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| Church nativity scene depicting baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE. Image source. |
What kind of God will judge us for how we treat immigrants?
Will it be the God who said, "Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt"?
Will it be the God who said, "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat 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."
Is it the God who "defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing," and instructs the people to also love foreigners?
Will it be the God of Moses, who said, "Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow"?
Is it the God of Ruth, a Moabite widow who came to live among the Israelites, married an Israelite man, and became the great-grandmother of King David?
Is it the God of Isaiah, who had HAD ENOUGH of religious rituals and just wanted people to help the poor and oppressed instead?
Is it the God of Jeremiah, who promised blessings to the people "if you do not oppress the foreigner"?
Is it the God of Ezekiel, who said that foreigners should be allotted land in Israel, the same as native-born citizens?
Will it be the God of the Magi, who studied astrology and came from far away, following the star to find the baby Jesus?
Is it Jesus, who escaped a massacre as an infant? His family fled to Egypt and lived there as refugees.
Is it Jesus, who asked, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" He was angry at the way people hid behind the letter of the law, ignoring a person in need right in front of them.
Is it Jesus, who talked to the Samaritan woman at the well, even though it was weird for a man to talk to a woman, or a Jew to talk to a Samaritan, in that setting? He revealed to her that he was the Messiah, and she went to share the good news, and many Samaritans believed in him.
Is it Jesus, who bent down to scribble in the dirt when the religious leaders brought a "sinful" woman to him? Jesus, who ignored the literal words of the law and said, "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone"? After all of them had awkwardly left, he told the woman, "Neither do I condemn you."
Is it Jesus, who pointed out that the prophet Elisha did not heal lepers among the Israelites, but instead healed Naaman the Syrian?
Will it be Jesus, who was asked "who is my neighbor?" and didn't directly answer that question- didn't give a precise definition of who we are supposed to care for and who we can ignore. Instead, he told a story about a man beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, who was saved by a Samaritan, an ethnic minority. The answer to "who is my neighbor?" is "go and do likewise." Go and help people, across lines of race and nationality.
Is it Jesus, who told a parable of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus? The rich man went to hell, because he lived a life of luxury and totally ignored Lazarus.
Is it the King who separated the sheep from the goats, and told the sheep they would enter heaven because "I was a stranger and you invited me in"? He said, "Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me."
Is it God the Spirit, poured out on the day of Pentecost, where people from many different nations had gathered, and miraculously heard the apostles speaking in different languages?Will it be the God of Stephen, one of the leaders in the early church who was appointed to make sure that widows from a Hellenistic background were given equal benefits with the Hebraic widows?
Is it the God of Peter, who saw a vision of animals on a sheet lowered from heaven, and said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right"?
Will it be the God of the apostle Paul, who preached to the Athenians, affirming their religion's desire to seek God, and told them that God intends for people of every nation to seek and find God?
Will it be the God of the apostle Paul, who wrote to Gentile readers and said that, even though the first Christians were Jewish, "you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household"?
Is it the God who showed John of Patmos a vision of worshippers "from every nation, tribe, people and language" in heaven?
Or...
Will it be the God who brought a plague against the Israelites when they were "seduced" by the women of Moab, and only stopped the plague after Phinehas the priest murdered a cross-cultural couple?
Is it the God of Moses, who led the army into victory over the Midianites, and instructed the people to kill all the Midianite men, women, and boys, and take the virgin girls as sex slaves?
Is it the God who said you can buy slaves from the nations around you, but you must not enslave your fellow Israelites?
Is it the God who sent fire to kill the priests Nadab and Abihu because they "offered unauthorized fire"? God's laws are very important, and they broke God's laws. Don't feel bad for them.
Is it the God who declared that a man should be stoned to death because he gathered sticks on the Sabbath day? Rules are rules. He deserved that.
Is it the God who said you must totally destroy "the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites"? Do not intermarry with them, and do not follow their gods.
Is it the God who said that when you go to attack a city, first you should make them an offer to surrender and be your slaves? Unless it's a city in the promised land, in which case you don't even offer that, you just go in and kill all of them, all of them, men, women, and children.
Is it the God of Joshua, who attacked the cities of Makkedah, Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Debir, and many other cities, and left no survivors?
Is it the God of Joshua, who warned the people not to intermarry with other nations?
Will it be the God who struck Uzzah dead when he touched the ark of the covenant to stop it from falling? The rules are that nobody can touch it. Uzzah broke the rules, so he deserves whatever happens to him.
Is it the God of Nehemiah, who led them people in making a promise not to marry people from other nations?
Will it be the God of Ezra, who wept when he found out that the Israelites had intermarried with foreign women, and organized a mass divorce and abandonment of these foreign wives and children?
Will it be Jesus, who ignored the Canaanite women begging him to heal her daughter, until she convinced him that he was in the wrong?
Is it Jesus, who taught that if someone wrongs you, you should try to reconcile with them, but if they refuse to listen, "treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector"?
Is it Jesus, who said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," excluding people based on the technicality of whether or not they know the name of Jesus?
Will it be the God of the apostle Paul, who wrote, "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."
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A God who is love, who cares about everyone, especially people who are in need, and expects us to do the same?
Or an authoritarian God who judges, excludes, and punishes, and if you think this God's punishments are unfair, shut up, no you don't. You better stay on his good side, or else you'll be next.
Both of these gods can be found in the bible. Every Christian must choose which of them is worthy of your worship.
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