Is it wrong to ban people without cause? Is it just to detain an innocent in anticipation of them being guilty? With all of the news of people being detained at airports because they are immigrants in the name of safety for the American people and Christians declaring it as a victory, shouldn't we consult the one source of wisdom we know if God-inspired? What does the Bible say about refugees and immigrants?
1. It says that we should love them.
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. - Leviticus 19:33-34
2. It says that we should feed them.
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. - Leviticus 19:9-10
3. God loves them too.
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. - Deuteronomy 10:18-19
4. Welcome them as God has called you to do.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. - Matthew 25:25-36
And consider the story of the Good Samaritan:
He asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise." - Luke 10:29-37
This is what the Bible says.
We are to love those who have been rejected by others. We are to welcome the refugee and the immigrant as God welcomed us. This is not political. This is not an American issue. This is a God issue. If we are called to be servants of God, shouldn't we remember that to be a servant of God is to accept God? There will be people from Iran in Heaven, people who welcomed Jesus into their hearts. Heaven is only limited to one group of people: God's people, the people who accepted Jesus into their hearts, those who have done the Will of God. Revelation 7:9 says
"After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands.
It is therefore unjust and unrighteous of us to reject anyone from a better life, a chance at hope. It is the Will of God that we love those less fortunate than us.
This does not mean that we welcome illegal immigration. But we should care about the people that need hope. We should be there to love them.
