We spent last Sunday worshipping at Redeemer Bible Church in Greenwood, Indiana with our friends Pastor Brock and Arica Graham. Brock was kicking off a new sermon series through the book of James. As I would expect from Brock, he masterfully unpacked the riches of just the first verse of the book introducing us to the author - “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” and the audience: “To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion”.
After the service, Brock invited to join him at his weekly preaching cohort where he is training aspiring young preachers and teachers. Brock invited them to spend the first 15 minutes critiquing his sermon, no flattery allowed. After some great feedback by the group, Brock asked me to share my insights.
There are nineteen words in the ESV translation of James 1:1 but there was only one that Brock chose not to address so I asked him why he chose not to unpack the word, “Greetings.” He said it was so packed with meaning that he didn’t have time. I agreed.
I shared with the group how powerfully the word “greetings” landed on me in light of my recent year-long meditation on the word, “welcome” from Romans 15:7. “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
In our age of loneliness and polarization, words like 'greetings' and 'welcome' carry redemptive power - creating bridges where walls once stood. For that reason, I implored Brock and his preachers, 'Don't skip over the greeting. It's not a throw-away word.'
Perhaps these words of welcome strike a particularly deep chord because of my own story. As an only child whose mom and dad didn't return from work until after 6pm each evening, I returned from school everyday to an empty home. From ages 7 to 27, I had no family members to greet me with a friendly “welcome home.” I don’t think I realized what a deficit that created until recently when I saw those biblical words leap off the pages of scripture.
To overcome this deficit, Andrea and I are elevating the value of three essential daily greetings. We call them “Welcome Home Habits”
The Morning Start-up. I usually wake up earlier than Andrea. I fix my coffee and head to my study to spend some time being welcomed by the Lord in his word and prayer. When Andrea wakes up she comes to find me. While we clear the fog in our heads, we are learning to intentionally spend a few minutes greeting one another with words of affection and encouragement. We have just spent 8 unconscious hours sharing the same space without acknowledging one another's presence. Without a conscious morning welcome we would easily continue to share space without sharing our hearts and lives. The morning start-up welcome restarts the relational connection.
The Strategic Re-entry. Like most couples our responsibilities usually take us in different directions throughout the day. Andrea has taught me the value of making sure I don’t leave her without saying goodbye. But after several hours or days away from one another we are learning how important the re-entry is. We have decided that neither of us should come home without the other pausing whatever we are doing for a warm welcome. It's a time to discern, “Is she coming in hot?” “Does he need a place to rest?” “Does she need to talk about something?”
The Nightly Shut-down. No matter how close or far apart we functioned throughout the day, we know we will lie down beside each other at the end of the day. How often have I taken for granted that I do not have to go to bed alone? That alone is a gift that deserves an expression of gratitude. Our last words are usually a simple affirmation of our love to one another and an unimpressive, but authentic, prayer. It's a habit that makes it really hard to hoard offenses overnight.
The simple act of greeting one another intentionally - morning, re-entry, and night - has become more than just a habit in our home. It's a daily reminder of how Christ welcomes us, and how we're called to welcome others. Just as James didn't waste his greeting to the scattered believers, we shouldn't waste ours. In a world where many return to empty homes or scroll through phones at the dinner table, these welcome home habits create sacred spaces of connection. They turn ordinary moments into holy ground, reminding us that sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is simply stop, look each other in the eye, and say "Welcome home."
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