Page 43 - Lenten Devotional 2023

Saturday, March 25

All Are Welcome - Hymn 641

Hymn 641 - Verse 4
Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone to heal and

strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known. Here the outcast and the
stranger bear the image of God’s face; let us bring an end to fear and danger: All are
welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

(Click the audio play button on the bottom of the page to listen to the fourth verse of the
hymn.)

This verse contains very simple yet challenging and potentially difficult tasks to
attempt. For some, going to church includes presenting your ‘best’ self: in dress,

behavior, and always, to be ‘nice’ and greet others with a quick smile and offering a
brief response. That in itself isn’t a bad thing, but it is an incomplete view of hospitality.
Our tendency is to filter and suppress our individual realities of life and to miss the

needs of others, offering only a very superficial welcome. If we are to follow Christ and
listen to the suggestions in this verse, we must do more to listen and to learn from
others, to really know how to welcome them. We must release our own bias and

expectations and be able to see the ‘image of God’s face’ in the outcast and the stranger.
Embodying the love of God, we welcome all even as we ourselves may feel vulnerable
and unsure of how to accomplish this task. The concept of hospitality requires that we

acknowledge that we bear the image of God and they do as well. It is from this
recognition that we continue the flow of the love of God to others. This can be difficult,
as we may feel as if we are stumbling in our attempts to know others so we can respond

to their needs. This is inevitable. Our task is to demonstrate the image of God through
our behavior and support of others, even as we are looking for the same image in others.
In the words of Mary Streufert, “we have needy hearts and clamoring minds; our spirits

search for the comfort of being truly known and loved.” Isn’t that what we all truly desire?

Reflection

In the time of Jesus and before the cross was a symbol of intimidation, the Roman
empire used threats of crucifixion to suppress opposition, to intimidate those who