I start off today with a quote from the Gospel of Matthew, the 25th chapter, the 35th verse: ξένος ἤμην καὶ συνηγάγετέ με.

You may have difficulty reading these words, so let me help you:
Xenon ēmēn kai synēgagete me.

Do the words still seem foreign to you? Are they like strangers to your eyes? I understand. Unless the words of scripture are in a language we can read and comprehend, the meaning is lost.

Let me help you a bit further:

Xenon = a stranger;  ēmēn = I was; kai = and; synēgagete = you welcomed; me  = me.

I trust that you can put these together in a sentence, but let me tell you who said them. In a parable that Jesus told to his disciples, there is a king who welcomes some and turns others away, as if there were wanted sheep and unwanted goats. On what basis does the king make these decisions? The king names several reasons, but one stands out: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” When the “sheep” ask when this happened, the king says, “Whenever you did so to the least of these, you did so to me.”

The first word in the Greek text from our verse above is xenon, and it can mean: stranger, foreigner, alien or guest. You probably know the word xenophobia, which is the “fear of strangers,” and I am sure we can all come up with lots of reasons to fear strangers: they may want to do us harm; they may want to take our things or appropriate our resources; they may make us change our way of life. Jesus, however, praises those who treat the xenon well.

This last Saturday, our Pinnacle youth group, along with their youth leader, Brandon Huenemann, participated in a “Welcome to America” event, and I got to go with them. I am glad I did. “Welcome to America,” based in Tempe, prepares welcome “kits” for families that have arrived in Arizona as official refugees. These folks come from all over the world, and many of them have spent at least a decade in some form of refugee camp on their journey to the US. Many have faced life-threatening violence. “Welcome to America” provides each family with kitchen supplies, sheets, towels, some basic furniture, a simple vacuum cleaner, and even a basic TV. Our group got to visit four families, all within one apartment complex. Each of these families was originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but had been in refugee camps in Rwanda for many years. After we delivered these essentials, we then sat with each family, and through a translator, welcomed them and found out about their lives.

It was very meaningful to me and others from our church family to welcome these strangers and foreigners. All these families talked about how moved they were to be welcomed to America and provided such hospitality by volunteers. Simple things mean so much to those who’ve endured such hardships.

I thought about the passage from Matthew as we sat with these families, and though we were strangers, we found a commonality in smiles and words of gratitude.

You know, I never thought of Matthew 25 as a Christmas text, but the words “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” are fitting for these days leading up to the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Jesus came into a world where oppression and violence were rampant as a stranger. He came “as one unknown,” and sought refuge among us human beings.

One other thing to notice about our Greek text is the word synēgagete (you welcomed); this is the same word from which we can “synagogue,” which means “a gathering place.” It is where the faithful gather as a community, welcoming in those known to the fellowship and those unknown. It is a place where strangers become part of the family.

Imagine we hear the king in Jesus’ story say, as we approach Christmas, “I was unknown to you, as foreign and alien as one can get, yet you gathered me in, and beyond hospitality and welcome, you made me family.”

As we welcome the infant Christ this year, consider what it means to welcome others in his name, and gather them in.