Ask Google about what the Bible says about Immigrants, and you will get a page from Openbible.com. They list 100 passages, many of them emphasizing the same points. Here are a few of them. One thing that jumped out at me was that NONE of these passages said it is acceptable to separate children from their parents or to lock sojourners into cages in concentration camps.
Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” Treating brown-skinned people, or those with broken English as automatic law-breakers is forbidden.
For those who think of justice only as punishing those who break the law:
Malachi 3:5 (GOD says) “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
Deuteronomy 27:19 “‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Leviticus 24:22 You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, BECAUSE I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 25:35 “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.
Is there any way to read this other than that you are obligated to support the sojourner in your land if they cannot maintain themselves?
Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Deuteronomy 24:14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
Matthew 25:31-46 The longest discourse Jesus has regarding the nature of the final judgment. How are we judged? By the way we treat the least of our brothers and sisters.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, …
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Genesis 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
The First Book of the Bible even recognizes that sometimes there is a need to leave your homeland and go elsewhere, in order to survive.
1 Peter 2:13-16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
RE: Jeff Sessions quoting Romans 13?
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
How about Acts 5:
Acts 5:29
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Zechariah 7:10 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
Deuteronomy 24:19-21 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
Jeremiah 22:3-5 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (Promises of success for the nation)… But if you will not obey these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jeremiah 22:3Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.
Leviticus 19:33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
James 2:2-15 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? …
Someone asked Jesus, “What is the most important commandment?” Jesus gave a two-part answer: “Love God with all you have and love your neighbor as if they were your own kin.”
Luke 10:29-42 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. …
Who is my neighbor?-
Matthew 2:13-15 Now after they (Magi) had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
Prayer for June 24, 2018
God’s love for the immigrant
God of love, throughout the Sacred Words, you have given us clear instruction: that we are to love and protect and shelter the immigrant and the refugee just as strongly as we protect our own families. You remind us that our spiritual ancestors, the Jews, were refugees in Egypt. You remind us followers of Christ that Jesus and his family were refugees, forced into Egypt, fleeing Herod’s murderous wrath.
You remind us that we are to be hospitable to strangers, that sometimes within those unfamiliar faces are hiding angels from you.
Open our hearts to obey your Scriptures and care for the immigrants. Make us bold to speak out when our government fails in its duty to protect the sojourner with the same care as it offers justice to we who have privilege. Give us stiff spines and loud voices and determined feet to resist evil, even… no especially when it comes from our own national leadership.
Stand with us when we stand up to tyranny; amplify our voices when we cry out on behalf of the vulnerable, the powerless, the poor, both refugee and native-born. Bend our hearts and minds to follow Jesus; to love all of Your Children as if they were our own kin, and remind us that, since all people are your children, we ARE all kin; made brothers and sisters by your love.
Teach us to love like Jesus; to be bold like Jesus against evil.
Sweep away leaders who lead for the sake of their own egos and personal enrichment and replace them with Godly women and men who dedicate themselves to following your principles of love and justice.
We are all broken in some ways, loving God; tenderly bind our wounds- the ones that show on our bodies as well as the wounds to our spirits that are harder to see.
Teach us to live the prayer Jesus taught our lips to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. AMEN
Shared_Breath 