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Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
-3 John 1:5-8
Folks who know me well know that I do my best writing at the coffee shop. I often go there for sermons and reflections, as well as preparing Bible studies. This morning was no different. I headed there to get some writing done after dropping the oldest off for a test help session at school. I parked and saw the “closed” sign. Although I was the first customer, I’m here enough to know the hours and ignored the sign. I walked in, and all the baristas greeted me by name and we started catching up. That’s when a non-regular walked in and mentioned the sign. They flipped it and assured her they were open. Whoops.
It occurred to me that it’s easy for us as people to have our signs flipped. From the outside, especially to a stranger, we are unapproachable, closed off. A good friend can see past this, but someone new might miss what we have to offer or go away still in need. So what do we do? I think there are two lessons to draw from our scripture. Strangers may be siblings we have simply not met and welcoming them requires the habits of looking and being approachable (our open sign). This may look like a smile (or at least not a scowl), speaking with kindness and civility and respect, opening a door or offering a hand. And it requires humility - an openness to a stranger telling us when our sign is flipped.
I had two teachers who taught me each of those lessons. The first was a chaplain at the hospital where I worked as a chaplain intern in seminary. She told me that half our job was to walk slowly through the wards so staff and patients would be able to approach and make requests. For a speed walker with purpose, it was an adjustment. The second was a professor I had during that same time. He walked even faster than I did. However, when I shared this wisdom I had learned, I noticed he slowed down as he approached students and other faculty. He had heard a student and been humble enough to change his habit of many decades. We should all be so nimble.
So my challenge today is to ask yourself if your sign is typically flipped to open or closed. Then to ask what habits you can form to be open more often. And lastly, to find ways to let strangers and friends tell you when it’s flipped and you didn’t mean for it to be.
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