A Beloved Stranger
02/06/21 There are times when public policies are fruitful in caring for people that fall into the biblical category of “the least of these”. The people of society that would receive this label would be those that are impoverished, orphaned, widowed, etc.
The degree of dignity and care that these policies produce often do not fully measure up to our Biblical mandate from Jesus to “love our neighbor as ourselves.”
There is one specific group of people that are often neglected or mistreated the most by society (from political rallies to pulpits) because they tend to carry even more political and social baggage with them. However, in scripture, we are consistently commanded by God to love and care for this group of people… Who are they? the “stranger”.
Regardless of what word you choose, or what Bible version you read, (foreigner, stranger, alien, immigrant), both the Old and New Testament give us clear direction to consider them (and treat them) as beloved.
In Exodus 23 God’s people are told “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”
In Leviticus 19 the people of God are told ““When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 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.”
And, of course, we see in Matthew 25 that Jesus places Himself within the hearts of an outsider when He says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,”
The biblical story of Ruth, a Moabite widow who takes refuge in Israel, illustrates God’s heart toward aliens and refugees. The story begins with a famine in the land of Israel during the time of the Judges. Elimelech and his wife Naomi, along with their two sons, leave Bethlehem in search of food in the foreign land of Moab. They have become strangers (aliens) in a strange land. There Naomi’s husband dies, and her two sons take Moabite wives. Then both sons die, and she is left alone with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.
Naomi decides to return to Israel and urges both women to remain in their homeland of Moab, but Ruth refuses to leave her mother-in-law; instead, she faithfully chooses to follow Naomi to Israel. Ruth is now an immigrant seeking refuge among God’s people. Ruth 2.
Ruth calls herself a foreigner (Hebrew nocri). She uses a different word than ger, a far broader term that doesn’t imply inclusion or worthiness of protection. Nevertheless, Boaz treats her as a ger, a protected resident alien who has taken refuge under the wings of the God of Israel.
How then can we, as Christians, apply the story of Ruth to our attitudes and actions toward today’s immigrants and refugees?
- Learn to think and act generously toward the most vulnerable, including immigrants and refugees.
- Practice compassionate hospitality in faithfulness to God and his Word.
- Redefine immigrants into guests by opening our hearts to receive those whom God may have sent here to take refuge under his wings.