Playing with ideas
The interplay of Refugee Week and the Gospel reading (sending of the disciples)
I thought I’d post these initial ideas in case it was helpful to others planning services for Sunday 14th June. It’s nothing too polished but some initial planning ideas on a Monday morning to start the week.
Refugee Week, starting 14th June. The theme in Australia is ‘A Million Stories’ (recognising that the millionth refugee arrived in 2025). More than 120 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes, meaning roughly one person in every 67 on Earth is living as a refugee, asylum seeker, or internally displaced person. Behind every number is a name, a story, a family, and a suitcase carrying dreams for the future.
The Gospel reading - Matthew 9:35-10:23. Jesus sends the disciples out to share the message of the Gospel. He instructs them not to take anything with them, but to trust in the hospitality of the people to whom they go. Then he warns them about the rejection and persecution they will endure, but that these moments will be opportunities to speak about Jesus. Jesus sends the disciples out without resources, status, or security, asking them to rely on relationships and hospitality. Will they find it?
In starting the planning for this Sunday’s service, I am exploring the experience of refugees and the experience of the disciples, juxtaposing each to reveal fresh insights about the other.
The disciples are not refugees. They are sent on a mission. Yet Jesus intentionally places them in a position of vulnerability that echoes experiences familiar to displaced people throughout history. They are told to travel lightly, leave behind security, depend upon strangers, trust in hospitality, and accept that some places will welcome them while others will reject them. For perhaps the first time in their lives, they are asked to live without the protections that status, possessions, and community normally provide.
That experience of vulnerability is a lens for the experience of refugees - not as statistics or issues, but as fellow human beings. Refugees often have to pick up what few belongings they can carry and flee to safety.
Most of us pack a suitcase for a holiday. We choose what we might need. We know where we are going. We know when we will return. A refugee’s suitcase is different. It may contain the last photographs of family members. Important documents. A change of clothes. A treasured keepsake. Medicines. A child’s toy. And alongside these tangible items are things that cannot be packed: grief, fear, hope, memories, and dreams of safety.
Many refugees speak of carrying not only a suitcase of possessions but a “suitcase of dreams” - dreams that their children will be safe, that they might rebuild their lives, that they may one day belong somewhere again.
When Jesus sends the disciples out, he effectively tells them to leave their suitcases behind. No extra provisions. No reserve fund. No security blanket. They are to discover what it means to depend upon the kindness of others.
Jesus’ instruction transforms mission from an act of power into an act of relationship. The disciples are not sent as conquerors. They are not sent with wealth, weapons, or influence. They arrive as guests. They must knock on doors. They must receive hospitality. They must trust strangers.
Refugees rarely choose vulnerability. It is thrust upon them by war, persecution, violence, environmental disaster, or political oppression. Yet when they arrive seeking safety, the defining question becomes the same question facing every household the disciples visited: Will we welcome the stranger?
The Gospel passage is often read as a commissioning of those who go. Refugee Week invites us to read it also from the perspective of those who receive.
Who are we in the story?
Are we the disciples, learning to trust?
Or are we the householders opening—or closing—the door?
The passage suggests that hospitality is not a secondary virtue. It is one of the places where the reign of God becomes visible. Every welcome offered to a vulnerable person becomes an act of participation in God’s mission.
Perhaps Refugee Week is an opportunity not simply to ask, “How can we help refugees?” but “What might refugees teach us about faith?”
They know what it means to travel without certainty.
They know what it means to hope when the future is unclear.
They know what it means to rely on the kindness of strangers.
They know what it means to carry dreams that seem fragile and precious.
In that sense, refugees may understand something important about the disciples’ journey.
Jesus sends his followers into the world carrying very little except the good news of God’s love. Refugees often arrive carrying very little except hope. The Gospel calls us to meet one another in that vulnerable space—not as benefactors and recipients, but as fellow travellers. For the kingdom of God is revealed whenever a door is opened, a stranger is welcomed, and a suitcase of dreams is received with dignity and compassion.
For the ‘early word’
Perhaps show Mr Bean packing for a holiday
Afterwards, place an old suitcase at the front of the church as a visual symbol throughout the service. During the reflection, invite people to imagine what they would place inside if they had only minutes to leave home.
What would you take?
The practical question. What would fit in your suitcase?
What would you leave behind?
The painful question. What, and who, would you grieve?
What would you hope for?
The Gospel question. What dreams would you carry into an uncertain future?
The disciples travel carrying hope in God’s reign. Refugees often travel carrying hope for safety, belonging, and a future for their children. Both journeys remind us that hope is one of the most precious things human beings carry.
