Scripture 2 Peter 1:10-11
Former
US President Richard Nixon is infamous for his place at the center of the
Watergate scandal. He disgraced both the office of the President of the United
States and the United States itself in the eyes of the world. When Hubert
Humphrey, a former US vice-president died, Nixon attended his funeral.
Dignitaries came from all over the country and the world, yet Nixon was made to
feel decidedly unwelcome. People turned their eyes away and conversations ran
dry around him. Nixon could feel the ostracism being ladled out to him.
Then
Jimmy Carter, the serving US President, walked into the room. Carter was from a
different political party to Nixon and well known for his honesty and
integrity. As he moved to his seat President Carter noticed Nixon standing all
alone. Carter immediately changed course, walked over to Nixon, held out his
hand, and, smiling genuinely and broadly embraced Nixon and said “Welcome home,
Mr. President! Welcome home!”
The
incident was reported by Newsweek magazine, which wrote: “If there was a turning point in Nixon’s long ordeal in the wilderness, it was that moment and
that gesture of love and compassion.”
Carter
gifted Nixon with love and compassion. Nixon certainly had done nothing to
deserve it. It was an act of pure grace on Carter’s part. When the bible speaks
of God’s blessing it speaks in exactly the same way. Blessing is never a reward
for good behavior. It’s a gift, a gift of pure, unadulterated grace.
Isn’t that how God is with us? God gives us a welcome
even when we don’t deserve it. Romans
5:8 God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. How do you think God feels about people who reject what Jesus
has done for them? Don’t you think then, that for those who do put their trust
in Jesus for eternal life are going to be welcomed with great celebration and
joy. Our entrance to heaven makes what Jesus did worthwhile which guarantees we
will be greatly welcomed.
The Prodigal Son
Consider the
story of the prodigal son (retell the story) The son in no way deserved to be
welcomed but God welcomed him anyway.
Alabaster Welcome
Luke 7:36-48
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he
went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had
lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the
Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood
behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then
she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself,
"If
this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of
woman she is — that she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have
something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two men owed money to a certain
moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,d and the other fifty. Neither
of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now
which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly,"
Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not
give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped
them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I
entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much.
But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are
forgiven."
Which one of
these is more like God? The woman with the alabaster jar and some tears or the
Pharisee who showed no hospitality at all?
Welcome people in my name
Mark 9:35-41
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and
the servant of all."
36
He took a little child and had him
stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name
welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent
me."
38
"Teacher," said John,
"we
saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he
was not one of us."
39
"Do not
stop him," Jesus said. “No one who does a
miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for
whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you
a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose
his reward.”
There are two things going on today
- we are seeing that Jesus Christ is a super extravagant welcoming God. One day
we will be greatly welcomed into our eternal home. In the meantime, on Christ
behalf, we are to be super extravagant in welcoming people to faith in Christ,
to the worship of Jesus and to His great church.
As
ambassadors of Christ, we are called to welcome people like a king welcoming
his subjects to his royal table, even if they have done nothing to deserve it.
The King Welcomes Mephibosheth
2 Sam 9:6-13
When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he
bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, "Mephibosheth!"
"Your servant," he
replied.
"Don't be afraid," David
said to him, "for I will surely show you
kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the
land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my
table."
Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What
is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that
belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to
farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson
may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat
at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
Then Ziba said to the king, "Your
servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do."
So Mephibosheth ate at David'sa table like one of the king's sons.
Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's
household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because
he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.
We will receive a Welcome into Eternity
2 Peter 1:10-11
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and
election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will
receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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