Penultimate Service at Gelliwastad Road

Led by Stephen Webber

 

Reflection

Readings

Genesis 18: vv. 1-8          Matthew : 25: 31-40

 

As an introduction to his Reflection Stephen brought to our attention that three of the last four services to be held in the Gelliwastad  Road building, before we move to our new home at Castle Street, Treforest, were being led by members of the church, who between them had been part of the church family for over 150 years. Iestyn and Michael first attended as young children and Stephen has been a member for about 45 years.  Dave Kitchen, who will lead our final service next week has been a frequent guest preacher for over 40 years!

 

Welcoming the stranger! 

Origin of idea

The thought came to me over time, through a couple of different things.

The first was some of the language used by politicians and media – illegals, invaders – de-humanising whole swathes of people – Using the label of invader brings other baggage, other things we associate with the word. An invader is someone to be scared of, to fight off, to repel.
Using labels for people can be dangerous as you then associate other properties with that label – without knowing the full story or full picture

The other seed was attending a church where nobody knew me and I was the stranger and what sort of welcome did I feel I had.

 

Old testament reading of Abraham

In Genesis 18, Abraham welcomes the 3 strangers – in those days, hospitality industry did not exist – no Premier Inns or Airbnb – Travellers and traders would cross from Africa to Asia through the lands of the middle east. Hospitality would be given and was the responsibility of the Village and there were 7 rules

1. Whole Village was responsible for hospitality and protection whilst the visitors were there
2. Strangers must be transformed from Enemy to Ally with the hospitality they receive
3. Only males could offer the hospitality (though suspect it was women who did all the work)
4. The timespan was given upfront but was flexible
5. Stranger could refuse but would be an affront to the person offering it
6. The guests could ask for nothing but the host would offer the best they could
7. Guest must offer their gratitude

 

New Testament reference

Even in New testament times there are examples. In the nativity story, we see Joseph, Mary, Jesus and even the wee donkey leave Bethlehem for the sanctuary of Egypt until Herod has passed away when it is safe to return to Israel.

The apostle Paul travelled to many cities and countries preaching the good news of Jesus

There can be many reasons why people move around – maybe for Education (off to university or college), maybe for a new Job or new contract, maybe for family reasons – to be closer to family member who needs help and support, maybe for safety – to get away from a dangerous situation .

 

Where are you from?

I wonder how many people are where they started – I am Ponty born and bred so never moved away, how many have either moved here, or parents or ancestors move here. Some of my roots are from mid and north wales – grandparents moving to the South Wales valleys because that is where the work was. If we were to get our DNA analysed how much of it would be found to contain just Celtic origins or more likely to have some Angle, Saxon, Norman or other strands in it.

Humanity has always been nomadic – that is how we are here now and not somewhere in Africa in the cradle of civilisation. Humans probably first appeared in Southern Africa about 7 million years ago, Lucy one of the oldest hominid fossils was found in Ethiopia and she was from 3 million years ago. Humanity has a characteristic of exploring – whats over the hill, lets go and find out.

Not just humanity, many other creatures migrate too from 1 place to another – Birds, fish, whales, etc.

One of my favourite bird projects is the Dyfi Osprey Project – Each march the ospreys return to their own nest, rebuild it, make themselves at home, lay eggs, raise chicks and come September they are gone, back to Africa and leaving us wonder if they will return next spring or if
we will see new ospreys, when will we see the chicks that were raised return back to raise their own chicks.

The puffins that flock to Skomer during the spring/summer – lay eggs in burrows, feed their chicks then off to the sea at summers end when the parenting has been done.

Migrating and moving around isn’t just human, its found all over the animal kingdom. So I want to look at it from both ends of the telescope. Being a stranger as well as seeing the stranger.

 

What’s it like to be a stranger and feel a welcome or rejection.

What sort of welcome would we want to have when being the stranger in a group – A warm welcome, friendly faces, feeling of being accepted, included, part of the group, appreciated, valued. A willingness to accept me as I am and where I am in life’s journey. To feel safe
Feeling as if I can make a contribution and that I can learn something as well as being able to teach something.

So not to be ignored, excluded, unwelcome, unwanted.

I wonder what your experiences have been of being the stranger and the sort of welcome you had. Have you been to places where you felt a warmth or places you were glad to leave never to return.

Most of us here would have been strangers in this congregation once. What do we remember of our welcome? It must have been ok as we are still here.

For a period I went around different churches on my own and experienced different welcomes – I originally thought that a church would be naturally welcoming but I have to say some places were much better at it than others. That is not to say some were hostile, some places I felt invisible, people wanted to speak to their friends or catch up on news and not that bothered about the new face in the crowd.

As a member of different societies I have experienced different levels of welcome – its certainly easier to be invisible in a large crowd than a small group, but it is possible to be left out of even a small group.

I don’t know if you have had the experience of going to a group or a club or society which had the distinct feeling of only being for those who were there. Members only, outsiders either not allowed or seen as 2nd class participants. Perhaps seen as a threat to the status quo that they
are uncomfortable with. Perhaps, if we look different or look out of place then we are not wanted because to belong you have to conform.

But the onus isn’t all on the larger group, as the stranger you can take the initiative and make it easier for the group to welcome you but appreciate that is not easy to do, unless you are one of life’s natural gregarious persons.

