Leviticus 19:33-34
This month, we’ve been looking at how our faith is about #morethanus. We’ve talked about our call to see and serve the poor, to hear the voices of women and change systems and practices of injustice. We looked at Jesus’ invitation and welcome of children and the ways he reminds us that the kingdom of God becomes manifest when we gather together and seek after him. And today, we are focusing on the biblical call to love and care for the stranger. As we prepared for this series, we collected scripture quotes from throughout the Bible…James, Isaiah, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and many more. Including the specific verses Rylie read this morning: 33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the
native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
It seems simple enough. Right? And it even falls among a litany of laws we would generally adhere to:
• You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.
• You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him
• You shall do no injustice in court
• Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute
• You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah
• You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor
• When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojournerGenerally these seem reasonable. At least in my mind. We may not get them all right all the time…but we can see the wisdom in them and the good they can bring to society. And so we might then advocate that we should welcome the stranger and treat them as one of us. But, not all of us do. Not all of us believe the strangers—meaning the immigrants and the refugees should be allowed to come freely or given rights and privileges when they’re here. And instead of getting into our philosophies for why we believe what we do individually, I think we have to address how it is we side step the biblical commandments. After all, it’s not something that’s mentioned just once or twice…but over and over again. Not as a suggestion, but as a mandate. Care for the the stranger who sojourners among you.
In the case of this particular law in Leviticus 19, it might be that we ignore it or diminish it because there are other laws in this chapter that most of us would deem moot…or ridiculous…or unnecessary. Hear them now:
• The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
• You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind.
• You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed,
• nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
• “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall regard its fruit as forbidden.[b] Three years it shall be forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the 5th year, you may eat it.
• You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
I’d venture most of us look at most of those laws and think….really? I mean, we should pay people what they earn…but every single day? That would be come far too cumbersome…I don’t want to do a deposit every day….I think after 10 in a month I pay a fee…and that would be defeating the point, right? And I really don’t know all that much about cattle, but I’m fairly sure we moved into cross breeding most everything awhile ago. And then no mixed threads in clothing…? I’m not sure there’s anyone in this whole sanctuary who passes that test!
So, what does all of that mean? Laws we ignore mixed in with laws we value? Well, in part…when we read the laws of the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus, we’ve come to accept some while refusing others. Maybe we need to clearly evaluate which ones make it and which ones don’t and why. What the intent of each law was and if God still expects us to adhere to it. Often we look at laws and say “well that’s just part of some other old culture and doesn’t apply to us.” That’s how we’re ok wearing a cotton polyester blend. But, “you shall care for the stranger and welcome them as one of you” doesn’t seem to be some archaic cultural practice that isn’t relevant for us. We still deal with strangers every day. And caring for them seems important.
In the biblical teachings, care for the immigrant is accompanied by this phrase “for once you were a stranger in the land of Egypt.” And if you’re anything like me you’re thinking, “Nope! I was never an immigrant in Egypt.” And maybe from there we assume this law is moot, after all most of us have never even been to Egypt. But really, for the Israelites who were hearing these laws they hadn’t been either…only their ancestors, often generations and generations earlier. But “for once you were strangers” is not really about the historical details of being in Egypt….for them or for us. It’s a call to empathy…a call to remembrance…”remember, somewhere in your family line…your people were immigrants and faced hardship…and shouldn’t they have been treated with kindness and justice?” And it’s a call to empathy for us today….”and this could be you.” Whether or not we ever foresee ourselves living as an immigrant somewhere else, we are called to imagine and connect…what if it were me? How would I hope someone would treat me?
Over the years as a pastor, I’ve received a lot of requests for help…with food, with bills, with gas in a car. And in different times and places the church has been able to help. And in others, not as much. And in a time when the church (figuratively and literally) was closing its doors to immigrants and others seeking help, I remember having this very real moment of clarity. It was as if God were right there calling me to account and asking me, “If you were away in another country and had trouble…you were robbed and had no money, or lost your passport, or were lost or afraid, where would you go?” and without hesitation, I knew….THE CHURCH! I would find a church. For something as minor as a bathroom, to a place to warm up from the cold, to a place that could help me if I had nothing and no one. The church was the place.
And from there it was forever in my heart and mind that the church should be the place ready to help. We should be confident as the safe place. The warm place. The feeding place. The compassionate place. And not just this church building, or the church as us together, but each of us as the embodiment of Jesus—the living church should be ready to be the helpers…for we are always called to empathy—to see and understand each person as precious and worthy….regardless of immigration status or language. For once we were strangers in a foreign land…once we were the ones who needed help and understanding, and once more, sometime, somewhere we might be the one again.
As a people and as a nation we are struggling mightily with this. We want to talk about rightful place, and legal status, and due process but the Bible doesn’t put all those qualifiers on…it simply tells us to care for the stranger as if they were one of us—as if they were native born. What would it change if we dared to live that way? If we could truly welcome people? I know, those objections rise….but there’s too many, we can’t help them all, they should do this or that. But in response to our objections we are supposed to answer in the ways of faith…what if we led with compassion? What if we started with compassion and care? What if we led with empathy….even for the stranger, the immigrant and the refugee?