Tag: Bible

A Biblical Perspective on the Treatment of Immigrants

For a number of years, we have witnessed quite a lot of political rhetoric and harsh treatment of immigrants to the United States, especially along our southwestern border. The treatment of immigrants, whether legal or not, was a biblical and moral issue long before it became a political issue. It is time that people of faith and people of conscience take back the narrative!

When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God. – Leviticus 19:33-34

Recently, the governors of Texas and Florida have lured immigrants onto busses and airplanes with promises of housing and employment in other states. Upon arrival in those places, the immigrants discovered they were lied to. Taxpayers have footed the bill for that transportation, making all of us complicit in the unjust and inhumane treatment of those aliens. We've also paid for solutions such as uncompleted and ineffective walls on the border, separation of family units, locking immigrants in cages, and sending National Guard units to patrol the border with no actual authority to do anything. Some politicians have borne false witness against the vast majority of immigrants by claiming they are mostly criminals or insane. In fact, the data clearly shows that immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than our own citizens. In spite of claims to the contrary, undocumented immigrants cannot vote or receive benefits such as Social Security and Medicare.

Politically motivated disinformation and unjust and sometimes brutal policies carried out in the name of U.S. citizens have often been executed by and applauded by people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ and who claim to be pro-family and believe in the sanctity of life. Nothing about these horrific solutions to our "border crisis" reflects the teaching of Jesus, protects families, or respects the sanctity of immigrant lives.

Many of those entering illegally are not simply immigrants – they are refugees, fleeing violence and/or poverty in their own countries. There are international laws pertaining to how refugees are identified and how they are treated. We helped write those laws!

Some immigrants have been tricked into paying for transportation into the U.S. only to be abandoned or, worse, left inside a hot container to die.

As you can see by clicking the links in this reflection, fact-checking false claims about immigrants is not difficult. It is incumbent upon us as people of faith and as responsible citizens to deal with facts and seek the truth.

I am not suggesting that we have "open borders" or abandon all immigration laws. But I am advocating for less political theatrics and more collaboration on just and humane ways to treat those who are seeking a new life as neighbors in our country. The Partnership for Central America is one example of how to mitigate illegal immigration by making it more desirable to remain in one's country rather than seeking refuge in the U.S. The most comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform legislation in a generation has been drafted. Political lust has prevented its adoption by Congress. What if people of faith took back the narrative to get it adopted?

Using human beings as pawns in a political game is cruel, un-American, and certainly contrary to biblical standards. The treatment of immigrants is a huge and unambiguous issue in the Old and New Testaments. Here are some examples and reflections from General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church. Feel free to share them and print them out.

Also, here are some online resources for gaining a deeper understanding of what is at stake according to several different religious bodies.

United Methodist Immigration Resources

Episcopal Church Migration Ministries

Interfaith Immigration Coalition

I hope you will give this prayerful consideration and, if you are moved to speak or act as an advocate for just and humane immigration policies, may God give you the grace and the will to do so!

Blessings,

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue

August 15, 2024
Sermon at St. John’s Episcopal Church ~ May 22, 2016

Trinity Sunday

Listen to the Sermon for May 22, 2016

Read the Sermon for May 22, 2016

May 22, 2016
An Epiphany From a Grasshopper

Gay and I are visiting at the cabin of friends on Ohio Creek near Gunnison, Colorado. Across the creek are golden aspens, the snowcapped West Elk Mountains, and endless blue skies.

On our afternoon walk today, I saw and heard some grasshoppers that brought back a memory from my childhood and brought on an epiphany.

My parents owned a sizeable parcel of property between Winter Park and Granby, Colorado during the 1950’s. I was fortunate to be able to spend most of six summers there as a boy. My dad built three ponds on one creek that flowed through the property and stocked them with rainbow and brook trout. On the backside of the property, there was another creek where the beavers had built dams, saving my dad the trouble.

Dad used to take me fishing in both of those places and we caught a lot of trout. He tried to teach me to fish with a fly rod but I got the line tangled in bushes and overhanging branches so often that it just wasn’t worth the trouble. So, we used bait such as salmon eggs, worms, and grasshoppers. The salmon eggs came in jars, which we bought at the sporting goods store in Granby. The worms and grasshoppers had to be harvested and I quickly learned how to do that. I was really good at it. My dad complimented me on my advanced skills and often suggested that I should go and employ those skills so that we would have ample bait on our next fishing expedition. I was proud of my abilities when it came to catching worms and grasshoppers and I understood that my role was significant.

Today, when I encountered those grasshoppers on our walk and recalled my days as a semi-professional bait harvester, it dawned on me that dad recognized an opportunity and seized it. Sending me for worms and grasshoppers with the promise of catching some trout with them was a very clever way to keep me occupied while he took care of more important business. It took me all these years to catch on!

