Missionary Renegade: Daily Guide/Daily Devotion grow. pray. study. from The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Daily Guide/Daily Devotion grow. pray. study. from The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Tuesday, 11 August 2015 - "God’s love and concern for immigrants"

Daily Scripture: Exodus 23: (v) 6 “Do not deny anyone justice in his lawsuit simply because he is poor.7 Keep away from fraud, and do not cause the death of the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. 8 You are not to receive a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clearsighted and subverts the cause of the righteous.
9 “You are not to oppress a foreigner, for you know how a foreigner feels, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19: (RY: vi, LY: iv) 33 “‘If a foreigner stays with you in your land, do not do him wrong. 34 Rather, treat the foreigner staying with you like the native-born among you — you are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.
Hebrews 11:13 All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[Hebrews 11:13 1 Chronicles 29:15] 14 For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. 15 Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; 16 but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called theirGod, for he has prepared for them a city.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people,[1 Peter 2:9 Isaiah 43:20; Deuteronomy 7:6; 10:15] the King’s cohanim,[1 Peter 2:9 Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6] a holy nation,[1 Peter 2:9 Exodus 19:6] a people for God to possess![1 Peter 2:9 Isaiah 43:21; Exodus 19:5] Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.[1 Peter 2:10 Hosea 2:25(23)]
11 Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and temporary residents[1 Peter 2:11 Genesis 23:4; 47:4; Psalm 39:13(12); 1 Chronicles 29:15] not to give in to the desires of your old nature, which keep warring against you;
Reflection Questions:

God told Israel to remember their history as poor immigrants when they were a settled people into whose land others might immigrate. Israel’s faith stressed God’s concern for people who needed help. In theory (though too often not in practice—e.g. Isaiah 58:2-10), Israel was a nation in which everyone was responsible to seek the well-being of all. Hebrews and Peter reminded Christians that this earth is not our true home, that we, too, live as aliens in a strange land.

We often think of Old Testament Israel as exclusive and narrow toward non-Israelites. But here we read, “Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself.” What does this suggest about how God sees people of all nations and races? As God’s follower, how can you live out that same spirit in your attitudes and actions today?
The farm worker families in McFarland, USA faced prejudice because of their ethnicity, and because of the poverty that tended to create. At one point, runners from another school taunted them, saying, “I hear they can’t run without a cop behind ‘em or a Taco Bell in front.” When have you seen others treated that way, or been treated that way yourself? How can you make things better rather than worse when such ugly actions happen?

Today’s Prayer:
Lord of all, when difference offends me, or when prejudice enrages me, remind me that you came to change my heart. Help me, like you, to meet evil with good. Amen.
Insights from Courtney Felzke

Courtney Felzke is Pastor of Silver Link. Resurrection’s Silver Link Ministry serves the frail and elderly with dementia by maintaining a connection through pastoral care and worship with older persons who become unable to fully engage in the life of the church.
Several things stood out to me as I read today’s Scripture and GPS. First, as I read from Hebrews, I couldn’t help but think about how we really are just visitors on this Earth. This Earth doesn’t belong to us as humans—it belongs to God. Everything on Earth and beyond belongs to God.
Then, as I read from Leviticus and read the GPS (specifically the first bullet point), I was reminded that God loves each human equally. God doesn’t care about skin color, race, how much money someone has, or how many mistakes someone has made. God loves each person the same today, tomorrow and forevermore. There’s nothing we can do to change this.
As I put these two thoughts together, a word that comes to my mind is “equality.” Every human is a visitor here on Earth and every human is equally loved by God. We are all equals. Would we treat others differently if we remember that all humans are loved by God and are visitors on this earth? I’d like to think that as we remember these two things, as we realize that we have more in common with our neighbors than we thought we did, it might help us to more fully love all of our neighbors.