The Welcoming God

Who is God? Scriptures and theology books offer various ideas about the nature of God. Some are quite abstract -- "the Ground of Being" or the "Unmoved Mover" -- while others are deeply personal -- "Abba Father" or "Our Mother." Some pictures of God are dark and foreboding. Who has not thought of Jonathan Edwards famous sermon about "Sinners in the hands of an angry God" and hoped it's not a true depiction? Those who welcome that depiction usually believe that they're not among the sinners.

But there are other depictions of God that offer a far different picture. Consider the parable of the prodigal. There is debate as to who the father depicts, but whether or not Jesus intended this to speak of God's gracious love, that's the way I've always taken it. For many the God of Christianity is distant and judgmental, thin-skinned and needing his honor restored. If we don't bow in obeisance and grovel at God's feet, somehow God's feelings will get hurt. But the Prodigal's father isn't worried about honor or debt, but is instead eager to welcome his son back into the family.

I've mentioned this before, but I'm reading Stephanie Speller's book Radical Welcome (Church Publishing, 2006). She writes in the book about the God of Welcome and this passage stands out for me, for it reflects upon the Prodigal's father.

That is God's hospitality: the welcome that actively loves and receives us just as we are, despite every reservation, expectation or term we might set out, however strange we imagine ourselves to be, however far out we have been cast. That is Jesus' hospitality, as he illustrates with seemingly every action, and nowhere more clearly than in his radical welcoming table fellowship. He invites lowly fishermen, unclean prostitutes, marginalized tax collectors, and insignificant widows to partake of the lavish feast he has come to offer all. And he does it to teach us a crucial lesson: God made us all and loves us all, and no more than those society casts out or sets apart. There are no limits to the love and justice of God. So, now having known the welcoming love of God, the Holy One seems to say to us, "Be released from your fear and scarcity, go forth boldly and share from the abundance you have received. Do not worry about who may be watching and what they might say. Do not worry about your dignity and do not set terms on your welcome." God has graciously prodigally welcomed you, because it is in God's very nature to seek out and welcome you home when you feel the least worthy of embrace. (Radical Welcome, p. 39)

And having been so graciously welcomed, we are called to welcome others equally -- even if they are not the ones we would naturally reach out to!