“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9, NIV)
At some point in each of our lives, most of us have felt excluded and all of us have been new. We’ve either implicitly or explicitly been a foreigner. The word “foreigner” in this verse has many biblical translations. Others include “sojourner,” “outsider,” and “resident alien.” Regardless of translation, all words connote an “othering” of persons determined to be different – for whatever reason – than the ancient Israelites who received this command from the LORD. In our modern era, distancing ourselves from ancient Israel is easy. They practiced customs that many of us do not observe, used a language that many of us do not speak nor read, and lived in a region that we commonly regard as plagued by unceasing conflict. Yet, we are more like the ancient Israelites than we may initially perceive. The LORD gave this command to not oppress, or not mistreat, strangers in a time when the Israelites frequently disobeyed. They often challenged God’s vision of a world rooted in justice and respect for all of Creation. This may sound familiar for us in the 21st century. How often do we, either individually or societally, manipulate God’s divine intent for Creation and place our human vision above the LORD’s? In Matthew, Jesus offers a parable of a blessed people who gave food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, comforted the sick, visited the jailed, and welcomed the stranger (Matthew 25:34-37). These blessed people, who cared for the least among themselves, acted with spirits of hospitality. They cultivated places for the “other” in their hearts and, thereby, reflected the image of God through their love and kindness. The people in this parable upheld the LORD’s command to “not oppress a foreigner,” centuries after this ancient covenant was made with God. Today, let us remember the times in our lives when we felt like a “foreigner in Egypt” and use this memory to extend welcoming hands to all of Creation |