This week I’m reflecting on the blessing of welcoming. I’m aware of how often we’re called to recognise Christ by welcoming what we consider marginal. We see that in today’s gospel. It’s a man who is outcast, ignored and undervalued who recognises and proclaims Christ to his people.
He is the last person anyone would have expected to speak and reflect theologically. We see this in the response of his neighbours, who no longer recognise him, and in the Pharisees who refuse to accept someone so marginal can presume to teach them anything about God.
The man doesn’t crumble under their badgering questions, instead he faces them confidently, reflecting on his experience with Jesus in the light of his Jewish faith, saying to them:
“We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to people who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is unheard-of for anyone to open the eyes of someone who was born blind: if this man were not from God he couldn’t do a thing.”
As the man moves from claiming that he only knows Jesus’ name to proclaiming and worshipping him as Christ he welcomes him with a truly open heart. It may be that his marginal position helped him to recognise Jesus as the Christ, and give him the freedom to worship him.
This gospel challenges me to be attentive to those parts of myself that I push aside, allowing them to point me towards Christ in ways that I might not expect or be entirely comfortable with.
It also challenges me to be attentive to the people we marginalise today, leaving me with an uncomfortable question, would we respond any better than the Pharisees should any of them proclaim Christ to us?
How is Christ calling you welcome the marginal in your life today?