No Strangers to God

When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit. So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. (Ephesians 2:17-19)

We are all immigrants. We were once aliens, strangers in a strange land. And that is true even if we were born and raised right here in the Unit d States. Merriam-Webster defines “immigrant” as “a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.” Paul says that is exactly what followers of Jesus do when they become his disciples. We stop being “far away from God” and become “no longer strangers and aliens” but members of “God’s household.” We move from a far off country where we wander lost and seeking hope to the kingdom of God where we find love, peace, and hope. For Paul we are all immigrants or, in his words, “strangers and aliens” until we find the new and wonderful country into which God invites us.

This sets the conversation about hospitality to strangers, aliens, immigrants in a new light. All of us are immigrants, strangers, aliens. We just migrated from different places. Perhaps that is why the scripture speaks so often of immigrants. The Common English Bible has 56 references to “immigrants.” God has some challenging words about the subject, too. For example, in Deuteronomy, it says:

Clearly, the LORD owns the sky, the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it.  But the LORD adored your ancestors, loving them and choosing the descendants that followed them—you!—from all other people. That's how things still stand now. So circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn, because the LORD your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn't play favorites and doesn't take bribes. He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:14-19, CEB)

After reminding them of who God is -- a God of justice and love who cares for those on the margins of society like widows, orphans, and immigrants -- the people of Israel are given some marching orders. “Because I, your God, love those on the margins, like the immigrants, I expect you to love immigrants. And remember this: you were once immigrants yourselves.” They were reminded of the same thing that Paul would later remind the Ephesians: because they were immigrants themselves, and because God loves the immigrant, they were to go and do the same.

Fast forward many centuries to 2017. We are the spiritual ancestors of the writer of Deuteronomy and of Paul. From them we inherit the same reminders and admonitions. Because we were once aliens, strangers in a strange land, immigrants of one sort or another, we share common ground with other immigrants. Because we are “no longer strangers and aliens” and are loved by a God of love, peace, and hope, we are called to love others on the margins of life -- the strangers and immigrants in our midst. As the hymn says, “There are no strangers to God’s love.”

Thoughts to ponder:

  1. Who is a stranger to you?
  2. How can you reach out in God’s love to the stranger in your midst?
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