“The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:34
Throughout the Scriptures, we see dozens of instances where God commands His people to treat the strangers residing amongst them with love and care, or where we see non-Israelites playing the central role in Biblical stories. In fact, the lineage of Jesus has four women who were foreigners; Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. One of the main themes that we see in the Bible is that of sojourners passing through strange lands. Abraham was a stranger in the lands he travelled through. The Israelites were strangers in Egypt. David was a stranger in Canaanite lands while he awaited the throne. Throughout the exile, the Jewish people struggled to reclaim their homeland. Joseph and Mary had to travel to another city when Jesus was born and shortly after became foreigners in Egypt. This theme resounds clearly with the writers of the New Testament as they shared how the heroes of the faith knew that they were strangers passing through a foreign land.(Hebrews 11:13).
The Bible is clear in how we are to treat the foreigners among us. We are to welcome them and love them as ourselves. In the Leviticus text I started with, Jehovah was reminding the Israelites that not too long ago, they too were foreigners in a strange land. In fact, when the brothers and family of Joseph came to Egypt, escaping a famine, the Pharaoh of that time welcomed them with open arms. The act of welcoming strangers was seen as a virtue. How many times did people in the Old Testament welcome in strangers and fed them, not knowing that they were angels in disguise? Or in some cases, manifestations of God Himself? God wanted the Israelites to remember that they had once been welcomed into a foreign land themselves. He wanted them to remember that He was a God who cared about those who couldn’t take care of themselves, or those who were outcasts of society. Deuteronomy 10:19 repeats the same verse saying “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
These verses that call us to care for the stranger among us need to be remembered today. For all my Christian brothers and sisters who are praising President Trump’s order to ban Muslims from entering the country, I urge you to remember the words that God Himself declared. We are to love the foreigners among us. How can we claim to love God when we don’t love His creation? Every single human is created in the imago dei. The image of God. Just because they might believe something different from us or come from a different culture doesn’t excuse the fact that we are called to show proper respect to the image bearers of God. These are real men and women who are fleeing difficult situations in their homelands. Yet many Christians are hardening their hearts against these situations. They are not showing love for their fellow human beings. Many of these American Christians who have taken up the slogan of “All Lives Matter” are now ignoring their own statements and deciding that the lives of these refugees don’t matter as much anymore.
John 13:34 tell us "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The words of Jesus Christ Himself. We are called to love one another. In fact, Jesus takes it one step further in Matthew 5:44 where he says “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Love is the commandment that we have been given. We are to love these foreigners. We are to take them into our homes and into our lives and live out our lives with them.
A majority of the people fleeing from these countries in the Middle East aren’t just leaving because they feel like it. Have you ever thought about the resources that it would take to pack up your entire life, and go to another country where you don’t know the language, where you have no family, where the culture is completely different from yours? Many of these people are refugees who are being forced to relocate due to war or famine, or a number of other reasons. These are the people that need the Gospel. That need to hear the good news of Jesus. That one day, war and strife will end and peace will rule over all. That there is a God who hears their cries and who loves them. That there is an international family of saints who are committed to caring for one another and walking with each other in good times and bad times. We cannot be followers of Christ if we turn our faces away from those in need. Jesus says “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) That is how the world will know that we are Christians. It’s not by wearing crosses around our necks or putting fish stickers on our bumpers. It’s by the way that we love those around us. It’s by the way we make the Gospel real in our every day lives. The message of the Gospel is that there is freedom in Jesus. That despite the hardships of the world and the atrocities committed every day, King Jesus will one day rule in entirety over the heavens and the earth. In the Kingdom of God, there is peace and freedom. We must make that a reality in our day to day lives. Yes, we are called to proclaim the Gospel. We are called to tell those around us that there is a God who sits on the throne and rules over all. We are called to proclaim the reality of the cross. To urge repentance and show forgiveness. But we are also called to live out the Gospel in our daily lives. To bring hope to the hopeless, to release the captives and set the oppressed free. To love the image bearers of God wherever they are. Let us not harden our hearts against the plight of our fellow human beings. After all, someday we’ll be worshipping with a multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue for all of eternity. Why not set the wheels in motion for that to be a reality now?
