
10.3.24
Text: Ephesians 2.12, "remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."
Subject: Who is a refugee?
It’s an election year, so life revolves, or at least seems to revolve, around politics. Every
event is filtered through the lens of politics.
One such matter is that of refugees. It’s a word we hear a lot, especially in election
years. We see the masses of people, displaced from their homes, forced to flee, often
for their very lives and nothing to cling to but the clothing they carry, or simply wear.
Part of the tragedy is that we only see refugees when it’s an election year, or when the
crisis that causes the problem has grown so massive as to be undeniable. More often
than not we hear about refugees, or a “refugee crisis” and it occupies our minds for a
while, and then our interest passes on to something else. Most will move on to
“something else” long before the refugee problem is close to being solved.
Most refugee situations grow out of long standing disputes, ethnic hatred, and economic interests. We typically see it on our screens when it reaches the boiling point. Because the problems that create these situations are long term, the solutions are rarely quick. In fact the quick solution is usually to put refuges someplace “safe” like camps, where the basics of life, running water, sanitary services, food and medicines are adequate, or at least tolerable. And that is where things stay, “tolerable.” As long as living conditions for refugees are tolerable, we aren’t compelled to do much more, let alone tackle the difficulties that lead to their being refugees in the first place.
As followers of Christ the issue of refugees should always be close to our hearts. We
need to remember what the apostle Paul said to the Ephesian church.
"remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12
Paul is obviously talking about our spiritual alienation, our sin having separated us from
God. But the parallel is none the less true. We were aliens, excluded, strangers. We
must never allow ourselves to forget that feeling, the sense of being cut-off. We were,
and they are. Interestingly, the New Testament has no word for a refugee. Instead
words with meaning like “from elsewhere” or “seeking shelter” are used. I think this is
helpful as it reminds us that in a genuine refugee crisis, the refugees are seldom the
problem, at least not the cause of the problem.
So remembering that we were the ones looking for a way in, hoping that someone
would mercifully open a door to us, should help us act with compassion towards others
who are refugees in truth.
God grant us the compassion and insight to see the true refugee, and to see those who
would use circumstances to their own evil advantage. We know they are there too.
Help us to see the difference and respond as we should.
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