Foreign Ways

Scottish accent Audio version here

I Kings 8:43 …then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. (NIV)

There’s talk of amnesty and deals for the 12 million illegal aliens in this nation. The President and Congress want to find a solution to a problem that is beginning to affect us all. There’s no easy answer to this, and it certainly won’t be resolved overnight. As a legal immigrant and naturalized citizen, I find myself struggling with this issue. Part of me wants to see as many people as possible receiving the blessings of this nation; the other half of me wants to make sure that they follow the rules to get in here.

It’s a highly controversial issue and one that inflames a lot of passion in ordinary people. Fears about the collapse of the economy, the health of the nation, and the education system are normal reactions to a major influx of immigrants to any nation. You only have to look at examples from history to know that the immigration anxieties we are experiencing have been going on since Biblical times. What we’re feeling has been expressed, experienced and endured by hundreds of nations across the centuries. It’s not something new to us, and as long as people live and move all over the globe, it will continue to happen.

The Jews of the Old Testament respected and tolerated foreigners in ways that we have perhaps forgotten. They even had special scriptural laws which pertained to the well-being of the foreigner in their midst. This was because of their experiences in Egypt – God had delivered the immigrant Hebrew people from oppression and slavery. Centuries later, they were called to treat foreigners respectfully in their own nation.

But it was also a two-way process. Immigrants were expected to uphold the customs and traditions of the sovereign people. When Solomon dedicates the Temple, he expresses this by asking God to favorably answer the prayers of worshipping foreigners – foreigners who believed in the One, True and Living God of the Hebrew people.

So, perhaps the solution to the problems of illegal immigration is two-fold. Firstly, we tolerate and treat one another respectfully, for we are all God’s children; and secondly, foreigners in our midst need to respect, uphold and practice those traditions that are dear to the American people. It seems to me that the Bible is giving us this as the way to resolve these issues.

Prayer: Lord God, we are all Your children. We need to remember that when You look at the world, there are no boundaries, walls or fences, no nations, nationalities or races. We all belong to You and the world is Your possession.

Grant us patience, faith and love to overcome prejudice, fear, and loathing. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.