THE GOSPEL AND SYRIAN REFUGEES

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) - Caravaggio

Last Sunday, we heard the following passage from the Gospel of John in church:

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him,    ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  (John 18:33-37)

The kingdom of God, as opposed to the kingdom of the world, is the upside down kingdom Mary describes in her prayer of praise to God which is called The Magnificat.

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ (Luke 1:46-56)

In God's kingdom, the lowly are lifted up, and the proud and powerful are brought down, the hungry are fed, and the rich go away empty.  Thus the kingdom of God stands in opposition to the kingdoms of the world.  In his sermon, our rector, Doug, related the message of the Gospel to the plight of the Syrian refugees fleeing from persecution and violence in their own country and the opposition to accepting the refugees that we hear around the country.  The opposition claims to be rooted in fear that terrorists might slip through the stringent and lengthy screening process for Syrian refugees that takes up to 18 months or 2 years before approval is given.  Those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ have a choice: to allow fear to rule our lives, or to follow the Gospel of God's kingdom and welcome the refugees.  Doug said fear of terrorists and "the other" is understandable, but, for Christians, the message of the Gospel is clear.

For Doug to address the subject of welcoming Syrian refugees in the present, divisive atmosphere, when strong feelings run high against accepting more refugees, called for courage on his part, and he risked accusations of  "playing politics".  As for me, I'm grateful he addressed the matter of the controversy over the refugees.  If a Christian preacher preaches the Good News of Jesus Christ as described in The Magnificat and in many other words of Jesus in the Gospels, I don't see how he/she can avoid statements that might be called political.  Jesus preached over and over about the politics of power versus the powerless, and, though he embraces everyone with his love, he most certainly seems to me to favor the powerless.