Travelling with the Word

The Guest who brings the Word of Life

We are entering into the holiday season; being abroad, or in a new place means we encounter something of what it feels like to be a foreigner or a stranger – not speaking the language, not knowing the local geography, not knowing the local people means we become more dependent on others. Travelling means that we might have to rely on strangers and not just our smart phones! Travelling brings with it some unavoidable vulnerability; the further we go and the more different the culture, the greater the vulnerability.

The missionary nature of the Christian faith means that Christians have always travelled to spread the good news. St Cedd after all journeyed from Lindisfarne to Bradwell; St Paul heeded the call to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and travelled intensely as he did so. The work of missionaries and travelling friars have been an integral part of the Christian tradition. To be a missionary in a foreign land means to experience vulnerability and dependence, and this is important. The Gospel is not brought with power but without it; the evangelist must divest themselves of worldly power for the Gospel needs to be accepted without force or compulsion.

Perhaps with the widespread adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire in the 4^th century and the dominance it gained from that time, Christianity began to lose something of its missionary nature. With the alliance of Christianity and power it also began to lose its vulnerability and its gentleness. As guests, gifts can be offered, but not forced upon the host. It seems that Christianity in the West must re-learn how to be the guest, alongside learning to offer words of life without power.

Jesus as an itinerant preacher, travelling and teaching, relied on the hospitality of others: Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Matthew 8.20). Jesus’ homelessness meant that he could approach all sorts of different people, crossing boundaries to make new connections.

Think of his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well:  Jesus crosses religious and ethnic boundaries, plus cultural taboos to ask her for a drink of water. Or his encounter with Zacchaeus, the tax collector and sinner; Jesus crosses the boundary of exclusion and religious propriety to invite himself around to his house. In so doing he faces condemnation but his generous action leads to Zacchaeus’ immediate repentance. Or think of the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, who travels alongside the troubled men as stranger and pilgrim, who being compelled to stay with the two, reveals himself by breaking and blessing bread. The stranger and pilgrim in this story is invited in as guest, then becomes the host by blessing bread – literally giving of himself. Jesus’ continual movement made him flexible, responsive and adaptable. It allowed him to meet a wide variety of people, and to sit light to convention.

The gift that Jesus desires to bring to us is brought by one who is first a guest in our lives. It is in accepting the gift of Jesus’ presence, that the Samaritan woman received the waters of eternal life; Zacchaeus finds that in hosting Jesus he receives forgiveness and inclusion in the kingdom; the travellers on the road to Emmaus receive Jesus as a wise traveller, opening the words of Scripture to them, then they receive the greater gift, that of God as the one who returns, blesses and heals.

Crossing boundaries, accepting vulnerability, being the guest, these are all holy and Jesus-like activities. Jesus asks us as missionaries of his Word, to empty ourselves of power and privilege so that we might be welcomed as guest in a culture and society that could be transformed by the Word we have to offer.