Scriptural Messages: 1 Samuel 25:6 and Romans 15:7

 "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

This poem has always spoken to me. Where do we see it? On our Statue of Liberty. This truth and the meaning of the poem, written by Emma Lazarus, reminds us of our vital calling as members of the United States of America, as friends and family, and most importantly, as our welcoming God’s children! What better poem to read and reflect on in this week of Independence?

As I considered which Bible Verses to focus on for our Devotion this week, the message of “welcoming all” really drew me in, with our celebration of Independence Day this coming Friday, and especially with our celebration of Open Communion this coming Sunday! For Independence Day, we are reminded of our ideals that our great country was founded upon. Although we sometimes forget these ideals and fall short of welcoming and loving all in our civic society, we can use this week to get back to these ideals. As a Christian Church, we must welcome and love all people as Jesus does. And, Open Communion is the best way to do this! It’s the biggest reason that I made the journey to join the United Methodist Church this year. I also feel that it is the most beautiful trait of our Church! I view this act as the best way to welcome all people, as God calls on all of us, as His children, to do! We share His Meal with all of our human family, as He did!

This brings me to the Scriptural part of our Devotion. The awesome thing is, there are so many Verses that bring about welcoming, loving, and inclusive attitudes in our Bible, so really, you can’t choose a Verse that couldn’t be related to this loving attitude! I happened upon an article that listed many of the welcoming Verses from the Bible and chose 1 Samuel 25:6 and Romans 15:7 as our guide for this week.

1 Samuel 25:6 “Thus you shall salute him, ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.’”

Wow. As we talked about last week and heard in Pastor Mary’s Sermon, PEACE is essential in our daily lives and begins with US! As we are called to welcome all people into our Church, into our society, peace is necessary to achieve this beautiful goal. We cannot achieve true peace through force, through intimidation, or through any other economic or legal means. A Godly Peace and a fully comprehensive welcoming attitude can only be achieved through one thing: LOVE!

Romans 15:7 “Welcome / Accept one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed / accepted you, for the glory of God.”

There we have it. God clearly is calling us to welcome and love each other, for all people without exception or expectations, as Jesus does. We are called to invite all people to His table, in His Heavenly Meal, to fulfill His wish for us to “do this in remembrance of [Him.]” This is why each month when we celebrate His Holy Communion, we are doing our best form of inviting and welcoming all people that we have available to us as humans. We invite all people of any Denomination or religious background, or from no religious background, to partake in this Meal. Who does this include?

“your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Thank you, Ms. Lazarus, for reminding us of God’s most important Calling of us! There is no better week for us to reconsider and refocus our efforts to try to achieve this beautiful goal than the US Independence Day and with our celebration of His Holy Communion!

Do we always achieve this as a people, in our personal, community and civic, and Church lived? No. We have to acknowledge that we do fall short. It’s ok for us to realize that this goal is hard! But, guess what? Jesus helps us through it and leads us toward achieving this goal! We are never alone!

Can we make a pact together, as people in our Bridgewater community, in the United States, and most importantly, as a universal family who is United through Jesus, to welcome and love all people, from every background? This is what the United States was founded on, and we desperately need to get back to this ideal as a country. And, even more, this is what Jesus Christ’s Church is founded on. The word Christian means “Christ - like.” What better way to live out our identity as Christians than to welcome and love all people?

Thank you, and we pray that God continues to bless all of this who have served our country over the years to achieve for us the independence and freedom that we have. Happy Independence Day to you. Enjoy burgers, dogs, and / or brats, and any firework, music, or other events that you go to!

Yours in Faith, Hope, and Love,

Joey

* Photo credits to Bible Art and Bible.com