HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU? -> RO. 12:13b
-this is my question for you today. Through everything we talk about, just be thinking how comfortable are you.
-but here’s the twist. I don’t mean how comfortable do you feel, I mean how comfortable to people feel around you. When we say this chair is comfortable, we don’t mean the chair likes how it feels underneath me, it means how do I feel in the chair.
-so let’s take it off us for a moment. How comfortable are you to those around you?
-Lorie and I got a little bunny rabbit a while back. [show Clover pic] That’s her. Now that bunny is comfortable. It doesn’t need anything, it’s never hungry, it gets all the attention it needs, sometimes more than other people at home, but it is comfortable.
-but here’s what I’ve learned. When the bunny jumps on Lorie, Lorie snuggles it and pets it and the bunny crouches into this “okay, pet me” position and they have a little scratch and snuggle fest. To the bunny, Lorie is comfortable. Then, after a few minutes of that she will jump on me, lunge at my face, nibble my nose, leave me a nice present of bunny poops on my stomach, then jump right back to Lorie for more snuggle time.
-I’m not that comfortable, at least not to our bunny. So I’ll ask again, how comfortable are you?
-I don’t know how many of you are like me, but I was raised in church and every so often I have to remember that not everyone views our lovely Sunday morning experience as I do. There are people that do not like how we worship, they do not like the gym, they do not like the relaxed atmosphere, and there are some who have never been to church and although I like it, it’s completely foreign to them and they have no idea what to do or say. Kind of like Christine…
[play clip from the television show "The New Adventures Of Old Christine" where she goes to church for the first time in years]
-just like everyone else, when it’s lunch time, they run out.
-now I would like everyone to do me a favor for one second. Imagine you are a visitor here. For those here for the first time, you got a little head start, but just think about it. We’re about 45 minutes into the service. Would you have felt welcome or would you have felt awkward? What would you have liked or not liked?
-the big question, who was comfortable here? Who made you feel welcome, and don’t look to the same person you talk to every single week.
WHO MADE HER MORE COMFORTABLE?
-look at Christine there, who helped her out? In that clip, how many times did people welcome here, and how many times did people stare at her?
-I really dislike doing those group readings out loud because I always breathe at the wrong time and mess up. I didn’t grow up in a church that did that. When I first got here, it did, it made me feel uncomfortable.
-I loved the guy next to her, he was obviously patient. But think about it for a second. When did he say hi? When she had problems with the Bible and the hymnal, did he share his hymnal with her, or did he give a scowl wondering why she didn’t know what to do?
-who was the only person to be friendly to her? The Pastor.
-now I’m glad the pastor was nice and friendly and caring and whatever. But you know what, to make a lasting impression on someone, it takes more than the pastor. I know, I’ve been to churches and ignored by people but had the pastor come up and say hi and it runs through my head. It’s their job. They just want me to come back and be a number. But think of it this way. Who has ever been to Wal-Mart and had a greeter say hello to you? Yeah, big deal. You don’t go “Wow, what a friendly place.” You know they’re doing it because they have to and no matter how friendly they are to you, you know in the back of your head they have to be nice. But what if some random shopper says hi. Suddenly, this Wal-Mart is full of friendly people.
-it’s the same here. You saying hello to someone makes a much bigger difference than me doing it, even though I like saying hello.
**Ro. 12:13b -> 13Always be eager to practice hospitality. (NLT)
-I could go for all day just on that verse. We’re going to go backwards.
1. PRACTICE HOSPITALITY
-we’re supposed to be hospitable. Now today, when I think of the word hospitable, it makes me think of be nice. Smile at someone. Maybe offer them a drink if you can. But just all around pleasantness.
-but I did something not very Troy-like. I looked up the Greek for this word. I know, it almost makes me sound smart, but bear with me. The word is philonexia and it can be translated to mean lover of strangers.
-see for the people of God this was more than just a “be nice” thing. In that culture you were forced to show strangers hospitality. There were certain things that were expected of you such as offering food and water, inviting them into your home, etc. There were also things to do to protect yourself, but it was expected that you would go well above and beyond what we do today.
-then, for the people of God, it was even commanded. Because of their history in Egypt, God commanded it.
**Deut. 10:10 -> 19You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (NRSV)
**Lev. 19:34 -> 34You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (ESV)
-it wasn’t just do a little and be nice, it was treat them like family. Treat them like your own.
-but it was more than that. Paul said in that verse we should not just be hospitable, we should want to do it. We should be eager to do it.
2. BE EAGER
**Titus 2:14 -> 14He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to Him alone and are eager to do good. (GNT)
-eager to do good! Eager to practice hospitality!
-tell me, when you showed up this morning, did you put on your tunnel vision, go where you normally go, say good morning to who you normally see? Did you when you saw someone you didn’t know be kind of nice, or did you get excited before you even showed up here that you would do your best to make people feel more comfortable at church today?
-I mean, it’s your home church, and if someone was coming to your home, wouldn’t you do you get excited and do your best to make them feel comfortable?
-and before you say it, maybe you didn’t see someone you didn’t know this morning. If that’s the case, then we are not inviting enough people to come to church. How does that happen?
-Chas Meynard of Bordeaux, richest landowner in France, dined 3 times a day for 60 years from an open bureau drawer just so he could shut it if someone showed up. Not eager to feed.
**Ro 12:11 -> 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (NIV)
-never be lacking in zeal. Why never, back to our verse.
-one little word that means so much.
3. ALWAYS
-we’re always supposed to be like this. Not just when we feel like it. Not just when motivation hits. Not just with people we know. Always.
**I Thess. 5:15b -> 15Always try to do what is good for each other and for all people. (NCV)
-always. And I know, always is a big word. There are times where I don’t want to do the right thing, where I would like to be in a big group of people and no one know that I’m a pastor. I can disappear and no one will expect better of me.
-there are times Sunday mornings where I wish I could not be friendly but just disappear, do what I have to do and that’s it. When the sound system crashes the forefront of my mind is not, “Put on a happy face and talk to someone new!”
-but even if no one knew who I was, I can’t. I’m a Christian. Jesus and I, we’re pretty good friends. I love Him and He loves me and for that reason I want to do good, I want to always be ready and willing to do what is good.
-and because of that, He’s willing to help me.
**II Cor. 9:8 -> 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (NIV)
-I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
-the last thing I want is for someone to walk through those doors and have an experience like Christine in the video. We have to make people feel comfortable here, we have to be eager about it, and we have to always be doing it.
