Thursday, May 01, 2008

• The Bible and Refugees

  The Bible says so, so much about refugees.  As I sit and talk with refugees everyday I have been pondering each of their stories and what it might be like to read the Bible through the lens of a sojourner.  I will always be an outsider because I'm not a refugee.  But as I hear their stories, I can begin to read the Bible with new eyes.  I took some time today and read through Lamentations with a new perspective. 

   

  I feel that often, in reading the OT, many Christians (including myself), don't grasp the weight of what it would take to be uprooted.  God's people continually found themselves in dire situations in a new country forced to assimilate, yet keep their faith in God.  Many times the adjustment went horribly sour.  Maybe a souteast Asian or African has a much better insight into the exile-narrative of Scripture. 

   

  Jennifer Riggs of Disciples Home Missions (http://www.discipleshomemissions.org), has compiled a wonderful list of biblical texts which have to do with refugees.  It is my goal to work through all of these in the coming weeks to better understand the Bible from a refugee perspective.  I challenge you to check it out for yourself and decide what our response should be. 

   

  What the Bible Says About ARefugees and Our Care for Them

   

  Homelessness/Being Sojourners:

  Genesis 3:22-24 - Adam and Eve uprooted from the garden and forced out

  Genesis 4:8-15 - Cain becomes a wanderer on the earth

  Genesis 12:1 - Abraham, called to leave his home and go to a new land

  Genesis 23:4 - Abraham looks for a burial place for Sarah in a strange land

  Genesis 37-46 - Joseph sold into slavery in a strange land

  Exodus 2:15-22 - Moses as a guest in Midian

  Deuteronomy 6:10-12 - Remember, you were once sojourners

  Deuteronomy 26:5 - Remember, a wandering Aramean was my father

  I Samuel 23-24 - David, like refugees, hides in the wilderness to escape death

  I Chronicles 29:14-15 - All things come from God and we are all transient on earth

  Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength

  Psalm 68:6 - God gives a home to the desolate

  Psalm 105 - History of the migration of God’s people

  Psalm 137 - How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

  Lamentations 3:19-24 - The Lord is the hope of the homeless

  Matthew 2:19-21 - Jesus and his parents flee to Egypt to escape persecution

  Matthew 8:20 - Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head

  Luke 2:7 - No room at the inn

  Acts - The story of God's mission to foreigners

  Acts 7 - History of wandering of Abraham, Joseph and Moses

  Hebrews 13:14 - There is no lasting city, we look for the city that is to come

   

  Hospitality/Receiving Strangers:

  Genesis 18:1-8 - Abraham as host at Mamre

  Genesis 19:1-3 - Abraham as host at Sodom

  Exodus 22:21 - Remember to treat foreigners well

  Exodus 23:9 - Remember to treat foreigners well

  Leviticus 19:32-34 - The alien who resides with you is as the citizen

  Numbers 35 - Cities of refuge

  Deuteronomy 27:19 - Curse those who deny hospitality

  Joshua 20:1-3 - Cities of refuge

  Joshua 21:13-38 - Cities of refuge

  Ruth 2 - Boaz receives Ruth

  Job 31:32 - Job takes in travelers

  Psalms 61:1-3 - God is our ultimate place of refuge

  Isaiah 56:3-8 - Inclusion of the foreigners

  Matthew 5:44 - Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you

  Luke 10:38-42 - Jesus as a guest of Mary and Martha

  Luke 19:1-9 - Jesus as a guest of Zacchaeus

  Luke 24:28-3 - Jesus as a guest of the disciples on the Emmaus road

  John 19:25-27 - John takes Mary home with him after the crucifixion

  Romans 12:13 - Practice hospitality

  Romans 15:7 - Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you

  Ephesians 2:11-22 - No longer are we strangers and sojourners

  Hebrews 13:1-2 - Those who have welcomed strangers have discovered angels

   

  Meeting Human Need:

