator that made ice. Since it was summertime, he thought it was a miracle of God. When he returned to his hometown in the mountains, his church was in the midst of a revival service and people were giving testimonies. The man told of the miracle of seeing ice made in the midst of summer. Well, a dispute broke out. Many claimed there was no such thing as a man-made ice maker. Others wanted to believe him. The conflict led to a schism within the church. Some left to form a new church. Its name was “No Ice in the Summer Southern Baptist Church.” Funny? Yes, but all too familiar a story.

Now let’s get serious for a little while. How can we be sure that the church – this church – is a welcoming place for all people in the face of the things that divide us? Think of all the “hot button” issues in the church world today: abortion, homosexuality, the death penalty, just to mention a few. How can we keep peace in the church?

Simple, say some. Make sure that churches only welcome those who are just like them. If diversity is divisive, then uniformity is the answer. Drive out or beat down those who are different and the church will be a happy, peaceful place. Peaceful? Yes, but it will be the peace of death where there is no conflict.

Now we’re going to get really serious. One of the greatest twentieth century philosophers was Isaiah Berlin. In one of his essays, he quotes economist Joseph Schumpeter: “To realize the relative validity of one’s convictions and yet stand for them unflinchingly is what distinguishes a man (or woman) from a barbarian.” I think Paul would have agreed with that because he knew that all our strongly held opinions stand under the ultimate judgment of God. So until the time comes when God makes clear who was right and who was wrong, let’s stand up strongly for what we believe in but sit down lovingly with those who disagree with us. That’s what I believe, but if you disagree with me, believe me, you’re welcome!