A Liturgy Before Hosting
My friend Beth Coble from Lifepointe Church tipped me off to this passage from Every Moment Holy, Vol. III. It’s an excellent reminder that before we simply show up, we need to invite the work of the Spirit into our day.
Bless these resources and hospitable spaces over which you have made us stewards.
May we use them in gracious and creative ways to foster good fellowship, bringing joy and comfort and delight to our guests.
Let our service this day be generous.
Let our hearts be open to all.
Grant to our guests traveling mercies in their comings and goings.
May the opening of these doors be to them as an invitation to shed their worries outside, and enter here a space of rest and refreshment.
But however they arrive, whether buoyant or burdened, may each know themselves welcomed and wanted here.
Give us clarity and energy for the tending of details, but let us never prioritize logistics over love.
Teach us always to unfold our “Martha arms” and open our “Mary hands”.
Let your grace be on display here.
Bless our entire gathering with an atmosphere of charity, patience, good humor, and humility.
Let us not fear the inevitable mishaps, miscues, and awkward moments, but rather embrace the attendant oddities of real community, bonding and growing in real time.
Be at work to meet needs none of us were aware of.
As the hours unfold, let the veil between our gathering and your eternity grow thin.
May any who arrive as strangers, leave as friends.
Let the simple gift of a seat in this house, and the experience of hospitable fellowship, long remain with our guests as a small reflection of your welcome, and as a reminder that with you there is no leaving.
