“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
“Lord…when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you?”
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
—Matthew 25:35b – 40
Why are we intentional about welcoming people to St. Luke’s? It’s really pretty simple. Jesus asks us to be.
We don’t know why the stranger has entered our doors. Someone new to the community? Someone facing a sudden hardship? Someone seeking God for the first time? Someone concerned about the faith of their children?
And we don’t know what gifts they might have to offer St. Luke’s should they choose to stay. A potential Sunday School teacher or choir member or head of the altar guild? The next treasurer or warden or lay reader?
And none of that really matters. There is no motive in welcoming, except one. That to welcome the stranger is to welcome God into your house and to be open to the surprises that God has to offer.
