A few weeks ago a man well into his nineties died in Florida. I know, nothing very surprising about that. But what surprised me was how much my Facebook feed blew up with the information. It started with my Disney-related pages, but quickly moved to National News pages, and then friends sharing his story. You see, this man was still working. He had two jobs: He was a greeter at the most expensive resort at Walt Disney World (WDW); At that same resort he helped brides pull themselves together and smoothed out their trains before they headed down the aisle in the Wedding Pavilion. OK, so he was 90+ and still working, but beyond that why lift him up? Well, it turns out he had a gift for making people feel welcomed and cared-for. His reputation was so strong that people staying in other WDW resorts would travel to his just to be greeted by him. He was able to make people feel that they were extremely important to him, and to the rest of Disney.
I believe one of Jesus' gifts was this same ability to help people to believe that they were wanted, loved, and important. Richard Gerth did it at WDW, but who do we have in our churches who has this gift? I've known a few in my lifetime, and they helped their churches immensely. Who has that natural gift of hospitality? Who can help new people connect with established members? Who can help them find their place? Who helps them feel important? Sure we can cultivate those people, but it's much easier if they have the gift and it comes naturally. How much different would our witness to new folks and potential members be if they felt loved, cared-for, and important the minute they walked in the door?
God of grace, you have gifted each one of us with abilities we can use to build up your reign here on earth. We can welcome people into the church, we can preach, we can teach, we can bake cookies, we have good financial know-how, we can fix things when they break. No one of us has it all, but together we can accomplish good things for you. Give us the grace, and the courage to tap into our gifts, and offer them up to be used as you see fit........Amen.
I believe one of Jesus' gifts was this same ability to help people to believe that they were wanted, loved, and important. Richard Gerth did it at WDW, but who do we have in our churches who has this gift? I've known a few in my lifetime, and they helped their churches immensely. Who has that natural gift of hospitality? Who can help new people connect with established members? Who can help them find their place? Who helps them feel important? Sure we can cultivate those people, but it's much easier if they have the gift and it comes naturally. How much different would our witness to new folks and potential members be if they felt loved, cared-for, and important the minute they walked in the door?
God of grace, you have gifted each one of us with abilities we can use to build up your reign here on earth. We can welcome people into the church, we can preach, we can teach, we can bake cookies, we have good financial know-how, we can fix things when they break. No one of us has it all, but together we can accomplish good things for you. Give us the grace, and the courage to tap into our gifts, and offer them up to be used as you see fit........Amen.
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