Strangers and Aliens

Things are too quiet! Is it that the church doesn't see the "immigration issue" as important or is it that the church doesn't know what to say? Thankfully, the Bible isn't at a loss for words on the subject.

I believe there are two separate but somewhat related issues facing the nation - cross-border traffic and immigration. Not everyone who crosses our borders is or wants to be an immigrant nor should they be treated as such. Therefore, we need ways to deal with that traffic separately from immigration.

Nehemiah's experience in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem can serve us well as an example of good "border policy". He believed that in order for Jerusalem to thrive, it must be secure - not isolated but secure. To that end, he rebuilt the wall and reinstalled the gates as a means of providing protection and regulating access. So long as there was no threat to the safety or sanctity of the city, the gates were open to whoever wanted to enter. But when the sanctity of the city was threatened by those who would pervert the Sabbath ordinance, the gates were closed. Not only that, Nehemiah soundly threatened the loiterers with bodily harm if they continued to hang around the gates when they were closed. (See Nehemiah 2:12-18 and 13:15-22).

The point here is that we not only have a right, we have a responsibility to make our country a safe and secure place for its citizens. If that means escorting those who would do us harm out of the country, so be it. If that means not allowing them into the country in the first place, so be it. We need to be part of the world around us but without being irresponsibly vulnerable to those whose agenda it is to cause the nation or its citizens physical, financial or spiritual harm.

On the other hand, there are many non-citizens who with good motives desire to be a part of our fine nation, raising their children here and contributing to the economy. Again, there is Biblical precedent for laws and policies regarding "strangers and aliens" in the land. God made it abundantly clear to Israel how He expected them to deal with aliens and immigrants.

1. They were forbidden to oppress the stranger, treat him with hostility, or crush him under an overwhelming burden. See Exodus 22:21 and 23:9; also Leviticus 19:33-34. The strangers were also just as welcome to glean after the harvest as any needy citizen. See Deuteronomy 24:19-22. (Economic policy)

2. They were required to have the same legal protections and privileges as well as the same consequences and penalties for both citizens and aliens. In God's eyes, justice is justice regardless of citizenship or economic status or any other consideration. See Leviticus 24:22; Numbers 15:14-16 and 35:15; Deuteronomy 1:16-17 and 24:14-18; Joshua 20:9. (Legal policy)

3. There was a process of naturalization which would allow full participation in worship of the covenant community as well as all its other benefits. Through circumcision, one could become a Jew, a citizen. See Exodus 12:43-51; Numbers 9:14; Ezra 6:21. (Political policy)

4. Preference was to be given to those who were committed to family and raising children in the community. (That principle is reflected as it should be in our present immigration policy.) See Ezekiel 47:22-23. (Social policy)

That pretty well describes what our laws and policies regarding immigrants needs to look like. Regardless of public outcry, we need to do the right thing with our laws to get there.

But......the actual situation is complicated by the fact that many immigrants haven't followed the rules we already have on the books. We must develop and implement policies to deal with them but in a way that is consistent with the above Biblical principles. How do we get all the "illegal immigrants" presently in the country from that status to legal status without causing undue harm to them or our own citizens? I don't have the answers to that one but I pray that a few God-centered Congressmen and Congresswomen will figure it out.

In the meantime, we must remember God's command to Moses recorded in Leviticus 19:34: "You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."


By His grace,
Sundoulos

From the Mouth of a Child

I am involved with an after-school Bible club that meets at a local public school each week. Some of the children who attend come from solid Christian homes with a close church connection, others come from situations of little or no church. One little girl, I'll call her Jeannie, who came a couple of times some weeks ago was at Club again today. Jeannie knows little about the Bible but announced that she "really likes the stories about Jesus"! At the beginning of the story time, I made sure that both Jeannie and the rest of the children knew that the stories we read about in the Bible are different from other stories because they are all true, the events really happened.

Our story was about Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin and Pilate; we had gotten to the part where Pilate was trying to talk sense to the Jews in hopes that they would release Jesus. I told the children that Pilate next tried to appease the Jews by having Jesus flogged and that they would then let Jesus go. Jeannie blurted out, "I hope they do let him go 'cause if they don't I'm gonna cry." And she started to hide her face as the story went on. I had to tell the children that they didn't let Jesus go and Jeannie was so visibly disturbed that I also had to tell them the story does have a happy ending. All of those things were taking place because of sinners acting in a sinful way but the end of the story tells us of God's plan to deal with sin, not just for those people but also for us.

As this was all happening, I thought how stark the contrast is between Jeannie and so many others. Jeannie was nearly overcome with emotion at the thought of Jesus being treated so shamefully and the story she heard was the highly edited version for eight-year olds. And yet we who have a much fuller understanding of how Jesus was treated and what He experienced can hear or read that story with dry eyes. I pray that Jeannie's emotion was more than simple human compassion and evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in her young heart.

I also pray that along with our fuller understanding of Jesus' experience we would gain a fuller understanding of our own sinfulness. I pray that we would be moved to tears of real sorrow when we think about what our glorious Savior had to endure in our place. Let's learn a profound lesson from the mouth of a little child.

By His grace,
Sundoulos