I too am rescued

As I have watched men, women and children being rescued in Mediterranean waters from sinking boats or those being accepted into countries with gifts and provisions, it's easy to remain distant from those images. It's easy to think that I've never been in such abject need; I have never been brought so low. It's easy to see these refugees as subjects of pity and perhaps even shame. It's easy to feel that they are not like you and I.

But this is not true.

I have as much need for rescue as these refugees. I am in as a pitiful and low estate as they. For I too, despite my arrogance and desire to believe otherwise, am helpless and powerless.

Due to my sinfulness, my desire to rebel against God and my outright disobedience, I am subject to death's curse. I am a natural enemy of God. I go against even the simplest of His commands; I fail to love Him as I should. As a result, I am cut off from God's life-giving power and love. Romans 7:24 says:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 

I am in dire need of saving. I need to be rescued, but not from war-torn countries and oppressive regimes. Instead I need saving from sin and from myself. But who is going to rescue me? It is the very God that I have rebelled against! The very next verse of Romans states:
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
God has delivered me. I am saved.

Although I will probably never experience the sense of fear, upheaval, uncertainty and dread that these refugees feel, I have no right to look down upon them or distance myself from them. Instead, I should acknowledge that I have been rescued and freed from the burden and prison of sin. Who am I to deny freedom and rescue to those seeking refuge? Who am I to forget them?

My whole being will exclaim,
 “Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
 the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

Psalm 35:10

The edges of the fields

To read my previous post on the refugee crisis, click here.

The first five books of the Bible are known as the books of the law, mainly because a lot of it is about the rules and regulations God gives to his people. In Leviticus, we read about how the Israelites were to treat strangers and foreigners in their lands. These weren't long policies on how to process asylum applications or targets on how to reduce immigration. Nor were they statements on how few refugees they would accept. Instead they were rules on kindness and generosity.

Leviticus 19:33-34 says, "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not ill-treat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

I don't these verses leave any room for misreading. If there is a stranger or foreigner among us, we are to love them. I think the "I am the Lord your God" part is brilliant. It reads a bit like, "Do you know who I am? So don't you dare think you can get away with not listening to this." God wasn't joking and we are definitely not to argue.

So, we are meant to love strangers and foreigners. But we can love them by giving nice smiles and being polite, yes? Well, there's more to it than that. A bit earlier in the same chapter (verses 9 and 10 to be precise), God gave instructions to the farmers. Now, I'm guessing that most the population of Israel lived in rural areas. (In fact, it was only few years ago that the world's urban population exceeded the world's rural population for the first time. So, it's a pretty safe assumption.) This meant that these rules applied to a lot of the people, if not most of them. This is what it says:

"When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God."

It was the responsibility of every farmer to think of the poor and foreigner. Rather than think of their own profit and earnings, farmers were to think of those less fortunate than themselves. The poor could go into the field after the farmer had finished his harvest and pick the bits he had left. The foreigners were looked after by the Israelites. It was the law. I don't think we can say the same about our society.

Instead of unfair subsidies and tax loopholes, God asked for generosity. Instead of greed, God's law showed consideration. Rather than abusing the foreigner and letting them suffocate in the backs of lorries, God asked for love. Instead of preventing foreigners from taking advantage of wealth by building fences, God told them to make themselves at home and to help themselves.

I am not a farmer, but I don't think that excuses me. I know the principles behind the laws are what mattered, not the fine print. So, it's my challenge to make sure these values are exhibited  in my life.

A child refugee

Before he had turned two years old, this child had fled his hometown to escape a brutal massacre. He had lived in an area of the Middle East that had seen much political turmoil. The current leader of the region was cruel and oppressive; he would do anything to keep his uneasy grasp on political power. This would include committing atrocities that saw many children murdered. So the parents of this baby boy made the difficult journey south to Egypt. They would have taken very little with them and they did not know when they could return.

I am not writing about Aylan Kurdi, the three year old who tragically drowned in the Mediterranean. Although Aylan's death is awful and has struck the hearts of many people, he is not the refugee I wish to discuss here.

This was Jesus. Matthew 2:13 says, "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 

So, the young Jesus and his family were refugees. They too had to flee to a foreign and unknown land to seek political asylum. From the outset, Jesus' life was marred by oppression, fear and upheaval. He knew what it was to leave his home, he knew what it was to make a hard and difficult journey, he knew what it was wait until he could return.

So, when you see images of refugees crossing turbulent seas in unsafe boats or those pressed against barbed wire waiting to pass the next border or those packed on trains in closed down stations, think of Joseph and Mary and a young Jesus. And when you extend your mercy and love towards these refugees, you extend love and mercy towards Jesus too.

Read Matthew 25:31-46, and think about which of the groups in this story you wish to belong to.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’