Introduction
How should Christians respond to the various stories about migrants? In the West we are used to being able to visit anywhere in the world on holiday or for work. To reach some countries we may have to pay for a visa but it is rare for us to be refused. We speak of British people who live abroad as ‘ex-pats’ but of those who wish to come here as ‘migrants’. Paul teaches that ‘there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3.28). What might it mean in the contemporary world if Christians stood firm against all sorts of discrimination? Is this part of the ‘difficult teaching’ mentioned in today’s gospel (John 6.60)?
Context
Some newspapers and MPs have criticised the BBC for setting part of last Sunday’s Songs of Praise in the so-called ‘jungle’, the migrant camp in Calais. (For material about British volunteers in the camp read this BBC article.) 86% of the world’s refugees live in developing countries; the UK is home to fewer than 1%. (For other statistics read this government briefing paper.) Only a tiny minority of the many refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants fleeing into Europe find their way to Calais. Many, many more go to Germany and to Sweden than come to Britain. So the camp at Calais is but a tiny part of a much bigger issue.
Reflection
On last week’s Songs of Praise one of the Christian volunteers in the camp spoke very simply about the role of the church being for victims of war and of persecution, for the marginalised and for the poor; is this right? Writing about his small part in the programme, the Revd Dr Giles Fraser (priest-in-charge of St Mary's Newington, near the Elephant & Castle in south London) quoted the volunteer’s comment and noted that nobody had complained the previous week when the hymn ‘In Christ there is no east or west’ had been sung in the programme focussing on VJ Day, despite the fact that it was a polemical hymn written to counter the jingoism of Rudyard Kipling! What is your understanding of the teaching of the New Testament, and particularly the teaching about the equality of all people under God? And what implications does that understanding have for our attitude to those seeking to enter Europe, let alone the much smaller number in the Calais camp?
By their deep involvement in the work of food banks, many churches in Britain demonstrate vividly that they believe that we are called to work for the poor and marginalised in our society. Should churches be as involved with those seeking refuge from war and persecution, as indeed are many of those – e.g. those from Eritrea and Syria - coming to Europe’s shores? Is the church’s mission to the poor and marginalised difficult teaching in the sense of John 6.60? Are we called to stand firm against the denigration and (in some cases) downright lies peddled by the press about migration issues? At the very least are we called to be as fully informed as we can be about the facts?
Coincidentally, Giles Fraser also spoke on 'Thought for the Day' on 18 August about holidays. He noted their origin was in ‘holy days’. But he also argued that holidays are intended to be times when no one forces us to do anything; he argued that in that sense it was like worship.
Prayer
In your prayers of intercession remember those seeking refuge in another country for whatever reason.
Consider using the hymn ‘In Christ there is no east or west’ as a prayer.
Consider using these prayers for refugees.
A prayer that could be used early in a service to set the scene, or to end the sermon, or to end the intercessions:
God who welcomes strangers,
in all the complexities of our modern world help us to understand your will,
and guide those with great responsibilities to ways of compassion for migrants,
that your kingdom of justice and peace may come now and always.
Amen.
Questions
- What Christian teaching do you find particularly difficult (John 6.60)?
- We do not know how Joseph and Mary were treated when they sought refuge in Egypt (Matthew 2.14-15), but what implications does that snippet of a story have for our contemporary treatment of refugees and economic migrants?
Action
Consider active support for your local foodbank.
Consider supporting the Refugee Council, and/or the Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID).
Young People
Do you have contact with refugees or other migrants at school or elsewhere? If not how could you find out more about them, where they have come from, and why they are not living in their home country?
Dudley Coates is a Local Preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit and a former Vice-President of the Methodist Conference.
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