Inviting me in
Who were these people, and why were they so genuinely friendly and interested in me? I appreciated the greeting, and it really made me feel at ease, but I couldn’t figure out why they were paying all this attention to me. I even called my mom to ask her what she thought about it, and she said, “It sounds like they're interested in who you are as a person and they're inviting you to be a part of their community.”

An invitation into a community . . . why was I so stunned? It never seemed odd to me to get an E-vite along with dozens of other people and pets I didn't even know on the guest list, yet an invitation into community surprised me.

Behind the banana bread was an invitation to live out who I am and to explore my gifts. I was invited to participate in an intergenerational church engaged in the community around it. This was a place where I was not patronized or celebrated just for being young—I was called to serve. It was up to me to act on this invitation. To accept it.

Joining a church can be hard, even harder than starting a new school, a new job, or a new relationship. People can be anxious about becoming part of a church. With real community comes real responsibility: We hold each other accountable, whether in service or in prayer.

When the people at this church said, “this is a place for all people,” I felt welcome and at home. I believed them, too, because I saw them live out that assertion. The body of Christ pulls us into relationship with each other. When we reach out to one another, we reach out with the hands of Jesus. And those hands that pull us together also send us out into the world to invite those who are hungry and thirsty and lonely and tired.

And those hungry, thirsty, lonely, tired people may not be looking for “church.” They're probably looking for community and for God’s love and acceptance. God is at work in the real stuff of our daily lives, in our relationships. God is present in the bread and the wine and in the sanctity of the waters of our baptism, yes, but God works in the rest of the world, too. Through us.

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