Radical Welcome: Receiving Christ in Every Person 

This morning's sermon is a reflection on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 40 - end.

In today’s Gospel Reading the word welcome is repeated six times. The word used in other translations such as The Revised Standard Version was the more neutral ‘receive’. Other close equivalents to the Greek word apart from welcome or receive would be ‘accept’, ‘greet’, ‘embrace’. These other options give a flavour of the intense positivity of Jesus’ message.
 
St Mary’s has a history of welcome. From the tiled plaque by the North Door dedicated to the Netherlands Troops. This was presented by the Dutch Protestant Churches in appreciation of hospitality given to Dutch sailors by the town, between 1940 and 1947, and was dedicated on 7 May 1950. It poignantly states, ‘I was a stranger and ye took me in.’. In 1987 St Paul’s Church suffered an arson attack. The then Vicar, Alan Simper immediately contacted his St Paul’s counterpart to offer St Mary’s as a shared worshipping space until the repairs were completed 2 years later. The close links between our churches still resonate today. During the Summer months we have small, enthusiastic team of welcomers who open our beautiful Church, that perhaps we take for granted, and welcome visitors from of the four corners of the world. Visitors who are taken aback by the fact that there has been a place of worship here for about a thousand years. We can only imagine what these stones have witnessed.
 
Tomorrow evening, these stones will be our witness as we formally welcome Rev Seb Lundberg as our Team Vicar and his family into our Church Family. Exciting times lie ahead.
 
The word welcome or in German ‘Willkommen’ is derived from the Proto-Germanic word wiljacumo, which literally means ‘wished for comer’, that is someone whose coming you desire. To welcome is to invite another into your space, whether it be your home, place of work, church, a meal. It goes beyond obligation or toleration. It is to invite the ‘wished for comer’.
 
The Gospel Reading comes at the end of a section of teaching where Jesus send the twelve disciples into the community as missionaries to heal the sick, proclaim the good news and to cast out demons. They are told not to take anything with them, but rather to rely on the kindness of strangers and to have faith in God’s provision. They are also advised that when that this wouldn’t be easy and that they would not always be welcome.
 
We all know what it’s like when we are not welcome. It’s painful, particularly so, when it involves a Church or a Religious Community. I remember being on holiday with the children and on entering the church being told that the Family Service was next week. It gave the impression that we didn’t belong – that we weren’t welcome. I also remember during the same holiday sitting in a park in Hexham and suddenly being surrounded by people who were there for outdoor worship as part of the Churches Together In Hexham Holiday Club. We were made to feel so welcome, and the kids had such a good time that they didn’t want to leave!
 
There is a danger that all of us, and this includes me of having an unconscious bias, that could potentially lead to exclusion. At this point, I’d just like to pause for a second and acknowledge that I – we don’t always get it right, and when we don’t get it right it can be extremely damaging. Perhaps we need to reflect, apologise and to pray into that space.
 
Jesus’ teaching reminds us that we are all made in the image of God. We welcome another, we welcome that person in whose image they are made> Jesus’ followers were probably more than a little uncomfortable hearing Jesus talk about this kind of welcome. The reason being was in Judea at the time, everyone was defined by the groups they belonged to: Family, Tribe, Religion, Social Status and Profession to name a few. People were defined by their family ties, think of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, or by their place of origin, Mary of Bethany. In the Jewish Society of the time, who you welcomed into your home mattered. Clear religious and cultural boundaries delineated who belonged, who was ritually clean, and who was part of the community.
 
Jesus was constantly criticised for breaking these rules, for not conforming to the cultural norms. Jesus Kept welcoming and allowed himself to be welcomed by all sorts of people who the cultural norms of the day dictated that they were unclean, unsavoury or unsuitable. Jesus received water from the hands of the Samarian woman. Jesus stayed at the home of the tax collector Zaccheus. Jesus allowed himself to be anointed by a sinful woman. No wonder the Scribes and the Pharisees grumbled and said ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them’. Jesus constantly extended and expanded his welcome to bring in more and more people. What would this look like for us at St Mary’s today?
 
I saw this in the Church Times and was a notice apparently displayed in a Church in Scotland:

“WELCOME:
We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, in a partnership, divorced, widowed, gay, confused, filthy rich, comfortable, or dirt poor. We extend a special welcome to wailing weans and excited toddlers. We welcome you whether you can sing like Pavarotti or just growl quietly to yourself. Actually, if you can sing like Pavarotti, please see Jake after the service! You’re welcome here if ‘you’re just browsing,’ just woken up or just got out of prison. We don’t care if you’re more Christian than the Archbishop of Canterbury or haven’t been to church since Christmas twenty years ago. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet and teenagers who are growing up too fast.

We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, are down in the dumps or don’t like ‘organised religion.’

We offer a welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell or are here because you are at a loose end. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both or neither. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down their throat as children or got lost and wound up here by mistake. We welcome pilgrims, tourists, seekers, doubters . . . and you! You are very welcome.”

Could we welcome others in this way? What would it look like? How could we begin to offer this kind of radical welcome. When we welcome others, we don’t just welcome them, but the committees they belong to, and we welcome Christ in whose image they are made.

It is not enough to say welcome, we’ve got to make that welcome real, alive. We can offer so much more than coffee, tea, a cold drink. The reward will be great; in fact the reward will be eternal life. Our human welcome is so far inferior compared to the welcome we receive from Jesus.

Remember the story of The Prodigal Son, when the Father runs out with open arms to invite his son back home? That the welcome we receive from The Father. Shortly, Trish will invite us to come up to The Eucharistic Table, The meal where everyone is invited – and welcomed, for we are Jesus ‘wished for comer’ at his table.
Amen

Reader Chris Scoble 28 June 2026