THERE is something significant that happens when the outsider is invited to become part of the story of forgiveness and faith. I have come to see that the ministry of Jesus was more often than not based around an encounter with an outsider who is invited to let him become a participant in their life and story. Take for instance the woman at the well in John Chapter 4. She is definitely an outsider even in her own community. Her reputation means she goes to draw water when no one is around. She is a Samaritan woman which means she is an outsider in the eyes of most Jewish Rabbis. Jesus asks her to give him a drink, he engages with her in conversation. He then off ers her an opportunity to participate in his mission and by the end of the encounter she brings her whole village out to meet Jesus. The Samaritan woman becomes an agent of mission even though she doesn’t quite tick all the right boxes.
We could go on and talk about the numerous people who were outsiders but were healed by Jesus and invited to participate in his ministry. The feeding of the five thousand started with a boy who no doubt was an outsider. He was a child on the edge of the crowd, willing to give to Jesus what he had and Jesus used it to bless literally thousands of people. We could continue to talk about Zacchaeus the taxman who was the outsider ending up hosting a dinner party for Jesus. And what about the ten people who suff ered from leprosy who were healed by Jesus? They literally were outsiders, given an inside track back into their communities.
So if we are to be followers of Jesus we need to be people who associate with the outsiders. How first century church we would be, if we as a national church were recognised as the people who welcome outsiders to become insiders?