Close To The Edge

Sometimes I go to a Christian support and discussion group called ‘Liminal’, which means at or close to the edge – hence this piece of music  by Yes.

For centuries the Christian church mainly in Europe, was at the centre of political and cultural power.  That situation, ‘Christendom’, has been waning over the last two hundred years and now we can no longer assume people hold to Christian values or even know much about the religion.

So people in Christian mission work once again see themselves at the edge of their own culture, reach out into the different world around them.  I think that is like Jesus who was certainly socialising with people at the edge or outside of ‘polite’ society.  In the gospel of Matthew we read that he helped a man with leprosy (a mutilating, killer disease) , the servant of a Roman soldier (Roman troops were the resented occupying power in the country), people with evil spirits (all kinds of weird) and a tax collector (also working for the Romans).

In another place he is approached for help by a crazily-desperate foreign woman – when devout Jewish men would not have dealt with women or foreigners.  Jesus seems to be winding her up about this, but then relents as once again he crosses the boundary (Matthew 15.21-28)