Leaving the light on for you

"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2)

When I was a boy growing up in Seattle, I listened to the radio. Nowadays we don’t do that so much, but in times prior to the ipod, teenagers listened to the radio; and the radio had personalities that everyone knew; some were announcers and somewere advertisers. Everyone in Seattle knew “Tom Shane” and “The Shane Company,” who always had a direct-diamond-imported deal for you… and everyone knew Motel 6, where Tom Bodett promised he’d leave the light on for you when you were out travelling. Do you remember Tom Bodett? I suppose Tom was busy leaving the light on for you all the way across America!

Leaving the light on anticipates the visitor; it’s a form of proactive welcome.

My sleepy little town suffers a lack of safe places for youth to ride skateboards. Our congregation, who like most churches had a long history of chasing skaters away, discerned three years ago that posting a subtle welcome sign, adding a drinking fountain, and building relationships with these kids was better public policy than chasing them off.

So we posted a sign, plumbed in the water fountain and started visiting.

Now we have a reputation around town and a slow but steady stream of new families who visit to see what a church who welcomes skaters is like . . and stay to join us.

“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

The Pharisees and Scribes grumble at Jesus for exhibiting prosdekomai- Greek for “premeditated welcome” to sinners; and for eating with them.

Jesus habitually leaves the light on for sinners.

Which all means that he leaves the light on for you and me, skater dudes- with our antisocial appearances, our funny clothes, our piercings, our strange vocabulary and our genuine need for reconciliation and loving relationship – dudes- you and me... And he sits on the steps with you and me as we don’t quite land our kick-flips and he shares our Doritos.

Pharisees won’t ever like it, but Jesus won’t change. He loves you too much to be frugal with his chips, his sidewalks, his power bill, his reputation, or his life.

Lights are on! Your turn, dude.

-PC

UPDATE:

One year later - The Dalles now has a new skatepark, and skateboard traffic at Zion is much lighter. We miss them, but are proud to be a part of creating something better on their behalf...Hooray for progress!