  Exodus 20:10 - Your resident alien should not work on the Sabbath

  Leviticus 19:9-17 - Rules for justice toward our neighbors

  Leviticus 25 - Jubilee year of forgiveness of debts

  Deuteronomy 10:18-19 - Food, clothing, love for sojourner, orphan

  Deuteronomy 14:28-29 - Tithe of produce for the resident alien

  Deuteronomy 15:1-18 - Seven-year release from debts

  Deuteronomy 24:14 - Don’t withhold the wages of the aliens

  Deuteronomy 24:17-22 - Leave gleanings for widow, orphan, sojourner

  Deuteronomy 26:12 - Tithe of produce for the resident alien

  Psalm 9:7-12, 18 - God forgets not the afflicted, the needy

  Psalm 82:2-4 - Give justice and rescue the week and needy

  Psalm 107 - God is wonderful to poor, hungry, thirsty

  Psalm 146 - Justice for oppressed, prisoner freed

  Psalm 147:1-6 - God uplifts downtrodden, heals brokenhearted

  Proverbs 14:31 - To oppress a poor man insults the maker

  Proverbs 22:8-9, 16 - Sow injustice, reap calamity; be generous, be blessed

  Proverbs 31:8-9 - Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves

  Isaiah 1:17 - Learn to do good, seek justice, etc.

  Isaiah 58:6-9 - God prefers service over fasting

  Isaiah 61:1-3 - Prisoner freed, justice for oppressed, etc.

  Jeremiah 7:5-7 - Justice will be rewarded

  Jeremiah 22:3-4 - Don't mistreat/cheat orphan, widow, sojourner

  Zechariah 7:9-10 - Do not oppress the alien

  Micah 6:8 - Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God

  Malachi 3:5 - Condemns employers cheating foreigners

  Matthew 15:21-28 - The Gentile stranger who didn’t give up until helped

  Matthew 25:35-46 - When you did it to the least you did it to Jesus

  Mark 12:30-31 - Love your neighbor as yourself

  Luke 1:46-55 - Exalted those of low degree

  Luke 4:14-21 - Jesus brings good news to poor and release to captives

  Luke 10:25-37 - Good Samaritan help man at side of road

  Luke 14:12-24 - Get dinner guests from highways and byways

  Luke 18:18-22 - Rich ruler, sell all, give to poor

  Acts 8:26-40 - Philip shows concern for the stranger’s spiritual needs

  Romans 12:13 - Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality

  II Corinthians 8:13-14 - Share your abundance

  II Corinthians 9:7-8 - God loves a cheerful giver

  Galatians 3:28 - No distinctions because all are one in Christ

  James 2:5-9,15-17 - Faith without works is dead

  I John 3:14-18 - Showing God’s love in action

  I John 4:7-21 - God loves us and consequently we should love one another

   

  Struggling with Obedience to Authority:

  Exodus 12:49 - The same law for the native and the alien

  Exodus 23:9 - Oppressing an alien is a violation of God’s law

  Deuteronomy 24:17 - Do not deprive a resident alien of justice

  Psalm 103.6 - God is always on the side of the oppressed

  Isaiah 10:1-2 - Woe to you who write oppressive statutes and turn aside needy

  Jeremiah 22:3-5 - Doing wrong to an alien is a violation of God’s law

  Daniel 3 - Three youth refugees thrown in fiery furnace for refusal to worship statue

  Daniel 6 - Daniel thrown in lion’s den for refusal to pray to the king

  Esther 4-8 - Esther broke law to plead for people’s safety before the king

  Zechariah 7:8-11 - Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy

  Matthew 22:15-22 - Paying taxes and yet giving to God what is of God

  Matthew 28:18 - All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Jesus

  John 19:10-11 - Pilot had power to crucify Jesus because it was given from above

  Acts 4:13-22 - Peter and John defend their faith before the authorities

  Acts 5:29 - Apostles refused council’s order to stop speaking about Jesus

  Romans 13:1-7 - Believers must respect the rights of the state

  Ephesians 1:20-23 - God put Christ over all in authority, power, and dominion

  Titus 3:1-2 - Be subject to rulers and authorities

  I Peter 2:13-17 - Accept the authority of human institutions

  Revelation 13 - The government gives its authority over to the beast instead of God

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