Migrants

A Wandering Aramean

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor…” v. 5b

      God’s people gathered for worship to bring their offerings to God.  In that time of giving they remembered that as a people they once were strangers in the land they occupied.  Their ancestor, Abraham, had journeyed from Ur of the Chaldees at God’s command.  Abraham was a late comer to the land of Israel.

      In their history as a people they also acknowledged their time in Egypt.  They were slaves whom Moses had led out of Egypt, through the Wilderness.  God had given them this land.  None of them were native born in this place.  None of them had claim on the land except by God’s promise.  They were refugees, migrants, strangers in this new home.

      As strangers in a strange land, we understand their experience.  Most of us have ancestors who crossed an ocean seeking a better life or a fortune, or possible even sought just enough to eat.  Some arrived in the holds of slave ships or sneaked across a border.  Many, at first, were treated badly because they were different.  Many, over time, came to consider this country “home.”  However, all of us in this country descend from strangers.  

       As the people of Israel worshipped, they remembered their history.  They were migrants, wanderers, seekers whom God was leading to good places.   How shall we treat those migrants, immigrants, aliens who still come seeking safety, freedom, choice in a new land?  How shall we greet these strangers who come to us? Can we suspect that God is also leading them to good places?  Perhaps among us?   How do we welcome the stranger to people living daily in the shadow of the cross?

PRAY:  God of all peoples, your servants Abraham and Sarah once were refugees in Egypt in times of need.  Your son, Jesus, fled with Joseph and Mary to escape the sword of Herod.  Help us to welcome refugees in their time of need. Amen.

FAST:  From judgment against refugees and asylum seekers.

Act:  Set aside items for health kits given through LWR

             OR set aside $1 for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.