This year, along with many others, I have found myself shocked, saddened, outraged and moved to tears by the plight of so many desperate people, risking life and limb to find a safe haven. I have been shocked that parents have reached such utter helplessness and hopelessness, that they have abandoned everything they have known and loved. I have been shocked that a parent could reach the point where an overcrowded, leaky fishing boat presented the safest option for their children.
I have been saddened that there is nothing that I personally could do to help, and that others in positions of power to help have appeared so unwilling to do so.
I have been outraged at the social media postings by the likes of Britain First, trying to shame those who have fled in terror and desperation, and trying to breed an air of fear in our communities rather than love and support.
I have been moved to tears, as a parent, trying to imagine what it must be like….
We call ourselves a Christian nation, but Jesus taught that we should welcome the alien, the illegal immigrant, the widow, the orphan. The Bible reminds us time and again that all our offerings are worth nothing to him unless we do these things; that a heart that reaches out to the homeless is a heart that reaches out to him. Just as God shunned those who followed all the laws and traditions of the religious faith in Jesus’ time, but ignored the plight of the homeless, so he shuns those who cry out because some shopping centres wish to celebrate a winter-festival rather than Christmas, who also close their hearts and doors to refugees and call for closer border controls.
We call ourselves a Christian nation, but most of our Holy Night is spent filling stockings hung by the fireplace pretending that an old man in a red suit driving a Coke Cola truck has placed them there; filling ourselves with booze and food – a truly Bacchanalian festivity. There are more pagan celebrations followed in our ‘Christian nation’ than truly Christlike ones, if we are honest.
We call ourselves Christians, and we come to church to take part in the ‘true meaning of Christmas’, but the truth about Christmas can sometimes be hard to swallow.
Once we strip away the tinsel and trimming and Victorian images we have inherited we find the vulnerable and marginalised. A young woman, a pregnant teenager, travelling with a much older man, at the beck and call of a power mad occupying force. A family forced to give birth in a layby, a stopover for animals, because no one would give up their bed for her in an overcrowded city. No clean sheets, no fresh water, no family nearby to help and support – only her boyfriend who would not have been used to such intimate things.
A young family who find in this home-town that is not their home, a welcome that does not last. A welcome that turns to fear and infanticide and they are left to flee for the life of their son, leaving everything behind except those gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Refugees carrying wealth, but needing more than anything to find a place of security, a safe haven.
We call ourselves Christians, but do we truly believe this?
And can we truly believe that the baby at the heart of this bleak story is none other than the Son of God – a migrant from heaven to earth – finding sanctuary in a teenager’s womb, finding safety at the side of a carpenter, finding refuge to grow and develop until he was ready to take on his full role as God’s Son in renewing the world that he had helped to create.
Until we are ready to accept all this, to respond to these historical truths in the way that we live out our lives, we have not earned the right to call ourselves Christians, and we certainly haven’t earned the right to criticise others for the way that they find light and hope in the middle of winter’s darkest hours.
Something to listen to:
Some questions to think about:
- How does it make us feel when ‘Christ’ is removed from Christmas?
- Does it really matter?
- What does it mean to be ‘Christian’ in the 21st Century?
- How would Jesus respond to the Syrian refugee crisis?
- How can we honour God in this situation?
- Is there anything that we need to repent of in our thoughts and (in)actions?
- What are the practical responses we can make that would put Jesus back in the heart of worship?
Something to pray:
A Prayer for Refugees
Almighty and merciful God,
whose Son became a refugee
and had no place to call his own;look with mercy on those who today
are fleeing from danger,
homeless and hungry.Bless those who work to bring them relief;
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts;
and guide the nations of the world towards that day
when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace;through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
http://www.invitationtoprayer.org/prayers_refugees.html
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