The Art of Welcome

My daughter once told me in regards to the church, “That which you love, you hold to account”. Therefore, it is in great and deep love for the church, that is, the people, the followers, the disciples, the broken and redeemed whose faith and trust is in Jesus that I write this today. Myself included, as I am convicted in my own heart that I have tried to fit the enormity of God’s love for the world into a small and convenient box of my own level of comfort. The church is us; we the people who have believed and accepted the forgiveness of Christ and are called to live upside down and backwards to everything we learned before. Where there was pride, we pray for humility. Where there was greed, we develop a heart and practice of generosity. We are called to be servants, to love God and neighbor, to forgive rather than seek revenge or fight for our own rights, and instead of sowing division and exclusivity we practice the beautiful and divine art of welcome.

“The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future …”

Easter is a day for us to celebrate resurrection; the incredible, miraculous event of Jesus rising. There is no resurrection with a death that precedes it, and this year we are reminded of that reality as the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis. With all the human flaws within the ecumenical church as a whole, there was something beautiful and simple in the life of this man. Beyond all the formal rites and rituals, the political power and wealth that distract from the message, Pope Francis was a Pope for the poor, for the oppressed, for the brokenhearted, and for the immigrant. In a message he gave in 2018 for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Francis said, “The Lord entrusts to the Church’s motherly love every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future….” This is echoed in the words of scripture that tell us time and time again to welcome the immigrant (foreigner, stranger, etc) and to care for them like a brother. “Every person forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future.” Immigration policies are in place for governments to manage all the logistics of that, but our job, as men and women whose greatest commands are to love God and love people, is to have a heart of welcome that manifests itself into action on their behalf.

“In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that ‘our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate.'”

Pope Francis went on to explain how this responsibility of entrustment should look. It’s not enough for us to simply stop hating on immigrants; to stop trash-talking, stereotyping, and dehumanizing them. Every aspect of faith requires action, and in this spirit Francis continued, “In this regard, I wish to reaffirm that ‘our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote, and to integrate.'” There is a biblical command for “Mishpat”, or justice, that we are to extend, specifically to the orphan, the widow, the poor, and the immigrant. It doesn’t stop there as we are to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly” at all times, but God’s heart of compassion and concern for these specific vulnerable groups is clear and it’s not something we can ignore.

With all the fear-based rhetoric coming from both sides of the political aisle, our role, if you are one who would consider yourself to be a believer and follower of Jesus, is simply this: to Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s not get caught up in the crossfire of hate-speech and division, but may we be ones who welcome, protect, promote, and integrate. This is the message of the gospel. It is not exclusive. It is not a respecter of race, nationality, gender, political party, or anything else that we tend to divide over. Immigration papers are not a prerequisite to the good news of God’s love applying to every living, breathing individual on this planet. In the spirit of Pope Francis, and even more in the spirit of Jesus who loved us and gave himself as a ransom for all, may we learn to paint masterpieces in the beautiful art of Welcome.