Loving the Foreigner
Deuteronomy 10:18–19 (NIV)
18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Immigration reform is a hot topic in the US especially as the economy has dived in the last decade. Immigrants, including undocumented (often referred to as illegal), have entered our country searching for the same hope our ancestors searched for (unless perhaps if they were Native Americans): life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And how can we blame them when the opportunities and living conditions are so much better here than most of the world. When God was preparing the people of Israel to enter the land he had promised to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he reminded them of his desire to “show love to foreigners, as you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.” God loves and cares about foreigners and their plight in foreign lands (even though at times God would bring justice for those who had embraced wickedness and evil). God desired for his people to love and care for them as well. The land they were going to occupy was a gift to them by God, it was God’s land to be treated and run the way he desired. While most of us Americans have pride in calling the US our home, there are things we need to realize: 1) Most of us are not originally from the US. If you go back far enough, our ancestry is not from the Americas. 2) God reminds us that this present earth is not our home anyway, we are citizens of God’s kingdom first and foremost (1 Peter 2:11). In other words we are foreigners who happen to be blessed enough to live in the US during the few short years we are present on this earth. As Christians, in any discussions on immigration we enter into, we need to keep these Biblical reminders so that we respond lovingly and justly to the “foreigners” among us.