Wednesday, September 21, 2022

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35

 https://www.borderperspective.org/blog/what-does-the-bible-say-about-welcoming-immigrants

In the Old Testament, God's people are commanded: 'Don’t mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God' (Leviticus 19:33-34). 

While the New Testament was written in a different context, it too has advice about hospitality and welcome. 'Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it,' we read in Hebrews 13:2, while 1 Peter 1:17 reminds us that we're all foreigners: 'You say that God is your Father, but God doesn’t have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So we must honor God while we live as strangers here on earth.'

All these texts indicate that those displaced are to be provided for and welcomed. For Christians, a grudging or discriminatory approach towards the stranger is completely unacceptable.

How would we respond if the displaced on our doorstep was Jesus himself? Matthew 25:31-46, highlights our responsibility to care for the 'stranger' and the displaced around us. 'Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me,' says Jesus. 

THE BIBLE SAYS A LOT MORE ABOUT WELCOMING THE STRANGER

Foreigners or refugees are not to be oppressed.

  • Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners because you were foreigners in Egypt. Exodus 23:9

Jesus says to show disciple-like behavior in how we treat strangers.

  • I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25:35 

    • You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

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