Saturday 20th June was ‘World Refugee Day.’
“The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called on the international community to strengthen support for the nearly 42 million people worldwide who have fled their home countries to escape conflict, violence or persecution.”
Let that sink in for a minute – 42 million!
42 million minutes would take you all the way back to
1946.
In the Gospel set for Sunday 21st June 2026 (Proper
7 Year A) Matthew 10:24-39 we read the following…
Verse 27, “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the
daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
And what is it that we are to shout from the roof tops?
That the way humans are conducting their affairs is way
off kilter from God’s plans and desires, the Kingdom of God, or in Matthew, the
Kingdom of Heaven.
And in this Gospel passage Jesus gives a dark warning at
what will happen to those who dare to do such a thing.
Dare to shout and ask why are there 42million refugee, with
an estimated 2 million being children.
Some of the reasons are obvious, war, famine, natural disasters, economic stagnation, and persecution to name but some of the main factors. Often several factors coming together to create a complexity of issues.
At the time of Jesus farmers
would often be working at subsistence level. However, their Roman overlords
demand around 30% of their income in tax. Then for the Jews, there were other
taxes, including the Temple tax. That could amount to a further 20% of income. And
what was this 50% of tax going on? To pay for the occupying Roman army amongst
other things and to fund Herod’s Temple building projects and for others,
namely the aristocratic Sadducees who lived in the best houses at the top of
Jerusalem, to keep them in their lavish lifestyle.
And if you step out of line, they will crush you. That was why Roman’s left the dead bodies of those crucified. It was their ‘Facebook’ message of the day, don’t mess with us.
And Jesus says in Matthew
10.28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in
hell.”
Here we have two opposing forces
standing against the ways of God and the way for human flourishing for
everyone.
In the human context we have
the Roman Empire and lying behind that a dark, mysterious force, something
referenced as evil, or Satan or as in the passage, Bezelboul, sometimes Bezebub.
This roughly translate as Lord of the Flies or Lord of the Dung Heap.
Follow the path of the world's empires, says Jesus, and that is where you are likely to end up.
It would be a rare thing for
a serial killer to live and ordinary and decent life and then suddenly decides to
brutalise and torture people to death. It is incremental, step by step, darker
and yet darker still into the very depths of hell where your very soul, the essence
of your being is overtaken by evil and perpetrating evil.
There is another way of
being human and seeking the flourishing of the others says Jesus. Demonstrated
by the way Jesus ‘set the captives free.’ Free from social ostracism, free from diseases and afflictions and even from death.
But this is a costly path to
take and just think of the context in which Jesus said, “Whoever does not
take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10.38
And not only will we find oppositional
forces from the ruling authorities we will also have opposition from within the
family, our own kith and kin.
I like the way Tom Wright sets out the cost of following Jesus. Firstly, if you were trying to recruit people to a political party, the words Jesus uses here are not likely to gain much traction. But suppose you are being called to a dangerous rescue mission. You are being called to be razor sharped focussed on the task in hand. Everything you have is to be given to this venture.
But then, but then, look at how
Jesus talks of our value, much more than a sparrow and even the hairs on your
head are numbered and known. A poetic way of saying God loves us and cares for
us with an immeasurable love.
And in Matthew 10.39, “Whoever
finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will
find it.”
Find your life in the world’s
empires and you will lose the best life God offers. (See Colossians 3.3) Lose yourself in
serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and you will find life and life in abundance.
(John 10.10)
Tom Wright put the cost of following Jesus when referencing St Paul, with a humerous quip, "Wherever St. Paul
went, there was a riot. Wherever I go, they serve tea."
But that does bring a challenge.
Perhaps we are not shouting loud enough about the injustices in our world and proclaiming
a better way of ordering our affairs, God’s Kindom way!
May this be our prayer....
https://youtu.be/O5_TVy2gHRg?si=3mekW7w2-nLOuvA_
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