Have you ever opened your refrigerator and noticed a container that you knew has been there a little too long?  Maybe you stood there looking at it trying to remember what is in there.  Then you tried to remember exactly how long that container has been in there.  Eventually you have to pull out the container and open it.  But just as you are about to open it you get a light whiff at the impending slap in the face.  So you stretch out your arms as far as they go and turn your face to the side.  You slowly open the lid and take a little peak; trying to protect your nose from the potential pungent oder.  Nothing yet…so you turn your face to get a better look and…WHAM-O…you smell the beast that has been living in your refrigerator.  Soemthing has gone bad.

I have come across people who feel the same way about church.  Maybe you can relate.  You stay away because you are afraid at what you will find when you open those doors.  Maybe you feel that because you have been outside "too long" you have grown into something nobody wants; thinking your presence will shock people and turn them away.

But who can blame you.  The church is just as guilty.  Many churches have turned into private clubs.  If you are gone too long, then the church "cleans out the refrigerator" and boots you off the roster.  If people are not "fresh" then they are not welcome.  That message is not preached or posted on the side outside, but it is often implied.  The unspoken message is that the church is a place for people who have not "gone bad"; for people who have it all together.

But "Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’" (Luke 5:31)

Did you catch that?  Did you hear who Jesus came to call?  Jesus came to call sinners to repentance.  All of us wreak of sin and deserve to be tossed out.  But Jesus came to forgive our sins so we would not be tossed out into the garbage.  No one can claim to be righteous.  Only Jesus can claim that.  So how can we claim to judge others?

But here is the Good News:  Even though we cannot claim to be righteous, we are made righteous and "saved by grace through faith" (Eph 2:8) in Jesus Christ.  Jesus does not clear out those who have "gone bad", but searches them out and welcomes them in.  Jesus heals each of us through forgiveness and welcomes us into the kingdom of God.

As a church, let’s not just pretend to be welcoming, but actually be welcoming.  As a child of God, don’t be afraid to open those doors.  No matter who is in side, God is the one with his arms open wide.  God is the one who loves you beyond measure.  God is the one who says to you, "You are my beloved child".  You have not "gone bad", but rather you have been saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ our living Lord and Savior.  Praise be to God and Amen! -EDH-