Further thoughts on the suitcase
The suitcase is powerful because it is both ordinary and sacred. Almost everyone has packed a suitcase. We know what it means to decide what is essential and what can be left behind. But Refugee Week invites us to ask a deeper question: What if this wasn’t a holiday? What if this was all I could carry into an uncertain future? A suitcase represents much more than possessions. It becomes a vessel of identity, memory, and hope. Inside might be photographs, documents, medicines, or a favourite toy. But invisible things are carried too: language, culture, grief, courage, love, and dreams. People often leave behind houses, jobs, communities, and landscapes they love, yet they carry forward the hope that life can begin again. This resonates deeply with the Gospel. When Jesus sends the disciples out, he strips away much of what normally gives people security. He asks them to travel lightly and trust deeply. They discover that faith is not found in what they possess, but in the God who accompanies them and in the hospitality of others.
The disciples carry little, yet they bear good news.
Refugees often carry little, yet they bear extraordinary resilience.
The disciples depend upon welcome.
Refugees depend upon welcome.
The Gospel asks whether we will be the people who open the door.
For a response following the reflection/sermon
The theme for Refugee Week 2026 is ‘A Million Stories’. Print off individual stories on RCOA’s website and hand one story to each person and invite them to chat with their neighbour or in a small group about the story they have received.
Common Grace have a video to present for Refugee Week 2026 but not sure when it’s publicly available.
Prayers
Exploring themes of vulnerability, hospitality, welcome, courage, and the dreams people carry with them. Plenty of options for prayers on my worship website.
Prayer of approach
God of the journey,
You called disciples to leave behind certainty
and travel lightly upon the earth.
You taught them to trust,
to receive hospitality,
and to discover your presence in unexpected places.
Today we remember all who travel not by choice,
but through necessity:
those fleeing war and violence,
those seeking safety and refuge,
those carrying grief, memories, and hope.
Open our hearts to your Spirit.
Open our eyes to see Christ in the stranger.
Open our hands in welcome and compassion.
As we gather in worship,
teach us again that your kingdom is revealed
whenever a door is opened,
a table is shared,
and a neighbour is received with dignity and love.
In the name of Jesus,
who had nowhere to lay his head,
and who journeys with all who seek refuge. Amen.
Prayer of confession
Compassionate God,
You call us to welcome the stranger,
yet we confess that fear often shapes our response.
We build walls where you invite us to build relationships.
We protect our comfort while others seek safety.
We turn away from stories that are difficult to hear.
We allow statistics to obscure the humanity of our neighbours.
Forgive us when we fail to recognise Christ
in those who arrive at our borders,
our communities,
or our church doors.
Renew in us the courage of hospitality.
Create in us hearts that are generous,
spirits that are compassionate,
and communities that reflect your inclusive love.
By your grace,
teach us to receive one another as you have received us.
Amen.
Prayers for others
God of all peoples and nations,
We pray for those who have been forced to flee their homes.
For refugees carrying a suitcase of dreams,
for families separated by conflict,
for children seeking safety,
for those living in camps,
temporary shelters,
or uncertain futures.
May they find protection,
community, and hope.
God of compassion,
hear our prayer.
We pray for nations and leaders entrusted with decisions about asylum, migration, and resettlement.
Grant wisdom beyond fear,
justice beyond politics,
and policies shaped by dignity and human flourishing.
God of compassion,
hear our prayer.
We pray for communities of welcome:
for aid workers, advocates, teachers, volunteers, faith communities,
and neighbours who accompany those rebuilding their lives.
Sustain them in their work of compassion and solidarity.
God of compassion,
hear our prayer.
We pray for all who feel displaced,
even within their own lives:
those who are grieving, lonely, uncertain,
or searching for belonging.
May they know that they are held in your love
and welcomed into your embrace.
God of compassion,
hear our prayer.
And we pray for ourselves.
Where we cling to security,
teach us trust.
Where we encounter difference,
teach us curiosity.
Where we meet vulnerability,
teach us compassion.
May we become a people whose doors are open,
whose tables are shared,
and whose lives proclaim the welcome of Christ. Amen.
Congregational Response / Affirmation
We remember those who travel in search of safety.
May we be people of welcome.
We remember those who carry a suitcase of dreams.
May we honour their dignity and hope.
We remember those who depend upon the kindness of strangers.
May we open our hearts and our doors.
We follow Jesus, who sends us into the world with trust and courage.
We will walk in the way of hospitality, justice, and peace.
Sending Blessing
May the God who journeys with the displaced, walk beside you.
May Christ, who depended upon the hospitality of others,
teach you generosity of spirit.
May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to the stranger,
your heart to compassion, and your hands to acts of justice.
And may you go into the world carrying not fear, but hope;
not suspicion, but welcome;
not indifference, but love. Amen.