14 Dec 2015 ByBishop Graham

Bishop Graham speaks at the Halesowen Churches Together Welcome Group as part of a series of events organised by the Dudley Centre for Equality and Diversity in the run up to the UN’s International Migrants Day.

Thank you for this invitation from the Welcome Group and the Dudley Centre for Equality and Diversity to share some reflections in advance of the UN International Migrants’ Day on Friday.

First I want to thank you all for the incredible work you do to support those seeking sanctuary and safety in this country.

Today, according to the United Nations, there are some 59.5 million forcibly displaced people in our world. That’s about 1 in every 123 people alive today. People who have often lost everything and, most particularly, have lost that deep sense of place that shapes who we are.

How we relate to refugees is a major challenge for us all particularly when stories of their frequent rich contribution to our common life are too often drowned out by the voices of those who say that refugees are a security threat, bring economic problems, or are a social burden.

It would not be a surprise if, as a Christian, I turn to the Bible for a framework to outline my thoughts. References to immigrants and refugees are common place as we turn the pages of scripture. We hear of aliens and strangers in foreign lands. We keep meeting refugees, their stories on the page often coloured by their emotions and trauma. Stories like:

  • Adam and Eve banished from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3.23-24);
  • Noah displaced by natural disaster (Genesis 7.7);
  • Abraham and Sarah displaced by famine (Genesis 12.10), ruling authorities (Genesis 12.19-20) and conflict (Genesis 13.6-7);
  • Lot displaced by invading kings (Genesis 14.11-12);
  • Hagar displaced to the desert by the jealousy of another (Genesis 16.6);
  • Isaac and Rebecca displaced by hunger (Genesis 26.1-3);
  • Jacob displaced to Harran because of his mother’s fears about his brother Esau’s threat of violence (Genesis 27.42-44);
  • or Joseph, a victim of international human trafficking sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37.28);

and I’ve only got to the end of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. I could go on to mention Moses, the people of Israel in the wilderness, Naomi and Ruth, David, the prophets Elijah, Nehemiah, Ezra, Jeremiah, Ezekiel all of whom at some stage in their lives were refugees on the move.

In the coming weeks we will remember Mary and Joseph with the new born and vulnerable Jesus crossing to a distant land, fearful of the tyranny of an insecure Herod; Jesus’ first status was as a refugee from the land where he had long since been promised.

The common theme through all of these stories is that leaving their homelands, undergoing dangerous journeys, and taking up residence in a foreign land not only entails emptying themselves but also radically surrendering everything they own in the search for safety and security.

I know that one of the key things that the Welcome Group want is for those who come here to be, and to feel, and to know that they are SAFE. The word comes from the Latin word for uninjured, salvus. We want all who find themselves to be refugees to be uninjured in heart and mind and soul and strength, and, where they have been, to find healing and peace.

If I take that simple word, SAFE, and use it as an acrostic:

The S in Safe would be for Swift. Refugees are deeply vulnerable people and at risk of exploitation, human trafficking, and the worst of human sin. But they are also created in the image and likeness of God. God expects us to care for our neighbours whoever they are, to respond and to stand up for them when others mistreat them. You see, Jesus has no hands but ours, no feet but ours, no eyes but ours, no lips but ours. It’s you and me who do his work in the world today. We can use our hands to shrug and hurt, or we can use them to care and comfort. We can use our feet to walk away or to walk with. We can use our eyes to scowl or welcome. We can use our lips to gossip and slander, or to sing and support. Swift action can really help people who are floundering.

The A in sAfe would be for Appropriate. This is a key area for us to get right. Elie Wiesel the Jewish writer whose parents were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust, “if I see any person or persons suffer, and the distance between us does not shrink…then my place is not good, not enviable”. However, this ministry does not come without its risks and that is why we need appropriate policies, appropriate boundaries about what we can do and what we can’t do, as well as appropriate firmness when that is required. You who work day to day with refugees really are heroes, but we are not super heroes. God promises to bless this work but please know your limits and work in such a way that honours the other, but also honours yourself.

The F in saFe would be for Friendship. You offer friendship, which at its heart is looking at the face of the other and finding in them the soul of another human being equally loved and cherished by God. He who shows no partiality, he who shelters us from the storm and provides shade in the hottest parts of the day. He, whose Son kept saying ‘do not be afraid’, and ‘come to me all you who weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest’. You offer friendship, as the Rule of St Benedict puts it, by ‘welcom[ing] the stranger as if they were Christ’.

The E in safE would be for Engagement. There is much in the bible that speaks of God promising to pursue nations and people who mistreat refugees. Yours is also a prophetic ministry. Please ensure that the stories you hear, the difficulties with the ‘system’, and the new trends and nuances, are passed on to our decision makers locally, nationally and internationally. That way we work towards finding solutions about the causes of displacement; treading more gently on the earth and seeking a peaceable future. That way we work towards the best welcome we can give to those who arrive on our shores. That way we love our neighbour in a whole way. Brazilian Roman Catholic Archbishop HedlerCamara said 30 plus years ago, “When I feed the hungry they call me a saint, When I ask why they have no food they call me a Communist”. We need to keep asking questions. But the policies of those elected to govern are not monochrome. Please praise our elected members when they do things right and challenge them when it could do much better.

So providing a SAFE place, through swift, appropriate, friendship and engagement, you live out the words of Jesus, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. Thank you for all that you give to welcome strangers and become their friends. And in all you do may God who calls you and is faithful, bless you and keep you.