Sunday 10th May 2020, The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Christian Aid Week Sunday - Churches closed
Thank God for Thomas, a disciple who never shrank from asking the hard questions which were on everyone else’s minds. ‘You know the way to the place where I am going,’ said Jesus; only Thomas was bold enough to challenge him: ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?’
Wouldn’t we love to know the way through the circumstances we are in today? Don’t we long for a moment of clarity when all agree on the direction we, as a world, as a village, as a family, need to travel? Wise commentators are preparing us for a long haul. Our Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines this week wrote to the clergy saying that
The language of 'defeating the virus' is misleading. As is being widely recognised, we will need in the future to 'co-exist' with it. We have had a shock as great as this, and we now can come to terms with what it is like to live with the alien nature of where we find ourselves. [1]
We don’t know where we’re going. How can we know the way? I am so grateful this week to have been introduced - virtually, of course - to a sister of mine who I’d never met before. Her name is Florence Mbone Muthiani and she lives in Kenya. She is a devout Christian woman who says that she ‘lives happily’ and always has a song in her heart. I see her as someone who lived in a challenging present, facing a difficult future, and who found her way - motivated by her faith in the One who said of himself, ‘I am The Way…’.
Florence and her people were pretty lost, in a Kenyan village suffering such unreliable rains and drought it meant that they used to have to walk six hours a day to collect water for their families, and not the best water by any means. They knew what was needed, they just had to find the way; and driven by Florence’s faith-filled energy they forged a partnership with Christian Aid. Working together they built an earth dam in their village. Water from the dam has enabled the women to set up a community garden where good food is grown. Thanks to the dam, Florence also now keeps a bee farm and harvests honey which she sells at market.
Florence and her neighbours found their way through an understanding of what the Way of Jesus means in this world. That the Way of Jesus involves every single person being equally valued and loved: impoverished Kenyan village women as much as any other people on earth. That the Way of Jesus pays particular attention to bringing good news to the poor, and to lifting up the poor in spirit. That the Way of Jesus brings people together in a spirit of cooperation and common purpose, people who would never otherwise think of meeting: the Florences of this world with the development workers of Christian Aid - and we, too, who support their work.
If we seek to follow the way of Jesus in these days ahead, then he will guide us into the role we can play to help shape a better sort of world. If we support Christian Aid, for instance, because we see people like Florence not as aliens, but as our sisters and brothers, then we may find ourselves becoming agitators for change, challenging the powers-that-be, advocating for the poor and forgotten: a risky business, but one which generates light and life.
What joy in sensing that the path you are on, is the Way that Christ walks with you. Even if it’s a rocky one. What serenity we see on Stephen’s face; what gracious words we hear him utter to those who take his life. What light surrounded the brooding Saul when on a later journey he met Jesus on the way. What satisfaction we find in giving, to help our overseas sisters and brothers thrive; what fulfilment, in advocating with them and on their behalf in campaigns to shape a fairer world for them and us to share.
We may be uncertain about the direction we are headed just now. But our faith makes one thing very clear to us: just who is the Way, the faithful, loving One who will show us the Way.
Notes
[1] Rt Revd Nick Baines, Ad Clerum letter to all Clergy in the Diocese of Leeds, 5 May 2020.
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