WATCHING OVER THE ALIEN

The Lord watches over the alien.

Psalm 146:9

I believe that all four of my grandparents were illegal aliens.  Before you say “YIKES!” . . . let me explain.  I don’t mean to say that they were aliens from outer space like E.T. or the aliens in the Independence Day movie attacking the Whitehouse.  My grandparents were "aliens" from Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland).  As young people, born well before 1900, they migrated down to Boston looking for work and never went back.  They were undocumented.  They didn’t enter the USA legally through Ellis Island’s immigrant screening.  More than likely, they just took the ferry that ran between the Canadian Maritimes and New England, something that happened every day as whole populations moved back and forth across the relatively open border.  Because social security hadn’t been invented yet, they weren’t registered in any data bank other than having a Massachusetts driver’s license.   

In many ways my grandparents were forerunners of today’s undocumented immigrants, only they came to the USA in more friendly times.  As undocumented persons of Anglo-saxon heritage they had no problem assimilating into the American culture at that time.  They blended right in.  The color of their skin, their linguistic habits and accents, the food they ate, how they dressed, and their faith commitments did not set them apart nor made others uncomfortable.  As a result they were not subjected to discrimination or oppression.  They needed no acts of mercy, intervention, or missional compassion.  The barriers to their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness were little or none.

These thoughts are on my mind, because it seems to me that we are today living in a time of unprecedented diaspora throughout the world.  Millions globally are migrating great distances, some for political reasons, some to escape economic disaster, and many for the purpose of survival.  Hundreds, and some days even thousands, are literally dying in the process of seeking safety and a better life somewhere else.  To say that it is a difficult time to be an alien is an understatement for hundreds of thousands of people all of whom God loves.

The Bible has something to say to us about aliens:

Exodus 22:20 – Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him.

Psalm 146:9  - The Lord watches over the alien;

Exodus 23:9 - You yourself knows how it feels to be alien.

Colossians 1:21  - Once you were alienated from God.

1 Peter 2:11  -   Now . . . as aliens and strangers in the world, abstain from sinful desires . . . Live such good lives that others, who may accuse you of doing wrong, may see your good deeds and glorify God.

Matthew 5:16 -  Let your light so shine that others see your good works (toward the alien) and glorify your Father in heaven. – parentheses mine.

Perhaps the most powerful directive for our regard of the alien is the second half of the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:39 - “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  This is a tough directive.  How do we love persons of other faiths or any neighbors when they are not the enemy, when they are so different they make us uncomfortable, when they  don’t love the God we love, when they have ways of living that differ from ours,  and when we suspect that they are residents here in the country illegally? Isn’t it just easier to pray that they just go back to their own country, that they go live somewhere else, or that they somehow just go away?  As persons of Mexican heritage, how do we love our Guatemalan of Salvadoran neighbor?  As persons of Korean heritage, how do we love our Japanese neighbor and visa versa?  As Christians of Jewish heritage, how do we love our Palestinian or Syrian neighbor.

God loves the alien, because he loves the world.  Christ gave himself on the cross for the alien also.  He loved us while we were still alien from the Kingdom of God.  The Bible also has something to say about how we love our neighbor:  If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another . . . Whoever claims to live in Christ must walk as he walks. . . Whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness . . . and the darkness blinds him. (1 John 1 & 2, selected verses).

The matter of migration and immigrants in a foreign land is complicated and there are real, major concerns about the “bad apples” in the barrel of any country that receives influxes of immigrants.  Germany right now is a good example given the hundreds of thousands in the last few months immigrating there. God’s disposition regarding aliens is clear and it is not optional.  We are to love our neighbor, all of them.  We are to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) who loves all aliens.

O God, we embrace your words. They are ours to live by: Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the poor in spirit.  By your grace and Spirit strengthen us to be more than a blessing to aliens in our midsts.  Make us servants in your likeness that some will come to faith in you because of our love for them.  This we earnestly pray in your name, our Lord and Savior who loves the alien.  Amen.

PARTICIPANTS IN MOMENTS OF GLORY

I’ve been wondering, what are great moments of glory in human history?  There are so many.  The Bible is full of amazing moments.  So is millenia of history. So, I wrote a few down. My short list is not absolute nor is it definitive, and beyond question.  It's just what quickly comes to mind.


Here they are, moments of glory when I would love to have been present (and active) as a participant-observer:

• With Moses on the other shore - (helping the last Israelite across the Red Sea).
• With the shepherds and the angelic choir (singing with them "Glory in the Highest") on  the first Christmas night.
• With Mary and Jesus at the empty tomb that first Easter morning.
• With Abraham Lincoln (holding his hat) during his Gettysburg address.
•  With US Marines (planting the flag with them) on Iwo Jima.
• With William Booth - when he first wrote the words “The Salvation Army.”
• With Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall (whispering, “Tell them about your dream”).

Those were all wonderful moments of glory in human history.  They were also great moments that legitimately we can say, “Glory to God.”  They are moments when the essence of God’s wisdom, strength, and love for the world were made manifest. Looking back at such moments occasions inspiration and hope in the future.  Each of those glorious moments arose out of times of difficulty, struggle, and seemingly insurmountable challenges.  That’s how God’s glory works.  In moments when doubt and discouragement may prevail, God reaches down to lift us up and give us strength and wisdom we did not know was possible. In these moments we participate in his providence and grace.

The hope we have going forward is that those moments are not reserved for history.  With God there’s always more.  There will be more moments of inevitable struggle and frightful challenge, but glory to God, his promises are sure.  He is steadfast and faithful.  He draws us into those moments as he did Moses, Lincoln, Booth, and MLK. In those moments of God’s faithful intervention, we have the assurance in our spirit that we are more than observing his glorious grace.  We sense that God is letting us participate in his divine nature.

