The following is, as stated, my sermon from 16 May 2010. It was preached in four sections. The prayers for that Sunday also dealt with immigration issues. My hope with this sermon was not to provide all of the answers or, really, take sides. I wanted to congregation to think biblically about immigration rather than thinking politically or economically. While politics and economics and fear and frustration enter into the discussion, I truly believe that the church is at its best when it looks at these issues through the eyes of Scripture...ALL of Scripture.
While I looked at a whole lot of stuff online and read some very passionate and angry and awful comments on various weblogs, there are two non-Biblical sources of that provided a great deal of help in the sermon writing and in my plan for how to address this issue. They are Daniel Carroll's book, Christians at the Border and the Immigration Study by the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church. I was also able to draw on my experiences in Frankfort, Indiana as we, as a church and community, struggled with the cultural issues surrounding immigration of Latinos into our area.
As with all of my sermons, I view this as a particular word to a particular people at a particular time. My research was not exhaustive and I recognize that, a year from now, I could preach a different sermon. But this one was for this particular day.
PART 1: NO BUMPER STICKERS
Scripture Genesis 12:10-16
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife”; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.’ When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.
The CNN.com report of yesterday begins this way:
Staring at the throngs of media representatives who came out to hear and see her Friday, Jessica Colotl took another step into the fight for her future. The undocumented student from Mexico whose case has become a lightning rod in the immigration debate had been released on $2,500 bond just a couple hours earlier. The 21-year-old student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia surrendered Friday morning to authorities in response to a warrant for her arrest issued Wednesday night by the Cobb County Sheriff's Office.
In short, she’s been here illegally for 10 years. She’s going to school to get a degree. She has no ID. She got pulled over. She will be sent back to Mexico. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement will let her earn her degree next year.
Jessica is just the latest face in this immigration dilemma. Arizona enacted a tough immigration law recently and, while some celebrate it, others question whether anyone who looks Hispanic or even dark-skinned is in danger of getting “rounded up.” We recognize that, in Southern states, gang violence is spilling over from across the border. For years we’ve seen that the insatiable American appetite for drugs has been connected to our border security on land and on sea. This is not new
Now, there are those who say the current influx of immigrants that is in the news…namely Latinos – often called “Hispanics” which is not quite as accurate, or “Mexicans” which is kind of like calling all Anglo people “Brits”…some say these folks are not as good as immigrants of years past. Those immigrants of yesteryear, they say, knew how to assimilate and were much more appreciative of the benefits of living in this country. I received an e-mail this past week stating this case. However, I don’t think that’s true. Most immigrants, still, learn the language. They still get “assimilated” and eventually get jobs, pay taxes, worry about getting kids to school, etc. I looked at bunch of statistics (Thank you, Desert Southwest Conference Immigration Study). I’m not sure I could, in this time, offer any numbers that would prove particularly helpful.
The main problem with addressing this issue is that it’s big and it can’t be condensed down to a bumper sticker.
Just think of the economics of immigration. When I was in Frankfort, Indiana, we had an influx of Latino immigrants. They had been migrant workers, in the fields. And then they bought houses and got other jobs. When they started to “settle” they were much more of a “threat.” The Hispanic United Methodist Church pastor said he frequently heard how his parishioners were taking the factory jobs away from blue-blooded American workers. He said they were only taking the jobs that the American workers wouldn’t take. And it’s not so simple to say that immigrants are taking low paying jobs away from Americans when the companies that hire them are under pressure to keep their costs down so they can have a cheaper product to sell because blue-blooded Americans want a deal and won’t pay the price for items that we’d need to pay if it was made by the workers we think should be working there. It’s a worker problem. It’s an employer problem. It’s a consumer problem. And it’s complicated
About a week ago I read about raids on chicken factories in North Carolina, with the stated goal of rounding up undocumented immigrants. The authorities sometimes tip off the employers to let them know they’re coming. They bust in and arrest a few…enough to scare the workers and break up a few families…while keeping the rest of the workers working for their piddly pay. Because, well, if all of the immigrants were deported, how could we get cheap chicken?