 

Sometimes we can be strangers together

And there are occasions when the group as a whole all strangers to each other – where no one knows anyone.

Sometimes we can be strangers together and look to each other for friendship and company along the journey. – Perhaps in a hospital ward, on a long journey, on a training course

So strangers becoming friends for a short time as they journeyed on together for a while.

We will soon be moving and we will be the strangers in a community that will not know us – how will they welcome us? Will we be made to feel as if we belong there , as if we can make a contribution there.

What will we do to make the community feel that we belong there? What can we do to show that we want to be accepted by the community. Will we make friends of other churches nearby? Will we be able to work with other agencies in the area?

As Revd Dr Jeff Crittenden said to us a few weeks ago, talking about the disciples setting sail over the Sea of Galilee intending to go to Bethsaida, a fishing village, a familiar place but ended up in Gennesaret, a totally different place which they did not know. But that was where they were meant to be and that was where they were to share and live out the life Jesus taught them about.

 

What about the other end of the telescope –

How do you welcome the stranger, how do we welcome the stranger? Perhaps the only judges of that are those who have come to us as strangers.

Strangers can come to us in different guises – not necessarily those from far away, but close to home too.

They can be passing through, stay a little while or make their home with us.

And what’s it like to welcome a stranger, to make someone feel comfortable and safe and feel they are important.

I think as a church we appear to do ok – there are some members who are enthusiastic greeters and always make a bee line for a new face or group of people.

But if we don’t, are there reasons we don’t welcome the stranger.

Are we perhaps a little scared or nervous, pre judge what a person will be like by their appearance or had experiences in the past that make us not want to be open to the possibility of going there again.

Are we just too consumed by catching up with our friends who we haven’t seen for a week or two.

Not all of us are natural conversation starters. I will admit to not being the best while there are some who are very gregarious and able to start up a conversation with anyone.

Is it frightening to welcome those who do not look like us – different clothes, different accent, different culture, different language, different age group – is there an element of, ‘how can I relate to them if there are so different?’ As different as we think we are, we are so alike in so many ways – hopes and dreams, daily struggles, fears of the future, love of family.

 

I like the saying ‘A friend is a stranger we just have not met yet’ because it is so true – at one point, your best friend was a stranger to you. At some point you had to be open to that person getting to know you a bit more and as the process progressed discovered things in common and
differences and the friendship blossomed.

I once heard Frank Skinner describe meeting a stranger is like opening a book part way through – you start part way through their story but there is more to learn of their story.

It’s not something we would normally do – pick up a book and start from a random place in it but when you think about it when we meet someone new that is exactly what we are doing – and what they are doing with us – they meet us part way through our story and have no idea of what has gone before – that’s the journey we go on when friendships develop.

Being on the door most Sundays I know the familiar faces but when faced with a person I do not recognise I used to think – do I admit my ignorance and potentially look stupid by not recognising a face that I should know or keep quiet and pretend I don’t recognise them as a new
face.

I think I have arrived at the point where if I do welcome a strange face that is not strange then so be it – if I look stupid then that’s just how it is.

I remember going to a new church and a congregation member came up to me after the service to ask if I was a new face or if her eyes and memory were failing – I was glad to assure her that neither were failing and I was in fact a new face – I found it reassuring that someone would be honest to me, a stranger and showing a potential failing on their own part.

 

So how do we welcome the stranger?

The first stage is a smile – a smile is a more pleasing and welcoming gesture than a scowl or indifference. An explanation that their face is new to you so felt a word of welcome was something you wanted to offer – perhaps an exchange of names – offering a name is something
small you give of yourself and offers the opportunity for them to offer theirs back – Small talk about weather, travel are ice breakers – finding out how they found out about us or if there was something that prompted their attendance – Is there a connection to the church from years past.

Hopefully we do a decent job of welcoming the stranger – though sometimes we can fall down, Not all welcomes end up working out so well – some will attend and never return, irrespective of the welcome they have had just because we are not what they were expecting or looking for.
That’s ok

Should our welcome be conditional – dependant on how a person looks, what they say or how they say it. I’m sure you would say the welcome should be the same regardless of who it is addressed to.

 

What comes beyond the welcome

– well who knows, it’s a door we can open up and discover new things or a door we can close, you can’t know until the ice is broken and the door is opened and conversation starts.

From that conversation who knows what may result – it can be a 2 way street of learning, understanding – we can be the beneficiaries as well as the stranger.

Perhaps there is something practical that can be offered to help – perhaps some knowledge or a skill you can pass on, or be passed onto you or the group. Once the door is opened the possibilities are there. Not that all or most welcomes would be of benefit but without any
welcome then there are 0 possibilities.

Some welcomes will come to nothing, but some welcomes may flourish into something unexpected, but we don’t know which ones so we have to be open to each and every new encounter.

 

So in summary

Welcoming the stranger is an activity as old as our scriptures.

Being a stranger can be difficult but there are things we can do to help others welcome us.

Offering a welcome can be scary but can open doors we never knew could be opened.

Offering a welcome can benefit our lives as well as the stranger.

And in the words from Matthew – The King will reply, whenever you did this for one of the least
of these brothers, you did it for me.

We will be doing Gods work

Amen