Refusing Refugees
This week the Trump administration announced it would cut the number of legal refugees allowed to enter the United States to 15,000 for 2021. At the same time Donald Trump was campaigning in Minnesota and once again attacking the large Somali refugee population we enjoy having here. Trump also has an ad running here that says Biden will raise the number of refugees allowed into the United States by 700%. I have to admit the first time I saw the ad I was excited and thought it was a Biden ad! To be clear raising the number of refugees by 700% would bring the numbers back to where they were under previous administrations.
This action on the part of the administration should be an issue of great concern to the church.
God reminds us in Exodus 19:6 that “although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” It is a thought that is picked up in Peter’s writing when he tells us that “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). The church exists to bear witness to God’s coming kingdom, to call people to faithfully bear God’s image in the world.
What does this have to do with refugee policy? A great deal. The church has a calling from God to be a priest for the people of the world. The church doesn’t exist for itself, it exists for the sake of God’s kingdom and the restoration of humanity. Part of the means challenging the oppressor and seeking justice and lifting up the oppressed. It requires us to care for the refugee, to care for the foreigner among us, to make sure that the immigrant is being treated in the same way as a citizen. But what happens when the law of the land prevents us from bringing those in danger into a safe place?
How many times do we have to read in Scripture about God’s concern for the oppressed for us to see this move as anti-Christian?
In the book of Judges, the Judges are raised up by God to set the people free from oppression.
The Psalms …
Psalm 82 tells us, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.”
Psalm 103, “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.”
Psalm 146, “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.”
Proverbs …
Proverbs 3, “He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.”
Then there’s the prophets …
Isaiah, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.” “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
Ezekiel, “they have oppressed the foreigner.”
Amos, “They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.”
I could go on citing text after text, but the point is simply that Scripture is full of God’s concern for the oppressed. Jesus would make this so clear when he began his ministry with the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
God’s kingdom is no respecter of humanity’s invented borders. The church is a global community and when humanity’s sinful divisions get in the way of caring for others they should be opposed. As the underground railroad illegally hid runaway slaves, as the Ten Boom family illegally hid Jews from the Germans, today the church should feel equally free to hide refugees who come to them. For years the United States accepted more refugees than any other nation, by total number, they were never the highest per capita. Now the executive branch is putting in place a policy that is anti-life. Forcing refugees to either find other places to flee to or suffer the consequences of staying in life threatening situations. I thank God for the nations that continue to allow entry to large numbers of refugees where the church can come alongside and provide support and care for them. It’s unfortunate the United States is no longer one of them.