Even this morning while at The Grind, one customer mentioned that her Father did the same thing at a Factory in Illinois…not because he wanted to be doing anything illegal but because he had to keep salaries lower than residents around him wanted for their jobs.
It’s complicated.
It’s also complicated because there are very real and valid fears that are tied up in the issue of immigration. Violence and drugs. People being packed into cars and vans with the promise of a new life. Persons dying in the desert. Stresses on school systems and social services. These are all very real.
But they are complicated.
It’s complicated politically. Voters with both major parties have ties to immigrant populations. California is overwhelmingly Mexican and Central American. Florida Cuban and Puerto Rican. I wouldn’t be surprised if politicians who believe everyone should speak English are smart enough to put out Spanish ads for their campaigns. It makes sense.
And it’s complicated for Christians too. See, being an alien or an immigrant is part of our story. Just a bit ago, we read a passage from Genesis, with Abram and Sarai, before their names were changed. The two of them fell on economic hard times because of a famine in their land and they went over to Egypt to reside there as aliens in the hopes of a better life. They lied to the authorities. They got government handouts: “sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.” That’s part of our story.
It’s also complicated because, at least with the Latino immigrants, almost all of them are Christian—Catholic and Evangelical. I’m not saying that breaking the law doesn’t matter, then. Breaking the law is breaking the law. But, I am saying that it changes the dynamic of how we relate. These are folks who turn to the church, not just for social services and food banks and clothes closets, but for Spiritual guidance and Holy Communion and Bible Studies. And they can give to the church as much as they get. Hispanics are changing the landscape of American Christianity, and in some places bringing to life churches that were thought to have closed their doors forever.
I know that emotions can run high here. And I want to tell you that I’m conflicted. I don’t have a magic solution for you. I don’t have easy answers. But, today I hope to look at the issue of immigration from a Biblical perspective. For, if the church is going to be part of the solution, we need to realize that our strength is when we play on our own “turf” – the Bible – and not economics or politics or fear. And we do a disservice when we enter into the war of bumper stickers, turning opposing viewpoints into caricatures, pretending like this is easy for anyone. It’s not. We’re dealing with people and lives and money and fear and compassion and faith and politics. It’s not easy.
PART 2: HOW DOES THE OLD TESTAMENT INFORM US?
Scripture – All from New Revised Standard Version The Following Video was played in both services to introduce the Scriptures
- Do not let the foreigner joined to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people." (Isaiah 56: 3a)
- And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, . . . these will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer . . . (Isaiah 56: 6a, 7a)
- . . . . for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. (Isaiah 56: 7b)
- When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19: 33, 34)
- You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:21)
- You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)
- You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow's garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. (Exodus 24: 17-18a)
- When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes...of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19: 9,10)
- 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 left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow . . . (Deuteronomy 24: 19a)
- When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. (Deuteronomy 24: 21)
- For the LORD your God . . . executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and . . . loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10: 17, 18)
- You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10: 19)
- Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13: 2)
A book I’ve been reading this week, in preparation, is Christians at the Border: Immigration, Church, and the Bible, by Daniel Carol. A lot of how this sermon is structured is due to his work. He talks at one point of wearing bifocals because he can’t see close up or far away without help and, when working at his computer, he can never find the right spot to look. He writes:
In like manner, all of us have a certain way of looking at ourselves and the world in which we live. Every one of us, in other words, has a particular set of lenses through which we interpret the reality that surrounds us and our identity and role in that context. These lenses are calibrated according to our background and experiences. But for the Christian, the Bible can serve as a different and fresh set of lenses. As the Word of God, it should profoundly shape our vision of life…. Through the Bible we as believers gain proper perspective, the angle God desires we have on important issues.” (64)
So, what are the things we learn from the Bible—from the Old Testament?
