Christian Comment with Revd Simon Topping Methodist Minister for the Stroud area churches

JUNE 20, is World Refugee Day.

With an estimated 65 million people across the world now forcibly displaced we cannot ignore the plight of refugees.

So what shapes and informs our attitude to refugees?

From within the Christian tradition I think there are three key principles.

Firstly, the Bible repeatedly urges us to show compassion towards the “foreigner” in our midst: “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord, your God’ (Leviticus 19:33-34). In the New Testament, Christian communities are often urged to “practice hospitality”, and the Greek word used for hospitality, “philoxenia” (love towards the foreigner), is the direct opposite of a Greek word we still use today, “xenophobia” (fear of the foreigner).

Secondly, the Christian faith emphasises our common humanity.

We are all children of God, and have equal value and dignity before God.

Just as God seeks the flourishing and wellbeing of every human being, so those who strive to live according to the principles and priorities of God’s kingdom must have the same attitude of respect for all, regardless of any perceived sense of “deservedness”.

Finally, if we are seeking to encounter the presence of Christ in our world, then Jesus tells us where he will be found.

In the parable of the “judgement of the nations” Jesus reveals that he is present in the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned.

Whenever people have responded to the needs of people who suffer like this they have been helping Christ himself.

Refugees are some of the most vulnerable people in the world and we give thanks for the generous and practical way in which people across the Stroud district (of all faiths and none) have responded to the plight of refugees both locally and abroad.

In its response, I pray that the Christian community will continue to draw on the biblical call to “love the foreigner”.