An Advent hymn written in the 1600s by my 10th great-grandfather, Paul Gerhardt, begins with a question: “O Lord, How shall I greet Thee? How welcome Thee aright?”

It seems my ancestor approached this holy season with the theme of hospitality at the front of his mind, and I’m here to invite each of us to do the same. What is hospitality if not the act of anticipating the arrival of, and welcoming, another?

By the time this column has made its way to you, I will have been to Michigan and back again. My husband and I are making the nine-hour drive to visit dear friends. In these weeks of anticipating our arrival, my friend Kristen has been contacting me on almost a daily basis.

She began by showing me our “suite” they created in their basement. She took me on a video tour of the newly arranged beds, their matching linens, the freshly laid carpet, the little sitting area. Another time she sent a picture of a tea station she created just for me. I’d receive questions from her such as: Is this laundry detergent safe for you (look, it’s fragrance free!), and what kind of soap do you use? She planned our meals with all my allergies in mind and is filling our days with what we love most.

I would venture to say the last time I was so joyfully anticipated, so meticulously prepared for and so thoughtfully considered was at my birth.

How shall I greet Thee? Clearly like this!

I agree with my 10th great-grand­father that Advent is about hospitality, about anticipating an arrival, about preparing a space in our hearts, if not homes. But not just for Jesus.

THe question of welcoming aright leaves me wondering also about welcoming awrong. About the times we greet someone with disdain, with judgment, with condemnation or with a closed door.
I just read in Philip Yancey’s new book, Where the Light Fell, that Tony Evans, who would go on to become a world-renowned evangelist, was banned from membership at Yancey’s childhood church. Banned because he was Black.

O Lord, how shall we greet Thee? How welcome Thee aright?

I wonder if, as my ancestor penned this question, Matthew 25:35-40 was on his mind: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . . as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Or perhaps Luke 9:48, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me.”

Or maybe Romans 15:7, “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you.”

I wonder if he was familiar with St. Benedict’s rule of hospitality that everyone who comes should be welcomed as Christ. Clearly Yancey’s childhood church was not. Are we? Who are those to whom, for one reason or another, our gates are locked and barred? To whom our minds, hearts, churches or communities are closed? For whom we have (or make) no room because we can’t seem to recognize Jesus in them?

How can we welcome Christ while casting out our brothers or sisters? Dear friend, simply put, we cannot. What we do to them, we do to Christ. End of story.

That means the question this season is not only, “O Lord, how shall I greet Thee?” but also, O Lord, how shall I greet them? How welcome them aright? Them being every single human being, friend or foe, familiar or not.

Have you seen the “Welcome Your Neighbors” sign? In Spanish, English and Arabic, it reads, “No matter where you are from, we are glad you’re our neighbor.” It originated from Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., and is now on beautiful display on lawns across America.
When my husband and I were at a New Jersey beach for a weekend last year we came across another yard sign. An unwelcome one. This one was red, white and blue, and it read, “All welcome EXCEPT (yes, in extra large letters) Democrats, liberals and progressives.”
All welcome except . . .

What might my sign read?

All welcome except you whom I don’t understand, you who do things differently, you whom I fear, you who’ve hurt me, you who are not my kind, you whom I disapprove of, you who don’t dress right or speak right or act the way I think you should.

All welcome except . . .

O Lord, how shall I greet them? How welcome them aright? For how I welcome them is how I welcome you. No exceptions.