Bring love and joy to all God's children
By Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
What would it look like if we in The Desert Southwest Conference practiced extravagant hospitality? I asked a few persons and here are some of things they said:
- People of all races and cultures, and of every socio-economic class would come to our churches knowing that they are welcome;
- United Methodists would be out in the world feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for those who are ill, and visiting those who are imprisoned;
- Our congregations would always be thinking about how to reach others with the love of Christ Jesus;
- United Methodist ministries would be focused first and foremost on serving others;
- We would not be afraid to love all God’s children;
- Our lives and our congregations would be filled with the joy of loving others just like we have been loved by God through Christ Jesus.
I love the vision of extravagant hospitality! It is indeed a vision of what God has already done for us. God welcomes us without exception, cares for us in every way we need, never forgetting any of us. In other words, God loves us! God’s love is extravagant and always hospitable! As disciples of Christ Jesus we are called to also love with extravagant hospitality.
I believe that loving with God’s own Spirit in ways that extend extravagant hospitality to everyone around us is possible. What it will take is prayer and trust. We pray, welcoming God’s Spirit to come and live within us that we may be Christ like. We trust that as we live extravagant hospitality, God will be with us, helping us and filling all our needs.
A new United Methodist shared with me how he is helping his church and his community. Every Saturday his church sets up a market where persons can come and receive fruit and produce to supplement the limited food they have to feed their families. People come knowing that they will be welcomed, respected, and even loved. Families with need are helped to meet their basic needs and the church is helped in fulfilling its biblical mandate to love its neighbors. Saturdays a day of great joy in this community and for this church because of extravagant hospitality!
Young United Methodists are welcoming their friends to come and know and serve Christ Jesus with them. They invite them to church and to their youth groups. I get to meet them at our conference confirmation retreats, and am inspired by their commitment to be disciples of Jesus Christ transforming the world into a place that is hospitable and extravagant in love!
United Methodist Women in The Desert Southwest Conference are organizing to help immigrant families. They are advocating for comprehensive immigration reform and are marching in the streets of Phoenix giving a public witness to an extravagant hospitality that welcomes even immigrants!
Immigrants from Mexico but also from as far as the Democratic Republic of Congo, the island of Tonga, the Philippines, and Korea are being welcomed into our churches in the Desert Southwest. So are immigrants from Minnesota, Iowa, and Oregon! Extravagant hospitality in the name of Christ Jesus welcomes all God’s children.
Extravagant hospitality is bringing love and joy to the Desert Southwest! We are being transformed by it. Every time we practice extravagant hospitality in the name of Christ Jesus our hearts are joined with the heart of God and we are blessed. Thanks be to God!
- Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
