What Can You Do? What Will You Do?

Have you ever been in an unfamiliar place and someone made you feel welcome? Maybe you were anxious and somebody put you at ease?

Forbidden City, Beijing

 

I was in Beijing several years ago, on business. We were trying to see if our product line could be sold in China. Our team consisted of myself, a few Chinese people residing in the United States and our Chinese hosts.

 

A few street signs and shop signs had their English meaning in small letters underneath, but for the most part I had little idea what I was looking at. Since Chinese is a tonal language, I was warned not to speak any words in Chinese. I was as likely to insult somebody as to get help.

 

The second full day there, as I was beginning to get over jet lag, my hosts took the entire team out to dinner. It was quite a feast. We had tilapia, squid, jelly fish, crab, turtle soup, bird’s nest soup, scallops, oysters and other things I purposely ate without asking.

 

I liked the crab legs; they preferred the liver and roe. It seems the legs are considered garbage food in Beijing. So I was known as “man who eat garbage.” (And they graciously gave me their ‘garbage’ to devour!)

 

By the end of the day, I was at ease and felt very welcomed.

 

Today’s reading is Genesis 23:1-9. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had just died. Living in Canaan, a foreign land, among the Hittites, Abraham needed a place to bury his wife. Because God promised Abraham that his descendents would inhabit Canaan, the Promised Land, Abraham wanted is wife to be buried there.

 

The grieving Abraham was no doubt anxious. Would the Hittites sell a foreigner some land?

 

The Hittite leaders did sell him land, giving him his choice for a burial plot. Abraham must have been relieved.

 

When we meet someone new to the faith, or is exploring the faith, they might be anxious. After all, Christianity is new to them. In a sense, they are in foreign territory.

 

What can you do to reach out to a new face at church and help put that person at ease?

 

What will you do?

Christian Fellowship

Several years ago I travelled to China on business. I went a couple of days early, to sight see and  to adjust to the time change.

A Temple of the Forbidden City

 

For two days I walked the streets of Beijing. I did not take a taxi because I was not able to express my desires to the driver. The major streets had smaller English signs under the Mandarin signs, but the smaller streets may have just as well been unmarked. I got lost a couple of times, but eventually came to a larger street where I could get my bearings and carry on.

 

My efforts were rewarded with visits to Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City, Silk Alley and other places. I was excited at what I had seen, yet I was lonely because there was nobody to share my experiences with.

 

It was good to get to the office and carry on business. Most people spoke English and it was refreshing to have a conversation. I needed to interact with somebody, anybody!

 

Today’s reading is Acts 2:41-47. The church was in its infancy. The believers enjoyed each other’s company, dining with each other and studying the Apostle’s teaching. They even pooled their resources so that the needy were on an equal financial footing with the well to do, so to speak.

 

Most of the believers had jobs in the Pagan world. They interacted with many unbelievers for most of the day. It must have been very refreshing for them to enjoy the fellowship of other believers when  not at work.

 

Our needs today are no different than those believers of the early church. We work throughout the week in an unbelieving world. We take our children to various activities, many outside the church, perhaps. We need the fellowship of other believers. Without it, we can feel a bit like I did in China. Alone, we have nobody to share our spiritual experiences with.

 

Christian fellowship is part of a balanced spiritual life.

 

Happy New Year!