Like all
children our grandchildren enjoy hiding from us and a walk home from school
will nearly always have at least one of the boys hiding behind a bush or a lamppost.
We play along and say, have you seen James or have you seen William. Then a
shout, I see you.
That phrase,
I see you, has been with me a few times this week.
On Thursday
I spoke to the Thursday Fellowship who meet every other Thursday at St Oswald’s.
(This Fellowship is over 100 years old!). Mainly elderly folk who come together
for a time of worship and to listen to a speaker or have some other activity. I chose to speak to them about Modern
Slavery. It is one of those topics that we know goes on, often under our noses,
in our town and maybe even in our street or road. But it is so often hidden and
as such we can begin to lose sight of an estimated 122,000 people, men, women
and children trapped in modern slavery across the UK. Across the world an
estimated 50 million people are caught up and trapped in modern slavery.
The Clewer
Institute (1) have produced this powerful video that talks about the
hidden nature of modern slavery and the call to ‘see you,’ to take notice and
be aware if we suspect someone is being exploited in this way.
https://youtu.be/7ClMChmeq1M?si=Xg_Pjm9T2vjW0FQQ
At St Oswald’s we have begun a Sermon Series on transformation and today explored a very familiar story for anyone involved with Prison Fellowship, (2) the story of a little man who went out on a limb to see Jesus!
Zacchaeus, from Luke
19.1-10.
Importantly
in verse 5 we read, ‘And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw
him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I
must stay at your house.”
Everyone
else saw a hated tax collector, a man who had become rich by exploiting and
taking money off others, often those who could least afford it. They saw Zacchaeus
as a tax collector who was working for Herod or even worse, the Romans. They saw
someone ostracised, outside of table fellowship. They saw a sinner - in their
judgement!
Jesus saw
something else – he stopped – he looked – he engaged.
‘…because
this man, too, is a son of Abraham.’ (v 9)
Can you
think of anyone, anyone at all, whom Jesus wouldn’t see, stop, look and seek to
engage with?
Can you think of anyone, anyone at all, whom you wouldn’t see, stop, look and seek to engage with?
There may be a good reason, and security is certainly an important one.
However, it remains a good question
to ask and as a watchword for the week….
Stop Look
See Engage
1)
The Clewer
Institute https://theclewerinitiative.org/
2)
The
Prison Fellowship https://prisonfellowship.org.uk/
3)
Stop
the Traffick - STOP THE TRAFFIK | People
shouldn't be bought and sold
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