In the Gospel for today we have an example of the teaching of Jesus which forms part of a bigger picture. Our lection contains a saying of Jesus which begins, “Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time…”, or in a modern translation, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…”. It goes on to say, “But I say to you…” This is the first of six such sayings recounted in Matthew chapter 5.
These six sayings are examples of the conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. Each deals with a commandment of the law, introduced by “You have heard that it was said” or an equivalent formula, followed by the teaching of Jesus in respect to that commandment, introduced by the formula “But I say to you” This has led to the six examples being known as the "antitheses." Three of them accept the teaching of the Mosaic law but extend or deepen it, while three reject that teaching as a standard of conduct for the disciples.
The antithesis we have today has to do with the way in which we treat our brother.
In our land at present there is a great deal of talk, and fear, about another outbreak of xenophobia. The talk is of such a serious nature that the bishop has called a meeting for all interested on Tuesday the 16th at St Saviour’s, Claremont, at 6:00 pm. In his letter he said, “Even though at this point these are only rumours it is important that we put our energy into creating awareness of unity, mutual acceptance and support.” In many cases those who are to the focus of these rumours are Christian brothers and sisters. What is our responsibility towards them?
Who has never met a foreigner? Who has never spoken with a foreigner? Who has never felt just a little bit ill at ease with a foreigner? And, from the other side, who has not had the experience of being a foreigner in this modern world of ours where travel is so easy?
The experience of being an outsider or stranger is not restricted to people living far from their own countries. You can actually feel like a stranger in your own country and even in your own family. For personal, political, religious or just professional reasons, someone can feel distanced from, even rejected by, his family or people. The author of Psalm 69 gives voice, in verse 8, to this when persecuted for his faithfulness to God: ‘I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons’. Even at Nazareth right at the start of his ministry here on earth, Jesus probably felt like an outsider when he declared, as we find in Luke 4:24, that ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town’. Condemned to death and rejected by the Jewish authorities, unjustly persecuted like the psalmist, Jesus was the outsider or stranger par excellence.
So we can feel alienated from those close to us. But we can also feel alienated from ourselves. Which of us has never felt at odds with our self? Haven’t we often acted or spoken in a way we later regretted? The apostle Paul describes this odd feeling of disunity within himself: in Romans we read, ‘I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.’ (Rom 7:15, 19)
Where does this feeling of alienation from ourselves come from? Why do we sometimes feel torn apart by opposing forces? The Scriptures call the reason for this inner discord sin. We could define sin like this: treating God like a stranger. We can treat him as a stranger in several different ways: either we are indifferent to him, or we fail to recognize him for who he is, or we are openly opposed to him. In each case, our relationship with God determines what our relationship with others will be like. When our relationship with God is not healthy, our relationship with foreigners usually suffers too. Foreigners are no longer people to be discovered, but a threat from whom we need to protect ourselves. Their strangeness is no longer one of the facets of God’s rich and diverse creation; it becomes a reflection of our own difficulty in being at peace with ourselves and at peace with our Creator.
Like all people, foreigners are alienated from themselves. It’s even harder for them to escape their own inner contradictions because they are distanced from the background of family, culture and religion. They, more than others, experience difficulties living in a society which is not their own. This only complicates our relationship with them. This then risks turning into a relationship based on power. Foreigners can easily become scapegoats, blamed for all the ills of society. Because of their minority position and their often difficult living conditions, there is a great temptation to want to dominate and ill-treat them. The Bible warns us against this temptation through the teaching it gives on aliens and strangers.
Almost as soon as they had settled in their Promised Land, the people of Israel found themselves faced with the question of what to do about foreigners. Among the foreigners living in Israel were those who had accompanied them on their flight from Egypt; there were also Canaanites like Rahab; and lastly there were those who came later to Israel like Ruth the Moabitess and Uriah the Hittite. At the time of King Solomon there were about 150,000 such aliens in Israel, as we are told in the second book of Chronicles. This was about a tenth of the country’s total population. As is usual today, most of these were unskilled workers.
Israel as a people were neither better nor worse than other peoples. But because they were God’s chosen people, they were far more likely to look down on the foreigners in their midst. This is why the Mosaic law contains detailed teaching concerning aliens and strangers. This teaching is reiterated by the prophets who continually reminded the Israelites of how they should behave towards strangers. Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament says little about foreigners because Jesus destroyed the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles. By his death on the Cross Jesus made a new covenant from which no people on earth is excluded.
The foreigner’s life is not an easy one. His work is often hard and poorly paid, and he may not be able to afford good housing. In addition to any material difficulties he may face, there are emotional challenges: he is an uprooted person, deprived of the comfort of his native language, family and friends. In short, he is alone. This loneliness is all the more painful because it is seldom a personal choice, hence the tendency for foreigners to stick together. They attempt thereby to recreate their home environment.
Because being an alien and stranger, or foreigner, causes suffering, God has a special love for aliens and strangers. In Deuteronomy we are told, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing.”
In his prophetic description of the Last Judgment in Matthew 26, Jesus, by associating the foreigner with the hungry and thirsty, the naked, the sick and the prisoners, draws our attention to the precarious living conditions of foreigners. He also said, most tellingly, “I was a stranger and you invited me in”.
If foreigners are vulnerable, and if God looks on them with such compassion, what should our responsibility as Christians be towards them?
Here are three areas that we could focus on:
1) We should respect the rights of foreigners
Foreigners, just like us, have been created in the image of God and therefore have great dignity. They are worthy of respect. The Israelites had even more reason to show respect to foreigners since, because of their own history, they were well qualified to identify with them: Exodus tells us, ‘Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.’ Respect for foreigners begins with respecting their basic rights. The Mosaic law cites the following: Sabbath rest; a fair wage; and access to unbiased justice.
2) We should consider the foreigner as our neighbour
The command to love your neighbour, found in Leviticus, was extended to the foreigner: “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not ill-treat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt.”
3) We should proclaim the gospel to foreigners
As citizens, we have to be on guard lest the rights of foreigners in our country become a mockery. Our society should show solidarity with foreigners and all other disadvantaged people, respecting the diversity contained in society. As Christians, we have a duty to befriend foreigners and a responsibility to show them the love of god in Christ Jesus.
Right from the outset, God intended his salvation for all the peoples of the earth. His calling of Abram was the first stage of the outworking of this plan of salvation. When God made a covenant with him, he gave him the name Abraham, which means ‘a father of many nations’. In the same way, God made a covenant with the people of Israel which included all the aliens living in Israel. Foreigners were also well integrated into the religious life of Israel, able to participate in all the major festivals. Even at the consecration of the great temple in Jerusalem, the foreigner was not forgotten. Solomon prayed that the temple would serve to make God known well outside national boundaries.
Our God is a God of inclusion. We have a responsibility to treat our brother, whoever he might be, as we would have him treat us.
May our God, the God of the alien and stranger, bless you in the days of the week ahead.
