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Episode details

Radio 4,2 mins

Rev Professor David Wilkinson - 03/06/2019

Thought for the Day

Available for over a year

Good morning. As we have been hearing, Donald Trump arrives for a banquet with the Queen and what could be major demonstrations across the UK. Pomp and ceremony clashes with milkshakes, cardboard walls and criticism from a range of politicians denouncing his policies, practices and person. Some of my fellow Christians on the other side of the Atlantic, called yesterday for a special day of prayer to protect President Trump ‘from the attacks of his enemies’. One also called him the ‘most pro-Christian President’ of the recent era. While I cannot judge another person’s faith, on this statement, I have to disagree, for it seems to me that the Christian worldview is much more than a particular stance towards abortion and a particular kind of patriotism. However, his visit raises some difficult questions for me. As a Christian, I follow Jesus who caused huge controversy and scandal by the type of people he chose to share hospitality with. From religious leaders who could be seen as hypocrites, to the tax collector puppets of Roman occupation to prostitutes and those who were looked down upon as sinners, Jesus spent a huge amount of time breaking bread and drinking wine with them. Yet at the same meals, he also spoke truth warning them of abusing power, the love of riches, ignoring the poor and the danger of a self-centred rather than godly life. The anniversary of the D-day landings later in the week will give us cause to remember the cost of unopposed fascism. It was necessary at the time for evil to be confronted. But Jesus also demonstrated that individual people can be changed by hospitality. At the heart of Christian worship is an invitation to a meal, which remembers the forgiveness offered in the death of Jesus but also the celebration of the future triumph of love. For the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, the bread and wine of the communion service were available to all, not just those who were already committed Christians. This was a scandal to some of his fellow church leaders who worried that sinners had to repent first, but Wesley believed that the grace of God in this meal could change anyone if they were open to it. Therefore it seems to me that I am challenged as a Christian to confront evil, to pray for all, to speak truth with those that I disagree with and to offer generous hospitality – whether to a President or to a migrant.

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