In churches across the country, children put on simple
Christmas pageants. Angels with floppy wings and floppier halos announce the
birth of Jesus to shepherds wearing grey or tan bathrobes. Perhaps the
shepherds bring a small, stuffed sheep to the Baby as He lies in a bed of straw.
Then three wise men in kingly robes arrive holding brightly wrapped gifts. The
children sing Away in a Manger; the
congregation holds lighted candles as they sing Silent Night; and the program is over.
But the Christmas story is not really over. The gospel
of Matthew tells us that after the wise men left, God warned Joseph to flee
with Mary and the Baby into Egypt to escape the murderous rage of Herod. After
the death of Herod, Joseph brought his small family back to Israel. “This was
to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son’”
(Matthew 2:15). The passage Matthew quotes is Hosea 11:1, where the prophet
says that God called the nation of Israel out of Egypt
In the Old Testament, Israel is God’s national son
(Exodus 4:21-23). In the New Testament, Jesus is God’s eternal Son. During
their four hundred years as refugees in Egypt, the family of Jacob became the
nation of Israel. Then God sent Moses to lead them back into the Promised Land.
So when Jesus took refuge in Egypt, He (the eternal Son of God) was
recapitulating the history of the Israel (the national son of God).
God used Israel’s refugee experience to exhort them to
be kind to aliens. “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the
native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in
the land of Egypt; I am the lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34). Similarly, Jesus commanded His followers to be
kind to strangers.
Do you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke
10:30-37)? A Jewish man who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead was
rescued by a Samaritan. The Jews despised Samaritans. Furthermore, the robbers
might well have been lingering the vicinity, so the Samaritan was risking his
own life to help the injured man. Finally, the Samaritan paid an innkeeper to
care for the man until he recovered. Jesus concluded the parable by saying, “Go
and do the same.” In other words, be
willing to help people who don’t like
you even if there is some risk and some cost involved.
That is what Jesus did for us. The Bible says that Jesus
died for us when we were ungodly sinners, enemies of God, and subject to His
wrath (Romans 5:6-10). Those who put their faith in the crucified, risen Christ
are healed of sin’s curse and enter into a peaceable relationship with God (Romans
4:25-5:1).
Therefore, those who have been befriended by God ought
to befriend the friendless, even those who might be our enemies. At this
Christmas season, we need to remember that Jesus was a refugee Himself, and we
ought to be willing to help refugees, even if there is some risk and some cost
in doing so.
Some Christian leaders, whom I greatly respect, have
opposed settling Syrian refugees in the United States. The Lehigh Valley, which
hosts a large Syrian community, has been in the national news lately because
the Syrians who live here are divided over the refugee issue. Some of them fear
that the very Syrians who murdered their relatives might find a home here. Some
fear that ISIS might deliberately smuggle its operatives in among genuine
refugees.
I understand those fears. I really do. There are some
genuine (though very small) risks involved. In recent years, my wife and I have
hosted five refugee families in our home for two weeks at a time. Three were
Muslim; two were Christian. We have loved all of them. Our health would not
permit us to take another family right now, but perhaps in a few months we
would be able to do so. And we would welcome a Syrian family as willingly as we
have the rest.
(Published in the Allentown Morning Call 12/19/2015)
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