Principal Service

Continuous:

Genesis 21.8–21

Psalm 86.1–10, 16–end [or 86.1–10]

Romans 6.1b–11

Matthew 10.24–39

Scripture quote

So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.

Refugee Sunday?

This mornings readings are rather hard going, but I think once we dig a little deeper, there are important themes which come out. What is helpful to consider when reflecting on these stories is the context within which they were written.

Our story from Genesis with Hagar being sent out into the wilderness with her child essentially to die, is difficult to understand in this day and age. But we have to remember that at that time a women completely relied upon her husband for everything and when he died it was then past on to her son. If Hagar and her son had of stayed, there would have been a risk that when Abraham died Hagar and her son, who was older, could have thrown Sarah and Isaac out to their deaths. So Sarah did what she did for her and her sons survival. The fact that the world that Sarah and Hagar lived in meant that this action of throwing a mother and her child out to die was the only option, shows how unjust that world is. Yet God sees the injustice of this situation and provides for Hagar and her child. Today is refugee Sunday and this reading really makes me think of those families who flee from war, famine, religious persecution or any other kind of danger they find themselves in through no fault of their own. As Christian’s I believe we have a responsibility to provide support to those who have been made an outcast through no fault of their own and try and change the injustice of that situation, just as God provided for Hagar and her son.

In our reading from Romans, Paul is trying to explain to these early Christians that just because Jesus died for our sins, does not mean we can just keep on sinning and it doesn’t matter! I can understand how some people could think, well if Jesus has died for our sins then we are automatically forgiven! But it isn’t as simple as that. Rowan Williams describes Sin as contradicting the purpose and direction of the Universe as God intended (pg 52 Thanks). So in scripture we read how God tries to helps us understand the right way to live, but the right way to live is not always the easiest, so we sin. For example when it’s comes to our life styles, it’s easier just to throw things away then it is to recycle, yet we know when we throw something away it will end up on land fill for a few thousand years. We can argue that we didn’t realise the impact this was going to have on the planet in the past, but we know now and because there isn’t an easy solution, we keep doing it. God didn’t intent that Sarah’s only choice to survive was to throw out Hagar and her child into the world, it was the society that they lived in that created that choice.

In our gospel reading Jesus is explaining that as Christians we are living a way of life that will often go against the grain. To follow Jesus means to live a way of life that may be in conflict with friends, family and even other Christians. It is not easy and not straight forward. We will make mistakes along the way but it is important that we bring those mistakes into the light so that we can learn from them.

It is not just individuals who are sinful, societies and institutions have created rules or actions to exclude people based on their race, colour, sexual orientation, gender or ability.

The 22nd June marked the 75th anniversary of the first boat that arrived from Jamaica, the HMT Windrush. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the Windrush generation and their experiences of coming to this country. The contributions of this generation of people are massive including their contributions to the NHS, teaching, music and many other aspects of society. However sadly celebrating these contributions, comes with a tinge of sadness because of the discrimination and prejudice this generation faced, not only in the past but even today!

Last week I had the great pleasure and honour of meeting the Bishop of the West Indies. I listened to stories of people who had been going to church all of their lives only to come to this country and be rejected because of the colour of their skin.

One of the mistakes the Church of England made during the early days of the Windrush arrivals, was to ignore the desire of these people to join these churches. They had been part of Anglican communities in their home, yet when they arrived here they were told to find another church to go to. Why? Simply because of prejudice. People made assumptions about these people and instead of welcoming them and asking them about their Christian story, they were rejected.

Yet talking and hearing their stories and experiences, I saw the resilience of this generation and a determination to not let this rejection stop them from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. It made me wonder how many more people of colour we would have as part of our Anglican community today if we had of welcomed this generation of people rather than rejecting them? It makes me think, how many people are we rejecting today because of prejudice, fear or a lack of understanding? It is why being part of inclusive church is so important to me, because through that network we are reminded to always strive to welcome. To look at our actions and think what could we be doing better?

Paul asks should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! Thinking about our actions and adjusting our lives so that we act in a more Christ like way is not easy. It takes patients, resilience and a large amount of listening to the Holy Spirit. It means challenging others, but also being willing to listen to others even if what we hear is uncomfortable.

The early Christian’s that Paul is conversing with in this letter are debating about the gentiles being welcomed as God’s people. As a gentile movement, Christian’s were engrafted into God’s people, given new insights and the means to know God. However over the centuries, as the Christian tradition grew, and in particular grew further apart from Judaism, it had forgotten that it was welcomed in as a stranger and came to see itself as the chief steward or master of the ultimate revelations of God. (Jennings. Supersecssionsism). This is why we need to be even more aware of our actions and make sure we bring them into the light.

I wonder if we see the way that strangers are treated and because we fear that we will be treated the same, we go along with injustice? It’s clear that this happened in Germany during the Second World War. It happened every day in this country during the 60’s and 70’s when people would walk by houses that had written, no dogs, no Irish, no blacks. It happened the day George Floyd died under the knee of a police officer.

I’ve said this before, but being a disciple of Christ is not an easy journey, it requires us to be out in our communities to share the good news and challenge the injustice that we see. Yet we also need to work in hear, within ourselves and think about the ways that we have been sinful and have not provided for the stranger the way God provided for Hagar and her child. As we reflect on the Windrush generation and all that they brought to this country, as well as those who have come to this country seeking refuge, let us consider what more we could do to provide a generous welcome. The kind of welcome that we have received from God’s people.

Amen.