By The Rev. Dr. Carl Grosse

This facility is like a maze. After my first day in the church building, it took me a couple of weeks before I felt confident that I’d find my way back to the office from anywhere else on the premises. Silly me. My arrogance crashed a few months ago trying to help a repairman find the elevator mechanical room.

For most of you, the church building is familiar and you have people who are familiar to you. The routine gets comfortable, and comfort is definitely worth something. I applaud those of you I see getting out of the usual routines now and then to talk with someone different or meet a newcomer. When Denise and I spent a year visiting different churches, that personal hospitality really stood out, both when we experienced it and when we did not.

There’s also a difference between promoting your organization or product and caring about a person. Remember the original Miracle on 34th Street, where Santa tells a Macy’s customer they can find the toy they’re looking for at Gimbel’s? Visitors can tell when you want them, and they can tell when you want to help them. 

When we get out of our routines to talk to someone we don’t know well or who is completely new to us, and we do so in a way that conveys we regard them as a fellow human being worthy of God’s love, we practice what God does (see 1 John 4:10-11). It’s a huge deal and it’s what makes us a church. It can also be as simple as helping someone get a bulletin, accompanying them to the Fellowship Hall, or pointing them to a restroom. You wouldn’t want a visitor to get lost in the building and not find their way out for two days, would you?