Tags
Alien, Forgiveness, Jesus, Leviticus 19:33-34, Love of neighbor, Our shared humanity, Power, Protection of the vulnerable, Reconciliation, Refugees, Sodom and Gomorrah, Wealth, Wealth and Power
Day 3: Tuesday in the first week of Lent
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 citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
“You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” Loving the stranger, the outsider, the refugee, is not just a good and moral thing to do. It’s not just a divinely commanded obligation. It is the fruit of a very simple truth: Those others are like you. You were once aliens. You share a common story. You share a common humanity.
This is not a proof text for condemning U.S. policy on its southern border – though it does that very well. This is a command to see our shared humanity. To see the other as a human being. They are like us. We are the same.
In the culture of the biblical world your security depended upon your family and tribe. They were your protection. They were your security. They provided for you when you were elderly. They came to your defense if you were threatened. Since they would avenge any harm done to you, harm was prevented. Those without a family or tribe were profoundly vulnerable. It is the despicable violation done to such outsiders that brings the rain of fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Their wealth and power let them willfully abuse the weak, but it could not protect them from the judgment of God.
The danger of wealth and power is that it sets us apart. It makes us forget that we are connected. It seduces us to think we are different than others. The scripture insists we remember we share a common story. We share a common humanity. The weak and the unprotected are not there to be used and abused by those who have the power. They are to be seen, their stories heard, their lives honored.
In the deeply divided world of his time, Jesus was able to see the humanity of all: the woman at the well, the woman in tears at his feet, Zacchaeus in the tree, Matthew in the tax booth, Simon sitting in judgment, the soldiers throwing dice, the thief on the cross beside him. Jesus sees the humanity of all. And in that shared humanity is the possibility of forgiveness and reconciliation – even at the cross.
Gracious and ever-present God,
whose mercy knows no bounds,
and whose arms are ever open to your world:
Grant us faithfulness in the wilderness
And make us joyful in your service.
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Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ebersheim_StMartin_17a.JPG © Ralph Hammann – Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)