I suppose, in a way, I am a professional wedding

goer. By that I mean I am often invited to conduct

weddings in hotels and other grand venues. Now
I am usually there very early to make sure
everything is ready for the ceremony. As a result,
I get on the chat with the staff. And very quickly I
suss out whether their welcome of the arriving
wedding party is genuine or a front for the sake
of business. Since there is no doubt a genuine
welcome is worth its weight in gold no such a
special day.

We cannot doubt that most of the crowd that day

on the Mount of Olives were honest in their
welcome. That is not really in question. But what
is is why their welcome was genuine and to
what purpose. Some came because they saw
Christ as a political figure the military messiah
long looked for by the Jewish people the
liberator of the land back to the Israel of the Old
Testament writers imagination. Others more,
laudably perhaps, saw a religious reformer
bringing justice, honesty even spirituality into
moribund even corrupt practice. A practice
which, to many, had become a business.
However, there would have been a few who
welcomed him for himself they knew him and

they loved him for it. He in turn knew them and

loved them for themselves.

Well, something in those observations can chime

with us today. Since it begs the question why do
we welcome people into our church?

Now let me be the first to say there are many

worthy reasons for welcoming new faces to our
fellowship. Take for example, the need all
humans have to worship God and find a
supportive community. We may feel that two or
three gathered in my name is an insufficient
formula for a congregation in Britain today.
Similarly, we may worry about the spiritual wellbeing of someone who does not maintain an
active fellowship with Christ through his family.

Yet no matter how important these reasons are

they are trumped by but one other. We welcome
them because they are beloved by Christ Jesus
knows them and loves them and they in turn
need to know him and find their love for him.

In the word of the famous advert Simples!!

And how do we know of this love, how do we talk

of this love and how do we prove this love?

There is a story about a man who visited a

church. He parked his car and started toward the
front entrance. Another car pulled up nearby, and
the irritated driver said to him, "I always park
there. You took my place!" The visitor went inside
and found that the service was about to begin.
He found a spare seat and sat down. A
congregational member approached him and
said, "That's my seat! You took my place!"
He apologies and moved to a vacant pew.
Within moments another member walked up to
him and said, "That's where I always sit. You took
my place!"

The visitor was troubled, but said nothing.

Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ

to be present with them, the visitor stood, and
his appearance began to change. Scars became
visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. The
marks of the crown of thorns were clearly visible

on his forehead. His back started to show scars of

a beating. Someone from the congregation
noticed him and cried out, "What happened to
you?"

The visitor replied, "I took your place."

In a nutshell let our welcome be genuine let

us welcome in Christs love let us welcome for
Christs love. But above all, let us welcome in
Christs place.

Amen