Welcome, Jesus, You Are Welcome
Jane M. Gardner, presiding evangelist
…”Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. -Luke 19:5-6
What would it be like to have Jesus invite himself into our house? We might respond, “Could you come another day, Jesus, so we can clean the house first?” Or if we were curious like Zacchaeus and really wanted to get to know Jesus, we might suggest, “Let’s go out to eat; we haven’t grocery shopped this week.” Or if we had low self-esteem, it might be, “Our house isn’t very big or beautiful. Could we go somewhere nicer?” What keeps us from welcoming Jesus? You fill in the blank.
Whatever it is can be confessed and laid at the table of the Lord’s Supper today. Just as Zacchaeus confessed his greed and unjust actions, so we must face our sins. Zacchaeus was transformed by the vision Jesus provided and sought to make restitution and more. By God’s grace, he was released from the weight of his past, and he moved willingly into a freedom that only Jesus could offer. This Communion meal holds the possibility of such a transformation for us as well.
As you partake of the bread and wine today, be conscious of the opportunity to be changed into a people full of invitation and welcome. In the words of Dan Damon’s hymn text, may we greet our Savior with open arms, “Jesus, you are welcome here!”
Welcome, Jesus, you are welcome in this world made hard by fear;
loving reach us, living teach us, Jesus, you are welcome here.
Welcome, Jesus, you are welcome in the ghettos we have made;
give the tattered, bruised, and battered winter shelter, summer shade.
Welcome, Jesus, you are welcome with the wealthy and the poor;
give the broken love unspoken, open wide each prison door.
Welcome, Jesus, you are welcome let your loving light appear.
In our seeing, in our being, Jesus, you are welcome here.
-Daniel Charles Damon, \xc2\xa92005 Hope Publishing Company,
Community of Christ Sings 277
Used with permission
Prayer Phrase
My ordinary life is a sacred place.
Spiritual Practice
Sacramental Living
“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5
How are you invited to live sacramentally today?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
