|
Wednesday Wonder
July 25, 2018
We have recently concluded the first unit of three studies on welcoming the stranger and exile. This study has been sponsored by our Mission and Ministry team and our goal has been to identify the distinctive Christian voice of scripture and tradition. From this platform we may then explore any current issue, informed by the faith that guides us.
- In the Hebrew scriptures. we discovered the insistence that we are all created in God's image, called to be merciful, challenged to care for the exile even as we have been exiles, and counseled to care for the most vulnerable in our midst. The law of hospitality was extended to the vulnerable who received sanctuary "in the presence of my enemies."
- In the Christian scriptures we found the story of Christians living in a secular occupied land. The members of the Holy Family were themselves refugees as they fled to Egypt. The guiding measure of the Christian life is love of God and love of neighbor. Love is manifested in acts of justice and mercy. And God is found in the faces of the neediest - the "least of these."
- As we explored the tradition of hospitality through the centuries we found that Christian hospitality was often extended to the stranger and that Christians were often strangers who received hospitality. The monastic movement expanded this hospitality to welcome the stranger who was understood as Christ incognito. This understanding of hospitality expanded to churches that became places of sanctuary. From the sheltering of Jews to the sheltering of Central American refugees, the church has provided safety and shelter in the presence of danger.
Since Christians live within actual societies they often experience a tension between the relative civil laws of the land and the ultimate will of God. These are not always harmonious and sometimes come into conflict. When they do Christians must decide which they will honor and how. When the conflict between religious faith and civil law is irreconcilable Christians have to choose between the contingent laws of a given society and the Christian way of faith. This sometimes requires civil disobedience. An example is Christians who defied Jim Crow laws by sitting in the wrong places in segregated establishments. Segregation was the "law" of the land but through the eyes of faith it was clearly sinful, so Christians protested.
This fall we plan to create a series on Wednesday evenings that will address current issues of welcoming the stranger as seen through the eyes of faith. We hope you will join us.
|