From Genesis 1, we recognize that we are made in the image of God. Therefore, immigrants are made in the image of God. They are worthy of respect in word and deed. This doesn’t mean we have to let every undocumented immigrant stay or that we have to allow everyone in that wants to come in, but it does mean we need to recognize the “contrary allegiances” that might want us to deny entry to a nation or a race. We need to realize that that, particularly speaking of Latino immigrants, that there are multiple nationalities and histories and cultures represented and we need to understand some of the human issues that have led to persons coming to this country…some that we have caused (such as our desire for cheap items).
It is hoped that we’ll look at people differently if we start by recognizing them as being made in the image of God.
From the Old Testament, we can also be informed about how often persons in our own Scriptures relocated and for what reasons. Some, such as Abram or Ruth, relocated because of hunger and economic unrest. Some, such as Joseph or Daniel, were forced into exile…Joseph sold into slavery and Daniel deported. These and others took with themselves part of their old country (including their faith in Yahweh) and assimilated parts of their new country.
And, from the Old Testament, we can learn that our God is definitely not silent when it comes to issues of hospitality and welcoming of the alien and stranger. We heard a bunch of these verses in the video. We make a much bigger deal at times with issues about which God speaks much less. There is a lot here. Don’t oppress. Don’t deprive of justice. Do not glean your fields, but leave them for the alien. God loves them and gives them food and clothing. You shall love the stranger for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. How important do we think THESE verses of our Bible are?
So, how would knowing this affect—not whether or not we HAVE border security, but HOW that border security works? How would this shape—not whether or not we let all undocumented immigrants stay but how we work out a plan for having some stay and also how we do this in such a way that we keep as many families together as possible? The fact that so many families are broken up in our processes is tragic.
PART 3: HOW DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT INFORM US?
Scripture: John 4:1-9
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, ‘Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John’— although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— he left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)
As Christians, we can, at times get cerebral – focusing on the theology of our God, how Jesus can be both God and man. Next week we’ll look at the coming of the Spirit and what it means for the church. Other times we can get very spiritual – focusing on our love of the living God. We want to know if persons are “saved.” We want to know where persons are on their journey with Jesus. Sometimes we fail to recognize that the things that Jesus said and the things that Jesus did should inform our own lives. And, while he never devoted a recorded sermon to the issue of immigration, we can be informed by what our Scriptures tell us about him.
We need to remember, of course, that he started out life as a refugee. That flight to Egypt after his birth was because of the Herod-led unrest and violence in his home country. Perhaps that should shape our discussions as we consider those who come to our own country trying to escape unrest and violence?
But, more, from the New Testament, we can see how Jesus reacted to those who were Outsiders. And, here, there is a lot to offer, particularly when it came to a particularly loathsome people – the Samaritans. And, just how bad it was between Jews and Samaritans can be seen from the disciples’ reaction to a Samaritan village rejecting Jesus in Luke 9:51-56. James and John wanted to call down fire upon them—but Jesus rebukes them.
And, of course, we have the passage we just read, of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Samaritan women, in Jewish tradition, were always to be considered ritually unclean (which reminds me of the people in my own church in Indiana telling me that the Hispanics in our community were unclean--that they had messy homes and yards, and had lice and whatnot). But we know the story. Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman…a woman of ill-repute, no less…at the well and, much to the amazement of the listeners of this story, he asks her for a drink of water even though Jews do not associate with Samaritans (4:9). The end result is that she brings other to Jesus. The harvest is at hand and, look where the field is ripe…THE SAMARITANS!!!
Now, there are other stories with Samaritans. There is THE GOOD SAMARITAN, there are ten lepers healed in Luke 17 and it is the SAMARITAN leper who comes back to praise Jesus.
And beyond Jesus’ actions with the Samaritans, it is clear from his teaching that he introduces a new way of looking at persons who are outsiders, unknown, and unacceptable…women…the poor…the sick…the Gentiles…the stranger. And it seems to have some eternal consequence. Remember that in Matthew 25, with the sheep and the goats, eternal blessing and eternal judgment are based on how people have treated the Son of Man and the “least of these brothers of mine.”
