In the News

Unjust and illegal apprehension and detainment of immigrants is in the news every day. As one example, the New York Times “In One Image” piece today looks at the “anatomy of an ICE arrest” based on a photo of Carlos Javier Lopez Benitez being apprehended by ICE agents as he left his asylum hearing.

And you don’t even have to read the newspaper to know about the mistreatment of our immigrant neighbors. Yesterday in worship we prayed for members of Mennonite communities in San Antonio and San Francisco who had been apprehended by ICE. At this point, most of us know someone or at least know of someone who has been detained because of the current administration’s “immigration enforcement” efforts.

We can anticipate that things will only get worse as the budget bill recently passed by Congress contains $45 BILLION for building new immigrant detention centers and increases ICE’s annual budget 3-fold–to nearly $30 billion.

In the Word

O.K. Usually if I hear (or read) the phrase “The Bible is clear . . .” I expect utter nonsense and bad theology to follow. Because the Bible is a complex document written millennia ago by people whose lives were very different from ours. In many cases one part of the Bible contradicts another part. Sometimes the content of the original manuscripts is in question and sometimes the English translation of the Hebrew or Greek is unclear. 

So, while I DO love scripture, believe it is the Word of God, and seek to follow the way of God that I learn from reading and studying it, I DO NOT believe that “The Bible is clear” about much.

BUT, the Bible is pretty darn clear about how God wants us to treat immigrants. Actually, it is astonishingly clear. Which means I don’t need to comment on or contextualize these passages. I’m just going to list a sampling of what scripture says about how to treat the foreigner/alien/stranger: 

• Deuteronomy 10:17-19; “For the Lord your God . . . executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 

• Leviticus 19:33-34; “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 native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
• Ezekiel 47:22; “You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who reside among you and have fathered children among you. They shall be to you as native-born of Israel; with you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.”
• Matthew 25:35; “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
• Luke 4:25-27; Jesus said, “But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah . . . yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
• Romans 12:13; “Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”