Through these he has given us his very great and precious

promises, so that through them you may

participate in the divine nature.

2 Peter 1:4

BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY

Without a glory to call their own, people find ways of basking in the reflected glory of others.  Think about the billions of dollars in sales of shirts, hats, banners, flags, and other paraphernalia celebrating favorite college or professional teams to be sold over the course of this year.  I confess.  I bask in the reflected glory of University of Kentucky basketball.  I have a drawer full of UK t-shirts purchased over the years and proudly worn not only on game days, but throughout the year.  Go Cats!

If its not sports, for many people, it’s a favorite musical group, vocalist, band, or organized entertainment.  On a national basis, it’s patriotism basking in the true glory of military sacrifice and achievement.  For grandparents, it’s identifying with the obvious brilliance and good looks of grandchildren.  That’s why we smile with a grin at our grandchildren’s piano recitals, ball games, and graduations.  

Without a doubt, there is something in the human spirit that glories in those things in which we see value and which give us hope, joy, and pride.  In times of difficulty, adversity, and struggle, it is reflected glory that we turn to as a respite and rest.  Basking in the reflected glory of another or others gives us self-definition and a personal identity that glows.  It provides a social context of comradeship and a sense of belonging.  This powerful human impulse to identify and belong has its virtue and benefits, but raises the question, “What is its highest expression, more than sports, more than entertainment, more than patriotism, or paternal pride with one’s progeny?”

I’ve found the answer that makes most sense to me.  Glory to God!  Listen to the words of Jesus in his most intimate time of prayer to the Father just before being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 17, selected verses):

“Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you . . . I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. . .”

Then, Jesus prayed for the sanctification of his disciples and even for us today:

“My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message . . . I have given them the glory you gave me . . . I want those you gave me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

For many years, I thought that the ultimate end to which salvation was directed was holiness.  As wonderful as it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that’s not the ultimate end.  Holiness is glorious, but its purpose is spelled out by St. Paul in Ephesians 3:20.  It follows being “filled to the measure of the fullness of God” (v. 19) -

“Now, unto him (the triune God) who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. . . (unto God)  Glory!  In other words, the purpose of the Spirit filled life is unimaginable sanctified service to the glory of God.  

Here’s an amazing  twist.  God desires to bask in the reflected glory of our holy living, holiness lived out daily in profound love for him and love for others.  In truth, the pinnacle of a glorious life is to bask in the glory of God and to reflect his glory to the world and back to him!  What a joy and privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified “to the praise of his glory” and to bask forever in that glory!

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

LIVE A LIFE THAT REFLECTS GOD’S GLORY 
OUT TO THE WORLD AND BACK TO HIM!

TWO GREAT WORDS TO EMBRACE

Conviction and repentance are two words I’ve come to love. Together they make possible new beginnings, fresh starts, reconciliation, growth and maturity, and a life pleasing to God.

Conviction is God's love reaching. It is often used to describe strongly held beliefs.  I like its other meaning, the act of proving or declaring one guilty of an offence.  The reason I like it is conviction as such is a gift from God, an act of God’s grace.  It is God's love whispering that we are drifting away from him.  God pricks or tweaks the conscience he built into us to recognize when we are guilty of moral shortfall.  He helps us see when we are off track and moving in a direction in conflict with God’s Way.  

In the Gospel of John (16) referencing the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers, Jesus states that he will send a Helper who will do two things: (1) “He will convict the world of sin” (v. 8); (2) He will guide you into all truth.” (v. 13).  This is good news.  It means that the Holy Spirit is interested in us enough to talk to us about our disobedience and sin, and then guide us in the way of Jesus, because we seem to be going in the wrong direction.  The Holy Spirit is a divine GPS keeping us on the right path.  But conviction only works if we are willing to follow His guidance and direction.  This means repentance.

Repentance is our reaching back.  It naturally follows conviction. The Holy Spirit calls us to repent.  Repentance is how we get back on track and proceed to follow Christ walking with him in the same direction.  Repentance is an act of the will in which we say, “You're right, Lord.  I'm wrong. Forgive my disobedience.  I will follow you, Lord.”  It is often expressed as a 180 degree turn, but it is more.  It is a surrender of our will and an embrace of God’s will.  It is a change of heart as much as a change of life’s direction.

Conviction and repentance go together even in the little things.  Conviction is that nagging feeling that something is wrong, or knowing fully well that we’re not on the course God intended.  Repentance is confessing our sin, that we have drifted off course from the Way God desires.  Any pilot knows that if she drifts just 2 degrees off course in flight, and the longer that continues, it guarantees she will not arrive at a place originally intended.  A serious adjustment is necessary.

Some of the little things that can push us 2 degrees off course into sin include tiny lies, gossip, false witness, disrespecting others, holding on to grudges, bitterness, unresolved anger, neglecting the needs and suffering of others, choosing not to help another because it is inconvenient, having a divided heart, and not honouring God with thanks and praise for the grace He provides.  These are just a few, but day after day they add up and call for recognizing these little things that shape the clay of our lives into something other than the likeness of Christ.

Conviction is God’s grace helping us to see ourselves for whom we are becoming, someone other than whom he has in mind.  That’s a good thing.  All God’s grace calls for our response.  Repentance, the 180 degree, heartfelt turn, is our only realistic response to God’s grace.  That’s a good thing too.  God’s grace and our response, then more grace and our response is how we let the Potter shape the clay of our lives into his likeness, holiness.  Glory be to God!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us

our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9