Welcome the Stranger: A Biblical Imperative

Gracious God, help us always to seek the truth, come whence it may, cost what it will. Amen.

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” The short gospel lesson you just heard concludes the tenth chapter of Matthew, which is known as the Mission Discourse. Jesus has gathered with his disciples and is teaching them and praying with them about what it means to follow him. He’s preparing to send them out to essentially go and do likewise: teaching, preaching, healing. And he warns them that it’s not always going to be easy. They won’t always be welcomed, and that following him does not come without risk.

Jesus got his own bit of pushback because he spoke against the oppressive Roman Empire. He was trying to show people another way. That’s his message. And welcoming the stranger is a core theological and biblical imperative. We see it replete throughout the Bible that one of our core tenets of our faith is to welcome the stranger. This morning, I want to lift up a few of those verses, just to refresh your memory on how important and foundational this concept is.

From the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

In the seventh chapter of Zachariah: “…Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”

And then, probably more familiar to all of us, is Jesus speaking in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew:  “…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Friends, these are foundational—they’re core biblical and theological imperatives of welcoming the stranger. And yet, that concept of welcoming the stranger seems to be challenged once again. I confess to you this morning a sense of déjà vu. I preached on this passage three years ago—lifted up welcoming the stranger and what Jesus taught. And I did so a few days after the Supreme Court had struck down affirmative action in college admissions, student loan forgiveness, and had limited LGBTQ protections. The poor, the oppressed, and the vulnerable, had previously been protected classes in our society. Yet here we go again. This past Thursday, the Supreme Court essentially ended Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants in this country and made it much more dangerous and difficult for asylum seekers to pursue asylum in this country.

I have to say that this is a huge personal and theological struggle for me. I grew up in South Texas surrounded by immigrants and considered it a gift. I was taught that it was a gift. My family and I were in and out of Mexico all the time. These were our neighbors. These were our friends. This has been my life experience. I’ve read the Bible more than once! —this is core: to respect the dignity of every human being. Now, I know that the issue of immigration is complicated and it’s incredibly challenging. If it had been easy, immigration reform would have happened a long time ago. But I maintain that we can exercise our laws in a way that holds fast, even to our baptismal vows: to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, striving for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.

If you think about it, unless you’re Native American, all of our ancestors are immigrants. We are a nation of immigrants. Some may have come hundreds of years ago. For others, such as my family, the first to arrive were our great grandparents and still others came more recently. As a nation primarily of immigrants, and as people of faith, we are called to welcome the stranger.

Decisions have consequences. You may have seen the article on the front page of the Washington Post yesterday. It’s titled: “Nation braces for fallout as temporary statuses end: Panic ripples through communities, nursing homes and factories.”¹ According to the article, there are more than 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians who may be impacted by this decision. And potentially, the Post writes, all 1.3 million immigrants from over a dozen countries who have been previously shielded from deportation are now at risk.

For context, the TPS law was signed by George Herbert Walker Bush when he was president in 1990. Over the decades, so many people from around the world have come to this country, had families, raised kids, contributed, paid taxes. Our neighbors, our friends. And particularly when you look at Haiti and Syria, I would have to say, I don’t think that they’re modeling a stable and secure country dynamic right now. People are still at risk there.

One of the stories that encapsulates the impact in the Post article was of a young woman who came here from Haiti when she was seven, and there was some horrible tragedy going on at the time. She put herself through school. She’s a registered nurse who lives with her elderly mother and a toddler. They bought their home. They pay their taxes. And now she’s terrified that she may be sent back to a country she hasn’t been to since she was seven and doesn’t even really know the language. Nursing homes and home care facilities are terrified because a disproportionate number of health workers are Haitian—on the front lines, caring for our parents and grandparents.

On Thursday, we released our newest podcast in which Dean Randy interviewed and had a conversation with Ray Suarez.² Ray Suarez is a wonderful friend of this Cathedral and a

former Chapter member. He wrote a book that came out recently called We Are Home: Becoming American in the 21st Century. It’s on the subject of immigration. I commend it to you. Toward the end of the podcast, the Dean asked Ray, essentially, what should people of faith be doing now? What’s ours to do?

Ray replied: “I would want people to constantly depose themselves, ask themselves questions about what increases the amount of goodness in the world…Does this thing that’s being done in my name reflect the way I want the world to be? And if not, why not? And what do I have to do as a citizen, as a voter, as a taxpayer, as a consumer, as a person of faith, to create circumstances that better reflect how the world should be, how it could be, rather than how it is. Just accepting the world as it is, is too easy a surrender…”

If you, like me, are feeling heavy hearted about our brothers and sisters who have come from other countries and want to do something, please know that our cathedral and cathedral congregation are very actively engaged in sanctuary ministry: providing services, support, and advocacy for immigrants and asylum seekers. There’s information on our website.³ Go to the Annual Congregation Meeting after the service. Or ask one of the clergy.

The Episcopal Church is also actively engaged and walking alongside our brothers and sisters. Our Presiding Bishop issued a statement on Thursday which reads in part: “The Episcopal Church will continue supporting immigrants and asylum seekers in all of our ministries. We will advocate for laws and policies that center welcome, protection from harm, and integration. The Episcopal Church is a home to immigrants, and Episcopalians across the country and around the world continue to minister to and walk alongside migrants in need. We will continue to uphold the dignity of refugees and migrants following the biblical call to welcome the stranger.”⁴

So many in our midst today are feeling disenfranchised and vulnerable. And to you, I say, we see you. We care about you. We will walk alongside you.

My next to last guiding word is from Pope Leo, who earlier this month spoke on this issue. He was in Las Palmas, the Canary Islands, the site of so many migrants seeking safety and a better life. Pope Leo said this: “Human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border.”⁵

I leave the final words for Jesus: “Whoever welcomes you, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” ⁶

“…Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”⁷Amen.

¹ Maria Sacchetti and Lauren Kaori Gurley, “Nation braces for fallout as temporary statuses end: Panic ripples through communities, nursing homes and factories,” Washington Post, June 27, 2026, Section A1, 1.
² “The Soul of America with Ray Suarez,” Washington National Cathedral Crossroads Podcast, Episode 60, June 24, 2026.
³ https://cathedral.org/congregation/ministries-outreach/sanctuary-ministry/
⁴ “The Episcopal Church’s Response on the June 25 Supreme Court Opinions on Immigration”, June 25, 2026.”
⁵ Address of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, Port of Arguineguín (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) Thursday, 11 June 2026.
⁶ Matthew 10:40
⁷ Matthew 25:40