The Brown Migrant Boy in the Manger
Of course, He is the Messiah.
Welcome to “Global Witness, Globally Reimagined,” where we dream about mission in a postcolonial world. Every Thursday, I share one thought that has spoken to me in the week, some resources I trust will be helpful to you, and three exciting quotes about mission. I pray one of these will energise you in the coming week.
1. Thought I Can’t Shake Off
It is impossible to have a good understanding of the New Testament without some basic knowledge of the context of the first-century AD Roman Empire, especially how people moved up and down around the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. Migration was a normal part of life (just like it is today). It is in this context that Jesus was born. He experienced life outside the homeland, in Egypt where, as the Coptic Church history says, he was hosted by relatives who had been settled there as migrants for decades or, probably, centuries. Of course, the same history suggests that Alexandria had a larger Jewish population than Jerusalem at that time. As an itinerant preacher from Nazareth, his very story is shaped by migration and carried forward by people like John Mark, Barnabas, and Paul, from Libya, Cyprus, and Tarsus, respectively. When he said, “As you go, make disciples of the nations,” he took travel and migration for granted.
What is at stake in connecting Jesus to migration at Christmas?
Migration is a difficult subject for Christians to engage with. A great deal of our ideas about migration are shaped by the political convictions of our national leaders, many of whom are driven by economic interests. Good theological reflection on migration tends to be rare, especially in the Reformed Evangelical tradition, whose own history of migration from Europe is often whitewashed. Our christologies, which will be preached around the world this season, not only struggle to imagine the Messiah being a socially dislocated brown boy in a manger but also find it difficult to speak sensibly and hopefully to migrants even though it is quite clear that we live in the age of migration. Elevating the theme of migration in the nativity story allows us to engage both Christmas, the Gospels, and the entire Christian faith in a fresh and critical way. We begin to notice the language of migration in the Scriptures. Both the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the years spent in Egypt are only a start. John is rather generous, “The light came into the world [and] tabernacled among us.” Paul tells us, “he emptied himself and became a human.” Of course, on that holy night in Bethlehem, God became a guest among God’s own people in the form of a boy born to a young displaced family. Does the fact that the boy in the manger is a brown migrant change how we tell the story?
2. Resources I am Enjoying
Podcast: Harvey Kwiyani and Archbishop Joseph D’Souza on Non-Western Missionary Work in the West
In this first episode of the Babel Undone podcast, I had a chance to sit down with Archbishop Joseph D’souza and Johnnie Moore to discuss a somewhat popular concept of reverse mission, which generally describes non-Western missionary activities in the West. It was a really good conversation. I enjoyed discussing with them the African roots of and contributions to Christianity, especially from its first few hundred years of its existence. From this springboard, we went on to reflect on the current reality of the growing presence of non-Western Christians in the West, and how this phenomenon has ignited a passion among migrant Christians to evangelise the West. The conversation highlighted the significant contributions of these unlikely and unassuming partakers of God’s mission in the West. I trust you will enjoy it.
3. Quotes I am Pondering
If mission is understood as originating with and done for the purpose of God, then all Christ’s people … are part of the missio Dei. They must therefore, shelve their differences in order not to hinder the work of God in a particular context. — Johnson Afrane-Twum
The Church will build up the Body of Christ if it acts to heal, strengthen, nourish and treat with dignity all of its members, and that means acting as God-in-Christ expects of the Church. — Mercy Amba Oduyoye
When a church or mission board spends more time in consultation, planning and committee meetings than in prayer, it is a clear indication the members have lost touch with the supernatural and ended up, in Watchman Nee’s words, “serving the house of God and forgot the Lord Himself.” — K. P. Yohannan
I pray that you will be faithful to the mission God has for you this week.