Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Dear Christ, uplifted from the earth” by Brian Wren. The theme is that of Christ’s universal call to humanity. The first verse continues “Your arms stretched out above through every culture, every birth, to draw an answering love”. It’s an easy trap to fall into to think that “our” way of being Christian is the only or best one, or that the Bible was written with our time and culture in mind. The second verse continues with the theme of his love extending “east and west, near and far”.
If travel broadens the mind, as they say, then engaging (in whatever way we can) with Christians from other cultures is equally important to broaden our understanding of Christ and his Church. I’ve not travelled as widely as many people, but I have at least had the privilege of joining in worship with Christians in some other countries (mainly European but also in India). I’ve also been in churches in the UK with mainly African or West Indian members, and met believers from other parts of the world such as Nepal, Ethiopia and South America and seen what Christ means to them.
The third verse looks at inclusivity within our own communities. “Where age and gender, class and race divide us to our shame” is a challenge to each church congregation in its own locality. My own local parish has recently signed up to the Inclusive Church organisation to show our commitment particularly to disabled people and those of varying sexuality or gender identity. The last verse calls us to recognise ourselves as accepted by Christ as we are, then to reach out to others with that same healing love.