Smile First

Jesus did not just come to save us. He also came to give us a model for how to live, for how to be human with one another. And that's what we're looking at today of how to go into the world.

He made his home among us, but he was different. Following Jesus will make you look different, but are the goal is to be different, not distant. See the difference? The goal is to be different in the world, not distant. We’re starting off with the very first value of smile first. When we smile at one another, we’re saying, “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you’re here.” A smile in a hard season can remind someone that's going to be okay. That I'm right here. A smile has power.

I want you to think about the moments where we can't smile, where no one in the room can muster a smile. That reminds us of the power that we bring when we do smile. And you see, I'm not just talking about a literal three second smile, although I think it does start with that. I'm talking about a disposition, a posture. Does our posture speak goodwill towards the people that we’re around? Is our posture saying, I'm here in this moment in the present with you, and I'm glad that you're here and there's good in store for you. There's hope for you.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you hold the power of that hope within us and a smile. I believe that's the gateway. It's the beginning. It's the starting point. The way to that hope. 2 Corinthians 5 says that we are ambassadors of that hope. We are ambassadors of God that just like an ambassador shows up and represents someone that's not physically present. We are ambassadors. We wake up every single day, not just representing ourselves.

If you said yes to Jesus, you wake up every day representing him. He's making his appeal through us that whenever you look at someone and your smile says, I see you, you're not just saying I see you, but also that God sees you. That’s what is behind our smile. And you see, you get to do that wherever you show up in your day, get to take hope wherever you go in the world. And so, on Sunday mornings, we get to take hope. We, the church, get to take hope wherever we go every single day, where we live, where we work and where we play. There’s a reality that where there are people in our lives, there is a need for hope.
 
There is a need for hope and for some good in the world. That’s where you get to take it. It can be in the line of the grocery store, it can be at soccer practice, it can be at the gym where there are people. But quite honestly, we can miss it. We can miss it because our attention is focused on us. It isn’t in my schedule or in my calendar. I’m too busy.

But it isn’t our schedule. It's the one God has given us. We can all say yes, taking that step to bringing hope into the world because our disposition holds hope. Our disposition has power in it. And our disposition can either make people feel like they're an inconvenience or like they matter. And if they know they matter to you, then they can begin to know they matter to God. You see, I don't believe that someone can know they matter to God until they matter to you first. And that's why this value matters. That's the whole reason we're focusing here today.

We’re talking about the value of smiling first. We've defined it here at Preston Trail as welcoming people, so they feel accepted and expected. We’re going to spend our remaining time together on three topics of welcoming, accepting, and expecting.

When we look at Jesus, he welcomed all types of people. He welcomed the people who on the outside looked very sinful, whose exterior was so unholy, so sinful that religious people did not want to associate with them. Tax collectors, prodigal sons, the adulterous woman.

He welcomed women who did not have value at all outside of who they were married with or what family they were a part of. He welcomed social outcasts, the mentally unstable, those who had to live apart from society, who didn't fit in the confines of our society. They literally had to live in the tombs the demon possessed, the lepers, the sick. Jesus welcomed all people.

We’re called to accept people. We're called to accept them because God calls them worthy of his love, period. He did that for all of us while we were still sinners. Christ died for us. He invites us into his mission, even though we're still figuring it out too. God's posture has always been full acceptance and full love before we ever believe and behave. And part of smiling first is extending that same love. smiling first, welcoming all people so they feel accepted and expected.

Expecting someone is to anticipate them and to prepare for their arrival in a way that makes them feel wanted, seen, and received. What if Christians were known for their gentleness and their respect? We should expect people to ask. We should expect people to see our hope. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.”

Ask God to open your eyes to see people the way He sees them as deeply loved and valuable. Ask Him to help you notice people who are different. And to help you see your own biases and tendencies and aversions. Ask Him to broaden your definition of welcoming all people to really mean welcoming all people.