I had the wonderful privilege of visiting a dear friend's church while on vacation. It had been years since I had heard him preach and his reaction as well as his family made it all worthwhile to visit his church. It was the last Sunday in January and he preached on the text assigned to that particular Sunday in the Lectionary. He began his sermon by saying he was not used to preaching on this text as he, as senior pastor, had accustomed to taking this particular Sunday off and letting his associate preach, but family matters took his associate away and here he was sharing the Word for that day. This made our trip to his church more fulfilling as it was our desire to hear him preach and we did.
He preached on the text about the visit of the Magi to Jesus and how Jesus was taken by Joseph out of Palestine into Egypt because of the danger Jesus was in for having been born at the time Herod heard about the child king. And my friend used the "R" word about Jesus that made me smile. I remember being fresh out of seminary in the Valley and receiving a phone call from my mother. She reported that a dear friend ("Comadre" actually) from another Valley church had a new seminary pastor (he and I graduated together from Perkins) and that this minister had the nerve to call Jesus a "refugee!" Oh, the horror! Somehow this lady and my mother had a view of "refugees" that they could not associate with the newborn or infant Jesus. I wondered what that view was or what misconception they had about those who have to flee their countries to come into another one. This was the early 80s and our country had not yet reached the frantic point of refugees and immigrants that we have today. The reality was that we had refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua, who has fled political oppression and possible death to come to the USA. Jesus and his family did the same thing. Had Joseph brought Mary and Jesus through the Valley in those days, he would have found churches willing to house, clothe, shelter, and protect them. What would he have found now? What would he have found had they come in through Arizona?
The truth of the matter is that The Bible speaks of hospitality and our caring for one another. Nowhere in those pages does it say for us to care only for those from our country or racial background or those who are here "legally." It speaks of our being like our Heavenly Father, who is a being of love and compassion. Exodus 22:21 reads, "21 "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." How fitting that years and years later, God's own Son would be a "stranger" (foreigner) in the land of Egypt Himself. This is not a political matter as much as it is a theological one. We are the children of the Most High, who sees all the same and wants us to do the same. Jesus repeated the great teaching, "We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves," and when asked who is "our neighbor" he tells the story of a hated foreigner caring for a Jew, to answer the question, anyone in need is our neighbor.
PRAYER: Loving God, give me Your eyes to see the needs of all. Make me truly be a person of love towards all. Remove from my heart and mind the checklist of who may or may not be my neighbor as You Son taught us that anyone in need is indeed our neighbor. I pray in His Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
He preached on the text about the visit of the Magi to Jesus and how Jesus was taken by Joseph out of Palestine into Egypt because of the danger Jesus was in for having been born at the time Herod heard about the child king. And my friend used the "R" word about Jesus that made me smile. I remember being fresh out of seminary in the Valley and receiving a phone call from my mother. She reported that a dear friend ("Comadre" actually) from another Valley church had a new seminary pastor (he and I graduated together from Perkins) and that this minister had the nerve to call Jesus a "refugee!" Oh, the horror! Somehow this lady and my mother had a view of "refugees" that they could not associate with the newborn or infant Jesus. I wondered what that view was or what misconception they had about those who have to flee their countries to come into another one. This was the early 80s and our country had not yet reached the frantic point of refugees and immigrants that we have today. The reality was that we had refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua, who has fled political oppression and possible death to come to the USA. Jesus and his family did the same thing. Had Joseph brought Mary and Jesus through the Valley in those days, he would have found churches willing to house, clothe, shelter, and protect them. What would he have found now? What would he have found had they come in through Arizona?
The truth of the matter is that The Bible speaks of hospitality and our caring for one another. Nowhere in those pages does it say for us to care only for those from our country or racial background or those who are here "legally." It speaks of our being like our Heavenly Father, who is a being of love and compassion. Exodus 22:21 reads, "21 "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." How fitting that years and years later, God's own Son would be a "stranger" (foreigner) in the land of Egypt Himself. This is not a political matter as much as it is a theological one. We are the children of the Most High, who sees all the same and wants us to do the same. Jesus repeated the great teaching, "We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves," and when asked who is "our neighbor" he tells the story of a hated foreigner caring for a Jew, to answer the question, anyone in need is our neighbor.
PRAYER: Loving God, give me Your eyes to see the needs of all. Make me truly be a person of love towards all. Remove from my heart and mind the checklist of who may or may not be my neighbor as You Son taught us that anyone in need is indeed our neighbor. I pray in His Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
