Addressing A Controversy

     Yesterday in my country the USA, a controversy arose over the sermon preached at the prayer service attended by President Trump. In her remarks, the bishop asked the President to have mercy on members of the LGBT community, and she spoke up for immigrants. 

     As a primarily religion blog, it would be remiss of me not to address this controversy in some way. First of all, if you've read my sermons, you know that I am what would be considered a conservative in theological matters, but I also preach about social justice and environmental issues. 

     One of the the things that really has concerned me in the response to the bishop's message is that many conservative religious leaders are dismissing her remarks about immigrants. The Bible has a lot to say about how a nation is to treat the immigrant and the sojourner in the land. Let's look for a few minutes at some of what the Bible has to say about this issue. Contrary to what one conservative religious leader has said, immigration is a Bible issue. 

     Exodus 22:1 states, "You shall not wrong a sojourner nor oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." This verse is not just speaking of of the Israelites being slaves. When there was a famine in the land where they were staying, Jacob and his family went to Egypt in order to survive. There they prospered. The Egyptians then mistreated and enslaved the Hebrews. God wanted to make sure that the people remembered that they were sojourners who became mistreated. He did not want the people of Israel to do to others what had been done to them.

     Zechariah 7:9-10 gives a strong message about how the marginalized are to be treated in society. This passage states, "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil in your heart against another."  

     Two passages in Ezekiel tell us that God was not pleased at the way the people were treating the sojourners. First of all Ezekiel 22:7 states, "Father and Mother are treated with contempt in you, and the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst, the fatherless and widow are wronged in you." Part of the remedy for this is found in Ezekiel 47:22, "You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel." What this is saying is that when people have lived among you and have families, and they have not broken the law or caused harm, they should be well treated just as a native-born citizen. 

    There is one other Old Testament passage from among the many that I would like to relate to you. It is found in Deuteronomy 14:28-29 which says the following, "At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up in your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, the widow, who are within your towns shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do." Those who do not have enough were to be supported by the people's tithe. This included the immigrant due to the fact they often were fleeing persecution, war and famine in other places and often were lacking in resources. 

     Finally on this immigrants and Bible issue I want to say this. Jesus said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we had to leave our home due to gang violence, war or some other hardship we would want others to help us. Also, Jesus told us to do unto others as we would have done to us. 

     Always remember this. We are to serve and follow Jesus not a political party or President whether or not they be of the left or the right. We have to stand where the Word of God stands. As this relates to the Bishop's remarks, the Bible is clear on the correct treatment of immigrants. We must in no way mistreat or cause fear and harm to those who are living lawful lives among us.

     In my remarks, I have probably offended some of you who read the blog. I remember when I taught through the book of Malachi that I lost a lot of followers. However, as someone called to preach the Gospel, I have to speak where the Scripture speaks, and the Bible does have a lot to say about how to treat immigrants, the vulnerable and the poor. May God bless you all.