June 28, 2026 | 5th Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
References
Scripture: Matthew 10:40–42; Matthew 25:31–40
Video of worship/sermon
Welcome Begins With Relationship
I’d like you to take a moment to recall a recent situation where you felt uncomfortable, out of place, awkward … like you didn’t belong.
Have you felt this sometime in the last year?
It can feel pretty awful, right?
What difference might it have made if someone simply approached you and said, “Welcome!“
This simple word—welcome—caught my attention this week because Jesus used it six times in just three verses from Matthew’s Gospel.
It occurred to me how often we use the word welcome and how easily it rolls off the tongue.
It also occurred to me that welcome is not a solitary or one-time experience. We welcome—and are welcomed—in relationship … in community.
When Welcome Doesn’t Feel Welcoming
I wonder if you’ve also experienced welcome that hasn’t felt very welcoming.
Do you know what I mean?
The person welcoming you may have been completely sincere and genuine, and yet it’s almost as if they weren’t taking you into consideration – that they didn’t really see you, hear you, or accept you as you are.
A reserved person, even with a kind and sincere greeter, may not experience welcome if they’re greeted loudly with hugs and lots of physical touch.
Likewise, someone craving connection and touch may not experience welcome if they’re greeted with only a quiet nod from across the room.
Oftentimes, the way we welcome others is the way we would like to be welcomed rather than the way the person in front of us would like to be welcomed. It is a reflection of our own needs rather than theirs.
This welcoming stuff isn’t all that easy, is it?
Most churches say they are welcoming. Yet many people say churches are not welcoming.
Who is right?
Seeing Christ in One Another
Jesus gives us some perspective when he says,
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”
He reminds us that we are connected and that we are constantly building connections.
When we welcome and are welcomed, we recognize one another as fellow children of God. And that doesn’t just happen inside the walls of a church.
This kind of welcome also takes me to Matthew 25, where Jesus tells the parable of the king who welcomes those who cared for him when he was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned.
When the people asked, “When did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned?” the king replied,
“Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
Welcome is a way of loving.
A way of accepting.
A way of breaking down the walls and divisions that lead to loneliness and isolation.
A way of acknowledging that we belong to a community together—even if only for a moment.
Living Our Welcome
Holy Trinity has a Welcome Statement that expresses our commitment as a congregation to be a safe and welcoming place for all people.
But a welcome statement on a page doesn’t actually welcome anyone. It is you and me—empowered by the Holy Spirit that gives life to these words. It is we who have experienced the love and wide welcome of Jesus to also share with others. It is for us to lift those words off the page and out of the Bible and then live that wide welcome with all people.
We definitely want to live that wide welcome with the people who visit this congregation. But, just as importantly, with the people who are already here, with the people we’ve known our whole lives, and with the people we serve alongside in ministry.
Open to One Another
Living out this wide welcome means being open to what can happen when you are open to me and I am open to you. In those moments, we become open to growing and open to being changed.
You see, welcome is much more than simply being glad that people “out there” are now “in here.” Welcome is much more than simply being polite.
In the week ahead, how might we notice where our welcome to others may not be received as welcoming?
How might we intentionally live Jesus’ wide welcome in relationship with people we know as well as someone we don’t yet know?
Your welcome is so necessary and important to those who need to know they have a safe and good place where they are seen, heard, accepted, and loved as they are.
Reflection Questions
- When have you experienced a welcome that made you truly feel like you belonged?
- How might your way of welcoming others need to change so different people can genuinely experience belonging?
- Where is Jesus inviting you to practice a wider welcome this week—in your church, your neighborhood, or your daily routines?
Epicurious Lutheran 
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