Well this month is a momentous time in the history of the United Kingdom. We are due to ‘leave’ the European Union on the 29th March and perhaps, if you are like me you are still wondering what does this actually mean? After all, we cannot be ‘leaving’ Europe physically for if you look on a map of the world we will still be there across a nar-row stretch of water from Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands and just as close or far away from all the other European nations as we ever were.
In all the debate and argument that has taken place one of the most disappointing aspects for me has been harsh statements that have been made concerning immigration as though that alone is at the root of all our problems. It appears to have been one topic that much of the media has sensationalised and which in turn has appealed to those with firm na-tionalistic views about the United Kingdom as though it were a fortress to which we should only ever allow a select few to enter. In fact the very unity of our United Kingdom appears to be once again under more threat of disintegration as a result of the move to leave the EU.
As Christians should we be worried about the political turmoil or can we take comfort from the words of Jesus. When asked which was the most important commandment he said ‘ “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two command-ments.” Matthew 22 :37-40. Jesus was summing up all the laws in these two statements. If we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind then loving our neighbour is the natural result. The apos-tle Paul reiterated this, speaking to the believers in Rome in chapter 13:8: ‘Owe no one anything ex-cept to love one another, for he who loves anoth-er has fulfilled the law.
And then in writing to Timothy in 1 Tim 2:4 every person is important to God and His word tells us that it is His desire that all would be saved.
Our church Fellowship today, and in recent times, has included people from several European countries (more so than I can ever remember in my 26 years in the church), and we are greatly blessed through the ministry of Calix, our pastoral elder and his family from Hungary, and of course we love them all dearly. Yet the mission field in and around Horsham includes many others, both British, Euro-pean, and from even further afield, who so need our neighbourly love if they are to know the salvation that comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ.
By this time next month how much will have changed? We will have to wait and see but the love of Jesus will never falter and never fail so let’s not give up loving our neighbour whether it be the peo-ple living in your street or those across the seas.
Stuart
Elder
March 2019
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