Strangers and Sojourners (7)

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” Micah 4:1, 2

“Come/see” or “go/tell”?
My friend Robert Lynn often laments that the Church in America has lost its sense of mission. Local congregations all over the country, Bob insists, have traded in their “go/tell” mandate for a more agreeable “com/see” template. Thus, instead of reaching out continuously in various ways to show and tell the Good News of the Kingdom of God to their neighbors, churches have adjusted what they do at church in order to accommodate worship and other ministries to the casual, pop culture, self-interested, and entertainment-driven lifestyles of our secular and postmodern age.

Strangers and Sojourners (6)

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19

God’s Law
Early in his first term, President Obama hosted a reception in the White House, celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This act, so long in coming, has made the lives of millions of handicapped people just that much easier and more productive. The Act was landmark legislation and certainly worthy of a modest celebration in the President’s home. During this same time period the President took justified credit for insisting that BP set aside $20 billion to repair the damage done to the Gulf of Mexico by their hasty and ill-considered decisions in the Deepwater Horizon affair. BP has all along admitted its culpability, yet I doubt they would have initiated such a program of restitution without the President’s urging.

Strangers and Sojourners (5)

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” Deuteronomy 24:19

Consider their plight
Any policy or set of policies relating to immigration – the arrival or sojourning amongst us of people from other countries, seeking a new life in this land – must take into consideration the condition and motives of those seeking a new beginning here. People rarely come to America as immigrants because they are prospering in their native land. They come here because they hope, through hard work and lawful participation in the American system, to be able to improve their lot and that of their children. They come in poverty, for the most part, and that is not a very good starting-point for trying to make a new life for oneself.

Strangers and Sojourners (4)

“The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” Ruth 2:12

Who are these people?
We’re trying to discover a way that we, from within the Christian community, can speak a word of peace and resolution into the raging debate about immigration. The Christian knows a thing or two about being looked at as a stranger or an alien, and that puts us in a good position to talk together about this opportunity. We have seen that, in the first place, we need to make sure that our attitudes are at all times what they ought to be. Thanksgiving to God and love for all our neighbors constitute a far better starting-point for problem-solving than the rancor and animosity which currently characterize this debate.

Strangers and Sojourners (3)

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself…” Leviticus 19:33, 34

The mark of a Christian
The mark of the Christian, as Francis Schaeffer explained, is love. It is doubtless unreasonable to expect of those who do not love the Lord Jesus Christ that they should take up the calling to love our neighbors as Christ has loved us. Having little or no regard for God and His Word, and being devoted to some other agenda, usually revolving around self-interest, unbelievers cannot be expected to show the kind of neighbor-love which Scripture presents as the second great commandment.

Strangers and Sojourners (2)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Begin here
Where should the Christian community begin in trying to reach some consensus among ourselves about the immigration crisis currently besetting our country?

Remember, we are responsible to seek the peace of the land which houses us, even though our own citizenship is in another place (Jer. 29:7; Jn. 17:15, 16). Simply doing nothing in the face of a situation that threatens to tear the nation’s social fabric to shreds would be neither loving toward our neighbors nor honoring to our God. So where do we begin? Where do church members in their Bible study groups and Sunday school classes, church leaders in their boards and committees, pastors and churches together in communities throughout the land – where should we as a community begin in order to make a positive contribution to a difficult and increasingly desperate situation?