Strangers are both noticed and notice things. Having moved to a new area in 2017 I have
been a stranger in a new area. I have
noticed things. Of course it may be that
many others embedded in the communities I have engaged with have noticed the
same things, but my gut feeling, and from conversations with others, is that
things I have noticed may not be in the consciousness of others.
I’ll tell you what I have noticed in my new area in
contrast to where I moved from. Institutions
and people within them seem genuinely more determined to help rather than a
“jobs worth” attitude. There is stunning
countryside and scenery. It is a great
contrast to living by the sea, but that is the right expression – a great
contrast.
Then some other interesting observations (well to me
anyway). People seem to routinely park on pavements with consequent problems
for pedestrians. This happens rather
routinely and very very frequently.
Second I am stunned by the number of metal shutters on shops, metal bars
inside windows of offices and businesses, and the number of burglar
alarms. Third I am amazed at how often I
see motorists run red lights. It has happened enough for me to expect it now
when I see a red light.
All this may be of no interest to anyone, but I share
it to make the point that it is important to see through the eyes of the
stranger. The stranger often notices
things we have got used to. This is why
it is so important to listen to strangers that interact with the Church. I am
particularly thinking of those who come along to our worship or to our church
events. They often notice things that
those on the inside have long ceased to see.
It is one of the reasons why many churches think (genuinely) that they
are welcoming when in fact all they are is a comfy club for the insiders. For the outsider, the stranger, they are
assault courses to be negotiated with little or no help. If you want to know if you are welcoming ask
the stranger not the club members.
Hospitality is so much more than thinking it nice that new people have
dropped in.
The stranger is important in the Bible. We are reminded
there in many places that we are to welcome the stranger and to be hospitable to
the stranger. This is as relevant to the Syrian refugee who
may be one of a larger group as it is to the individual who wanders through the
door of a church on a Sunday. Indeed
Proverbs 5:10 is extreme in its direction to God’s people “Let strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another”.
Jesus likened himself to a stranger when he spoke about the sheep and
goats on judgement day and effectively said he had been treated as a stranger
and not welcomed through his followers being rejected (Matthew 25:31-46). The idea of Jesus being treated as a stranger by us is a fascinating one, since as the one through whom we were created (Colossians
1:16), he will know us more intimately than any human could.
Be careful of shunning the stranger. The stranger may know us better than we
think.
So next time
we want to see something clearly maybe we should stop looking with our own eyes
for a moment and try to look through the eyes of the stranger. We might learn a lot.
Maybe as we
enter 2018 we can use the opportunity that the New Year brings to determine
that we will welcome the stranger. Like Abraham, who was visited in Genesis
Chapter 18 by three men at Mamre, we might never know how much of the Divine we
are encountering and how far our lives might be transformed through the
encounter.
