Love the Sojourner
First of all, this is not a political post.
Second of all, this is a Jesus post.
Neighbors, brothers, sisters, friends, immigrants, refugees….
The truth is, we are all sojourners. We are strangers in a strange land.
Our land never quite feels right. We don’t quite fit in. We don’t know where to put things like loss, heartbreak, hate, anger, fear, doubt, pain, grief, war, shame.
Just like the children of Israel slugging it through slavery in the land of Egypt, we look around, we see sin and its consequences, and we know the truth – we are sojourners traveling through a land briefly. Our home is eternal. Our home is comfort in the arms of our Savior. Our home is the feast to come, the victory of heaven, not the blackening landscape of a home that passes away.
We get glimpses of this land through His Word, His sacraments, and through one another.
For this reason, Deuteronomy 10:19 speaks His Word of direction to us:
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
God gently reminds Israel and us of all we’ve been given, of the freedom that has been won, of where we have been, of where we are headed, so that when we look in the eyes of our neighbor, we’ll see our own experience as the sojourner far off…the sojourner who was once a stranger to God, welcomed with open arms, by a neighbor named Jesus.
We GET to be part of all of that. We get to be welcomers into the Body of Christ and the kingdom, because we ourselves have been welcomed, not because we have lived in Haiti, or Germany, or Africa but because we have eternity. We have a home with no shame, a new home of grace that will one day be full and complete.
We have been brought out, so that others may be brought in.
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Who are these others? Look around you. Who is on the outskirts looking in? Who are those that do not know what we know of grace? We can reach across our lawns and we can reach across our oceans and love, love, and love some more.
God does not limit Himself to what is visible in providing for our needs. There is always more room, more trust, more mercy, more comfort, and more provision in the economy of Christ. Where do we doubt His ability to keep us safe, to provide resources for us, and to give us strength when we look at the sojourner in need?
Just as God answers the fears of the people of Israel proactively, He answers ours in the same Word.
Deuteronomy 10:20-22:
20 You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.
He is your praise. Look what He has done! Can He who raises the dead provide what we need to love? Why yes, I think He can.
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
A tiny little command, tucked inside a whole lot of promise.
We raise our hands in Praise to Him who can, and simply ask Him to point us in the direction of where to send all the love.
Free Love the Sojourner iPhone Wallpaper
We talked with Kim Bueltman recently on our podcast. She is a missionary to refugees in Germany. Learn from here in our Written in Iron Ink: Love the Sojourner podcast episode here.