GOD'S VIEW ON IMMIGRANTS
Exploring
Matthew
One of the most challenging assignments in my
ministry was completing my Doctoral studies. I was greatly relieved when I completed
it a few years ago. My dissertation was titled "Pastoring Small Churches
Through Biblical Preaching." My thesis was that members of New England
churches are not being true witnesses for Christ in their communities. Where
lies the problem with their apathy and disengagement? Part of the reason is a
lack of Biblical understanding of shepherding, which leads to a lack of
biblical preaching and biblically illiterate witnesses. Is there Biblical
illiteracy in the US? How does it impact our lives?
According to Life Way
Research, "America has a literacy problem. Almost 14 percent of the adult
population cannot read. But illiteracy isn't just a problem in secular society.
A far worse kind of illiteracy affects the church: Biblical illiteracy." Only
20 percent of Americans read the entire Bible at least once. Only 22 percent
systematically read through a section of the Bible daily. A third of Americans
never read the Bible independently. This lack of Bible reading indeed has led
to a lack of biblical doctrine."[1]
This is how Biblical illiteracy manifests
among Christians. A pastor compiled a list of the top ten phrases we often use
that are not in the Bible: God wants you to be happy. We are all God's
children. God helps those who help themselves. God will not give more than you
can handle. When you die, God gains another angel. The Devil made me do it.[2]
Etc. These studies and my interviews with several pastors in New England and
across the country have made me realize the need for Biblical Preaching. I
endeavor to preach through the whole Bible. For the next several weeks, we will
journey through the whole Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 2:13-23
I. Introduction to the Gospel Of Matthew
Matthew in the
Bible was one of Jesus' disciples. Matthew's Gospel is the longest of the four,
and some scholars believe it was the first to be written. Before Matthew became
a disciple of Christ, he was a tax collector or "publican"
in the town of Capernaum (Matthew 9:9; 10:3).
Matthew is also called Levi, the son of Alphaeus, by Luke and Mark (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27).
In Hebrew,
Matthew means "Gift of Yahweh." At the time, the Jews were under the
Roman Empire's control. Publicans like Matthew were considered greedy, selfish,
and traitorous. As a tax collector, he was viewed as a Roman agent. But all
that changed when Jesus saw him at the tax office and called him, saying, "Follow
Me." He got up and followed Him.
Some suggest that Matthew wrote this
Gospel as early as 50 A.D. It was written for a Jewish audience. Matthew
emphasizes Jesus as the promised Messiah. He validates Jesus as the King and
legitimate heir to the throne of David by opening the Gospel with these words, "This
is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
Matthew 1:1.
II. A Family's Escape from Danger At Night!
One
of the most controversial political issues in our country these days is
"Immigration." Engaging in Immigration battles is breaking up families,
churches, causing heartache, and at times loss of life. The scriptures don't
give us specific policies on how we should conduct our Immigration, how many
immigrants we should accept, or who should stay or leave. We leave that matter
to the legislators and to the laws that enforce it.
However, the Bible does contain so many immigrant
and refugee stories and shows us God's heart for immigrants and how we are to
treat them. We begin our study of Matthew by looking at Jesus' family's escape to
Egypt. After the birth of Christ. The angels have returned to heaven, and the
shepherds to their fields. The Magi took another route to return to their home.
An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and
gives him a message saying, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee
to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to
search for the Child to destroy Him." So Joseph got up and took the Child
and His mother while it was still night and left for Egypt." Matt
2:13-14,(NASB).
Pay attention to the
word flee from which we get the word "refugee,"
the one who flees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees defines A refugee as
someone who has been forced to flee their country because of persecution, war,
or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution
for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in
a particular social group."[3]
The family of Jesus was forced to flee
their hometown for fear of persecution at night. In modern times, we call them
refugees in a foreign land. A Jesuit priest notes, "Did Joseph and Mary
apply for official refugee status? Of course not. Those kinds of regulations
were most likely not in effect. There may not have even been any borders at the
time."[4]
After Jesus' family fled to Egypt, Herod's
soldiers began the Massacre of killing male children two years and under. Matthew,
under the inspiration of connecting the grieving mothers' loss of their
children due to the Massacre ordered by Herod to the historical exile of Israel
to Babylon. Matt 2:18, "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great
mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because
they are no more."
Jesus's family escaped from one danger and
lived as refugees in Egypt. When the threat had passed, God told them to return
to their homeland, but recognizing a far worse danger, they went and lived in
Nazareth. Why did Jesus' family have to flee to Egypt and settle in Nazareth?
All this happened to fulfil the scriptures. What does this mean to us? Do we
hear the cries of the millions of refugees worldwide? God does! What provisions
did God make for Immigrants?
III. God's View On Immigrants
When it comes to dealing with immigrants, we
can be biased based on our political and cultural backgrounds. Let's be unbiased
and non-judgmental and approach this matter from God's perspective. God's view
of immigrants is far different than what you are used to. God created all
people, male and female, in His image, and because of that, He loves all
people.
Even more so, He views immigrants, the
oppressed, and the harassed with kindness and compassion, and He made several
provisions for them in the scriptures. Here is how God sees immigrants,
refugees, strangers, and foreigners. He wants us to love them and be kind to
them.
-Deuteronomy 10:18-19, "He defends the
cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among
you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are
foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt."
-Zechariah 7:10 "This is what the LORD
Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one
another." Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the
poor. Do not plot evil against each other.'
-Psalm 146:9, "The LORD watches over the
foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways
of the wicked."
-Hebrews 13:5," Do not forget to show
hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to
angels without knowing it."
Why
do we care for Immigrants and refugees? Later in the Gospel, Jesus reminds us
that whenever we "welcome the stranger," we welcome Jesus himself (Matthew
25:37). Refugees and migrants are our brothers and sisters, desperately in need
of our help. Jesus' command to care for the strangers. Here are a few ways we
can care for immigrants:
First, pray for all people (immigrants),
leaders, and all those in authority, so that we might live in Peace. I Timothy
2:1-4. Second, be filled with the Holy Spirit and move in love, patience, and
kindness towards Immigrants (Gal 5:22). February 17th is celebrated as National
Random Acts of Kindness Day. You don't have to wait until then; you can be kind
to the immigrants today. Kindness goes a long way. Here are two acts of
kindness that our family experienced when we first moved to the USA in 2005.
[1] By Ken Braddy LifeWay Research https://research.lifeway.com/2017/07/10/discipling-in-an-age-of-biblical-illiteracy/ 12-8-2023
[2] https://pastorchrisbass.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/thats-not-in-the-bible-10-unbiblical-statements-christians%e2%80%8b-believe-part-2/
2-5-2026
[4] The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author,
editor at large at America, and founder of Outreach.
