So here is my talk from last night. There’s nothing really profound, so don’t be expected to be blown away. It essentially is about foundational principals to help guide our thinking on immigration.

Also, I probably haven’t proofed this like I should, so please give me grace on my grammar I’m still learning the English language!

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Introduction

The importance of certain political issues comes a goes depending on the time. As you see now, the primary issue is the economy and rightfully so, because it currently has the greatest impact on our country. Though the down turn in the economy is definitely helping out with the immigration issue.

Immigration was a hot issue a couple of years ago and a new immigration bill almost got through, until talks broke down amongst the parties. Here we are now in a different political climate, but the issue with immigration still remains.

The sensitivity of the issue is also geographically based. Those in the south like Texas, California, Arizona and Florida deal with it far more regularly than those living in Minnesota, unless they’re worried about an influx of illegal Canadian immigrants. So most of us in the Lafayette area don’t deal as frequently with immigrants, but nonetheless if we aren’t directly connected to the issue we are most certainly indirectly connected to it.

Americans Response

There are a couple of points that everyone can agree on. One, there are no easy answers and, two; the current immigration system is broken. It is a very complex issue, with many of the laws set up in a different political environment, such as the cold war era. Most Americans aren’t very sympathetic to illegal immigrants or the more politically correct term “undocumented citizens.” The idea that taxpayers’ dollars are going toward supporting many undocumented citizens doesn’t sit well with the American people. Also, the idea that Americans need to take care of their own people, before we worry about the rest of the worlds is another common thought.

Christians Response

How about the Christians, how have they responded? Well, some have unabashedly protected them, which have caused some major headlines in the past. Others want nothing to do with them, because they are lawbreakers. Some over-emphasizes the biblical principal of compassion while others over-emphasize the biblical principal of submission to authorities, submission to the government. Before I really started thinking biblically about the issue I would have probably leaned more towards the submission to government. Now, in the complexity of the arguments I can sympathize with both.

Bible’s Response

So what does the bible say about immigration. We’ll that’s a good question, because there isn’t a lot that directly teaches about immigration for today. Though there isn’t a lot of direct teaching, there are principles that should shape our thinking. It’s interesting as I was doing some research for this topic, there hasn’t been much written about this in the theological realm. All of my typical research pools turned up empty on the issue of immigration.

During the remainder of our time, we won’t be proposing any radical legislation that will solve the problem, but we’ll look at some guiding principles to help our thinking in our response to immigration.

Old Testament

First let’s look at the Old Testament. The Old Testament has a lot more to say about immigration than the new, but that was written during a different geo-political system. We have to be careful when taking things from the Old Testament. Though we may not be able to take it word for word and apply it to our political system, we can definitely take principles from it. So lets look at some Old Testament passages and see how they start to shape our thinking.

Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, “Let us make man [8] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Here we see God creating man, and not only creating man, but creating man in his image. This is important to realize that all people are connected to God because we bear his image. We need to think of immigrants, regardless if they’re here legally or illegally, as people created by God and in his image. It is easy to lose sight of this connection, so understanding this simple truth should help shape what we think about them and how we treat them.

Exodus 22:21-27

Yes, I know you’re thinking we looked over this passage last week, but I think it’s good to review since it’s also very applicable for immigration as well, so lets briefly look at it.

21 “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. 26 If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

Here we see the Lord has great compassion for the sojourner because he compares them to how Israel was a sojourner in Egypt. This is a far different context than what we have now, with the established nation states. One of the main principles we can learn from the text is that God cares about the needy and many of these are immigrants.

As we have briefly gone through a couple passages in the Old Testament a couple (not exhaustive) principles we need to go into our thinking are all immigrants are image bearers of God and God has compassion on those in need.

New Testament

The New Testament is even less direct when it comes to addressing immigrants. A lot of the references, specifically in the Epistles, to aliens and sojourners are in the context of citizens of God living in a different land (1 Peter 2:11) or what people were before being saved by God (Ephesians 2:19). Jesus mentions strangers in Matthew 25, so there are elements in the NT of people who are not naturally from where they end up.

Now, let us look at a couple of passages from the NT that will help give a foundation for a biblical view on immigration.

Luke 10:25-37

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii [3] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Regardless of your view on immigration these people are our neighbors. Yes, they are here illegally, but compassion and mercy need to be shown and shown in a way that is right in the law of man and ultimately the law of God. From the story we just read we learned that the neighbor is the one who showed mercy.

Now, I saved the final text for last, because it is the one I would always go to first for immigration. It is easy to jump here because we think it’s the catch all to the immigration problem. But the issue of immigration is more encompassing than Romans 13. There are other elements that need to be addressed alongside this passage, as I’ve done so earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to minimize the Romans 13 in anyway, but there is the rest of the Bible. Let’s look at Romans 13.

Romans 13:1-7

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

It is clear from the text the authorities we have in our life have been instituted by God. He has placed the governing authorities in our life for our good and his glory. This text is clear and doesn’t need much explaining. We can’t think through immigration with out bringing in the element of authority.

Christian Response

In light of what we’ve mentioned so far, how should we respond? Our response needs to be based first in foremost, biblically. And some of the themes that have been shared appear conflicting and I’m not going to deny that, but compassion/mercy and submission to authorities are both biblical foundations.

Finally as Christians we can’t lose sight of the gospel. Once again the greatest news these immigrants need to hear is not the law of man but the gospel. Don’t let the immigration issue hold you up in ministering the gospel and meeting a need. Let the word of God work on their heart in more ways than one! God has placed these people in our lives, in our midst, for a reason, and we can’t forget that their greatest need is the gospel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as I said before I don’t think there is an easy solution to immigration. Though after looking at it through the lens of Scripture there should be a way to show compassion while at the same time not minimizing the law and consequences for breaking it.

Well, tonight is my final night to address election issues, so immigration is the topic. Here is a brief outline of what I’ll talk about, once again, I’ll post a manuscript; Lord willing, tomorrow.

Immigration Outline

I.  Introduction
….a.  Current State of immigration
………i.  No easy answer
………ii.  Broken immigration system
….b.  Americans reaction to immigration
….c.  Christian reaction to immigration
………i.  Submission
………ii.  Compassion/mercy
II.  Bible’s insights on immigration
….a.  Old Testament principals
………i. People created in image of God
………….1. Gen 1:27
………ii. Compassion/mercy for sojourners
………….1. Ex 22:21-27
………iii. Different geo-political time
….b. New Testament principals
………i. Compassion/mercy
………….1. Luke 10:25-37 – Good Samaritan
………ii. Submission to authorities
………….1. Romans 13:1-7
III. Christian response to immigration
……a. Have Compassion/mercy
……b. Submit to authorities
……c. Gospel is of first importance
IV. Conclusion