At The Edge

The word ‘Christian’ means ‘Follower of Christ’. As Church and as a Christian community we are aspiring and I hope attempting, imperfectly, to follow Jesus. Not an easy task! I am often astounded that we dare even to state such an aim.

If our intention is to follow someone then the first question which needs asking is a geographical one, where is he? Where can we find this Jesus?

The New Testament gives us a clear but challenging answer,

Jesus most often placed himself at the edge, at the edge he is a compassionate servant to the poor, the marginalised, the ill, the possessed and the forgotten. But his presence at the edge is much more than that, Jesus incarnates not just as a human being  but more deeply than that as a human being at the edge. The mystery of the incarnation is that whenever we exclude, oppress or ignore another person it is with these very people that Jesus seeks to be incarnated. To follow Jesus is to be a moving people, moving towards the periphery, incarnating ourselves, at the edge.

But Jesus is also present at the centre, he does not live there but he does make regular visits. At the centre he is a courageous prophet speaking truth to power on behalf of those at the edge, taking the risk of being smacked (and sometimes actually being smacked) by those who neither want to listen or to let others hear.

As Christians we are called to attempt to follow along such an incarnational path, to reject the lure of the comfortable, to spend most of our time at the edge, to be compassionate, patient and servant-like to the victims of our society. The asylum seekers, the homeless, the addicted, the depressed, those evicted by the bedroom tax, those far from a familiar home, those separated from family, those on zero-hours contracts, those crippled by debt, those forced to pay exorbitant rents and energy bills; we are called to be among those without hope.

We are called to occasionally take trips into the centre, to protest, to criticise, to be among the 75’000 at the conservative party conference lobbying for the NHS, to be among the 25 at our local drone factory protesting about killing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, to be outside the DSEI Arms fayre in London, to write to those imprisoned in the pursuit of right, to write letters to our MP and MEPs.

To attempt to be a Christian is to seek to be incarnated with those at the edge and to risk rejection from the centre, not an un-daunting calling ....... We have a long distance yet to travel.