In our own country we have always had issues of cultural identity and the growing presence of immigrants…from the Irish and Italians to the immigrants from China and Japan to build railroads to the many immigrants in the Anchorage area to the growing national concern over the presence of Hispanics. Culturally, it can be a problem. I can picture Latino music booming from a nearby car in Indiana much to the dismay of my own passenger. And, I know, in myself the thoughts that cross my mind when I can’t understand the checker at the grocery store or the person on the other end of the phone line. In his actions, Jesus seems to put aside any negative feelings towards those of a different culture and welcomes those with different backgrounds. If we believe in Christ, shouldn’t all the rest just be details?
As followers of Jesus Christ, there are certain things we say are important matters of lifestyle. The Christian church is big on touting that our faith is a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But, more, it is a way of life. We believe that we should be honest in our dealings with others. We believe that fidelity in marriage is vitally important for keeping our marriages together. We believe that we should be good stewards of money. And we believe in “turning the other cheek” although we have real trouble putting that one into practice. So, where does compassion towards the outside, the stranger, the alien, even the illegal alien fit in that scheme of things? How does that enter into our Christian “way of life”?
Now, this is a two-way street here. If immigrants are Christian, then they need to be aware of what their coming means to this host country. They need to be honest and faithful we expect participation in our country not just social welfare. And I would say that, if legal means of getting documented are made available, they would seek those out. While we are not in a position to demand, we should expect compassion and understanding in return. Don’t make those of us who have been here a few hundred years into something we’re not and we’ll try to do the same. If we’re going to have dialogue…if we’re going to work together…this needs to be the case.
PART 4: OUR RESPONSE
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
“I urge you as aliens and exiles,” says Peter. Other translations say “aliens and strangers.” The New Living Translation says, “temporary residents and foreigners.” It is true that history of the people of God is one of sojourning in the faith – we are passing through this present age. But, it is also true that the history of the people of God is one of sojourning literally. It goes back to the time of Abraham when he was without land or roots in the region in which he settled. The rejection that our ancestors faced was spiritual, but also literal.
Perhaps this means that we can picture Egyptians furious at the handouts Abraham received. Perhaps this means that we can understand the struggle Joseph and Mary must have had to find adequate housing when they were refugees. Perhaps this means we can understand what it must have been like, through the Psalms, for the Hebrews to try to keep connected to their faith…their culture…in a foreign land. And, perhaps, this means we can see in our story of faith the story of the strangers, the aliens, the immigrants to our own country.
I know that few, if any of us, are really on the “front lines” when it comes to immigration issues. We may read about it. We may hear stories from friends and family. We see and feel anger. We feel threatened. And I’m sure that almost all of us say things and use language that we really should never use. Something needs to change in this country. The tenor of our conversation needs to change. The complexity of the issues needs to be realized. The underlying economic issues need to be addressed. We need comprehensive immigration reform that addresses our porous borders, issues of illegal activity with drugs and violence, and a clear path for citizenship for some of the folks who have been contributing members of our American society—although HOW that’s decided I’m not sure. And, through it all, we need to enter discussions about reform and laws carrying the testimony of Scripture.
Says Daniel Carroll:
If one begins with a biblical orientation that includes the centrality of the importance of the immigrant as made in the image of God, if one can appreciate how pervasive migration experiences are to the history and faith of the people of God, if Old Testament law projects an ethics of compassion, if the thrust of Jesus’ ministry and the New Testament as a whole is to love the outsider and be hospitable, then the inclination is to be gracious to the immigrant in the name of God and Christ. This inclination, in turn, will affect how one assesses present legislation and ponders where things should go from here at a personal level, in the local and national church and other Christian spheres, and finally within the country at every level of government. (131-132).
It’s not so much a “blueprint” as it is a guiding principle. And it gets the conversation back on our “home turf” – the Word of God.
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