Thursday, June 2

Romans 12:9-13

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

America has always had influential families:

• The Adams family – with both John Adams (2nd President), and his son John Quincy Adams (6th President). 
• The Kennedy family with their famous sons, John, Robert and Ted. 
• The Bush family produced two presidents; George Herbert Walker Bush and George W. Bush. 
• The Cleavers gave us Ward, June, Wally and The Beaver. 
• The Cartrights gave us Adam, Hoss and Little Joe. 
• The Bunkers gave us Archie, Edith, Gloria and “Meathead.” 
• The Simpsons gave us Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie (Ii had to look that up because I never watched “The Simpsons” very much!)

But one of the most influential families in my life is a family I’m almost positive you have never heard of: the Marr family.

Douglas and Fiona Marr were Scottish and living in Geneva, Switzerland in 1978-79, at the same time I spent almost a year living there following graduation from college. I was not only thousands of miles from home, but also immersed in a culture and language that were foreign to me. Early on in my stay in Geneva, I found a small English-speaking Baptist church that I attended most Sundays. The pastor was an Englishman and the services were rather dull but I went because it was just so nice to hear people speaking my language instead of struggling to understand French! The church was made up of Brits, Australians, South Africans, Scots, Canadians, Irish and two or three Americans, of which I was one.

One of my first Sundays at the church, a jovial looking man with an accent I later discovered was Scottish, invited me to join his family for Sunday dinner. I still remember that first afternoon at the Marrs. There were probably 5 or 6 of us who had been invited to their home,  and all of us were “ex-pats” – living in a country that was not our own – and we were living alone, far from our homes and families. The Marrs had intentionally sought each one of us out and had invited us to share their home and their family. What I soon learned was that Sunday dinner at Marrs was actually an all-day affair. There was dinner, which when you were used to eating off a hot-plate in your apartment, always seemed like a feast. Then there was always a long conversation at the table – either about the sermon that day or about some other spiritual or cultural topic. Then if the weather permitted, there were hour-long walks in the countryside – simply for exercise and fellowship. When we returned, Fiona had prepared the afternoon “tea” in true Scottish style. “Tea,” which usually came at around 5 or 6 pm, was a time for enjoying various chocolates, desserts like rice pudding (which was Fiona’s specialty), various cheeses and crackers, and even more conversation. By the time we headed home from “dinner at the Marrs” it was usually about 8 pm or so – and the day had been well-spent.

Dinner at the Marrs became something that I looked forward to all week – not just for the food, and not just for the chance to speak and hear English – but for the sense of being in a home again. The Marrs had allowed their home to be a kind of “home away from home” for me – and a place where faith was very real and comfortable. Looking back on those Sunday afternoons, I realize the Marrs gave me a great gift – a gift I believe contributed to me sensing God’s call on my life at the end of my time in Switzerland! Through their simple acts of hospitality and generosity, the Marrs had allowed their home to be a place of quiet but profound influence in my life.

You may not live in Switzerland, you may not be Scottish and you may not know how to make rice pudding, but God wants your home to be a place of influence. Ask him to show you how!

Brian Coffey