The season of Epiphany welcomes us as we begin the new calendar year. 2025 is year C in the Lectionary; look for Luke’s signature call to ministry with the least, the last, and the lost as a theme weaving throughout the year.
I haven’t been to worship as a guest in many years. As a pastor, I always know where I am to be on Sundays! (I even have an assigned seat!) Since July, I have been worshiping in a different congregation each Sunday (sometimes two) in our district. Be assured that I come to worship, meet, and be with you and your people. It’s given me a view I don’t usually have – what it means to be a guest in worship. I’m learning why the experts tell us that people decide whether or not to come back within the first five minutes – before any music, sermon, or prayer has been offered. Those first five minutes are when visitors and newcomers are sensing whether there might be a place, a welcome, a notice, whether there is room for them. I am noticing like I never have before how long it takes someone to see me, speak to me, come over to me, welcome me, introduce themselves to me, and invite me to something.
I notice when ushers have their backs to the door because they are speaking to one another. I notice when sharing the peace is more like a family reunion than a welcome for all, including guests. I notice when the only person who speaks to me is the pastor. And I notice when someone stops, offers a hand, tells me their name, and asks to sit with me or to come back for fellowship; I notice when someone makes a point of including me.
As I read the lectionary texts for January, I see a possible theme developing – “good guests!” The wise men are good guests who bring gifts to honor the Christ Child. One presumes they did not bring fish or stay longer than three days. Jesus comes as a guest to the river Jordan to join in with humanity’s desire to be ready for God’s coming kingdom. He is a good guest at a wedding in Cana, helping the host avoid embarrassment and pointing to the more significant meaning of the wedding feast. He is even a good guest in worship, volunteering to read the Scripture lesson. These moments are all early in his life and ministry and give us a glimpse of how he will be re-ordering things – this guest becomes the host wherever he goes. That’s not a “go thou and do likewise” statement; that’s an epiphany about who Jesus is.
Perhaps as you and your people begin the new year, it’s time for some reminders on being good hosts and good guests.
Grace and peace,
Claire