3.30.23 - Romans 16:2
What does it mean to feel welcomed and how can you help others experience that today?
Welcome our friend Phoebe in the way of the Lord, with all the generous hospitality we Christians are famous for.
Paul begins the 16th chapter of Romans by giving shoutouts to his comrades in Rome. He tells them that Phoebe is headed their way and asks them to receive her in a manner befitting of a Christan community.
He is asking them to receive her with love, to welcome her with open arms, to be gracious and hospitable.
My heart aches for those who continue to encounter people and communities that claim to follow Christ and yet cultivate environments that not only lack hospitality but that are explicitly hateful.
At the same time, I’m grateful for a faith community like Juniper Formation that genuinely embodies this welcoming disposition – especially for those of us who have been relegated by others to the margins.
My prayer is that we will have all that we need to continue to build a world in which this welcoming disposition – not just tolerant, not passive-aggressively accepting – is the norm, not just an exception.
Think of a time when you truly felt welcomed. What did it feel like? How might you be a part of creating such welcoming space for others to feel those same things?
--Javon Bracy
Reframe means taking a fresh look at an old story.
It’s a way of experiencing your world differently, even though the landscape may seem similar.