Britt's Blurbs

I am beginning to feel more and more like a real El Doradian (is that what we call ourselves?). I can now give people directions around town. I can recommend people to such landmarks as Spudnut’s and Papa Pablano’s (both old and new locations). I can also talk Wildcat sports with the best of them and explain both the pros and cons of an artificial turf football field. I feel like I have pretty well acclimated to life in El Dorado. However, I will not pretend that this was not a challenge. It is difficult for any person to acclimate to a new place. No matter how kind the people are, how wonderful your home and church are or how surprisingly quaint the town is, coming into a new community is tough. However, having a loving and supporting community surround you during this time makes it a whole lot easier. I was lucky enough to have your support and care when I first arrived at First United Methodist Church of El Dorado and, for a moment, I want to take a deeper look into what it means to spread God’s love through the gift of hospitality.

While you may now call FUMC-El Dorado your home church, at some point or another you have either attended another church or at least visited one. You probably know from this experience that not every church is as welcoming or hospitable to the stranger as perhaps they ought to be. Perhaps it was even on your first visit to FUMC El Dorado that you (gulp!) did not feel the warmth of God’s love flowing out of the members who received you. Either way, we know that as Christians it is part of our call as the body of Christ to be a people of hospitality. You will remember that throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ in the gospels we read again and again of the importance of those who welcome the stranger and down trodden. Luke 14: 12-14 reads,

Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous".

This scripture calls us to do something scary, to bring not only those we know or are comfortable being around into the church, but those who are different from us and yet who need the assurance and peace that God’s love provides.

These words of Jesus challenge us to be the kingdom of God in a very real and universal way and I know that we can meet this challenge. In the very same way that you have welcomed me and countless other pastors and visitors, you can welcome the stranger. The gift of hospitality is something that I know this church has been blessed with, I have seen it with my very own eyes, and I know that we will continue using it in Christ-like ways. This expands beyond those that enter our doors on a Sunday. Part of being hospitable is inviting people into your home as well. I hope that we will take the challenge to not only invite those we know, our family and friends, but those who are the stranger, those who are sick or abandoned by our society. So this month, as our summer comes to an end, I hope that we will all begin to expand our understanding of hospitality and begin to practice it in new and exciting ways.

Peace, Rev. Brittany Richardson