Even though my task was pretty menial, it was certainly purposeful, a fact I never let go unrecognized after a fishing trip when we sat down to feast on our catch. We couldn’t have caught those trout without my bait. I still think those fish preferred my worms and grasshoppers to salmon eggs and fake flies. My contribution to the enterprise was extremely useful, though not very glamorous. The success of our fishing trips was the result of a joint effort. A little boy's bait helped a grown man catch fish and a family enjoy a delicious meal.

Each of us has a contribution to make to the rest of us. Some contributions are more glamorous and others go almost unnoticed. There are people who do the dirty work that others of us won't do because we are too well educated and too culturally advanced. Sadly, many people who perform vital tasks upon which we depend are rewarded with low wages, lack of adequate healthcare, and poor educational opportunities. Are there people like that who are involved in your way of life? Who digs your worms and catches your grasshoppers so you can haul in a big catch?

The Old and New Testaments are filled with admonitions that those who enjoy prestige and have more should not disrespect those who perform menial tasks and have little. Central to the message of the Bible is the truth that our lives and labors are interdependent in God's view of reality. God expects us to be mindful of how much we need each other and to continually look for ways to respect the dignity of every human being.

Daylight is fading now as I reflect on the epiphany of yesterday’s experiences brought to mind by today’s grasshoppers. This evening prayer seems a fitting close to these reflections at the end of this day.

O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (from The Book of Common Prayer)

Blessings,

October 7, 2014
An Invitation

On Wednesday of this week, your Priests will read this invitation to keep a holy Lent from the Book of Common Prayer to those gathered at one of our three services (7:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m.).

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

This invitation is one you don’t want to decline!

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent offer the faithful an opportunity to participate in an ancient discipline that promises spiritual growth and health. You'll be a better person and a better Christian if you take it seriously.

According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day liturgical period of prayer and fasting or abstinence for the followers of Jesus. In case you are counting the days on the calendar, you will notice that there are actually forty-six days from Ash Wednesday until Easter. That’s because of the forty-six days until Easter, six are Sundays. As the Christian sabbath, Sundays IN Lent are not included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a celebration and reminder of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. Ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. The ashes used are typically gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Here, we burn them to make ashes when we gather for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.

What do we do with the Season of Lent? How do we keep Lent "holy?" How does it prepare us for the Easter Feast? The invitation itself provides the answers.

By Self-examination and Repentance

Each of us is equipped with something called a conscience. It is the part of our mind that allows us to distinguish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, good from evil. During Lent, we take more time than usual to examine our consciences and, when we find something for which we are sorry, we repent. One meaning of repentance is to feel or show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you did and that you want to do what is right. In Jesus’ preaching, repentance also meant to change course toward the abundant life God offers. We turn from that which leads to death and toward that which leads to new life in Christ.

By Prayer, Fasting, and Self-denial

Any important relationship depends on good communication. Our relationship with Christ is no exception. Prayer is the primary way we communicate with Christ. We pray privately and as a Christian community during corporate worship. If you have fallen out of the habit of daily prayer weekly Holy Communion, Lent is a good time to return to Church! And, by the way, this applies to our children as well as adults. Remember those promises we made on their behalf at the time of their Baptism? They are on this journey with us and they look to their parents and other adults to help them find God's way.

Fasting is a type of prayer. It has sometimes been called “the prayer of the body” because when we refrain from some physical pleasure or craving, our body literally cries out. Those “hungers” remind us of places in our lives where we have substituted things and experiences for what comes only from God. So, our bodies cry out for God to feed our deeper hungers.

By denying ourselves, we also are better able to identify with our sisters and brothers who don’t have shelter or enough to eat or adequate care for their mental and physical health. Self-denial can, therefore, prompt compassion in us and that can lead to seeking ways in which we can reach out to those in need, more intentionally seek peace and justice in our world, and respect the dignity of every human being.

By Reading and Meditating on God’s Word

Lent is a time when we can start or resume a discipline of daily Bible reading. We can follow the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer and the readings provided in the lectionary for those services. We can take the Bible Challenge, or join a Bible study group. We can take the readings for the Sunday services more seriously in the days leading up to or following Sundays.

As Episcopalians, we search the Scriptures through the lenses of tradition and reason. Generally speaking, tradition is the historic and evolving teaching of the Church. Reason gives us the ability to explore, to question, and to apply the meaning of Scripture to the way we live. As we journey through this forty-day season, we can take a fresh look at the ancient texts that have transformed the lives of multitudes and appropriate them for ourselves.

These are the things the Church calls us to do to keep Lent “holy” – a time that is especially set apart to attune our lives to God’s and a time to ask God to do with us more than we can possibly do with ourselves. This holy time helps us continue on the journey with God. In last Sunday's gospel, we heard how Peter wanted to stop the procession when Jesus was transfigured and stood on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. But Jesus pointed down the road. We have not yet arrived at our destination. There is more to come and Jesus Christ invites us to continue the journey with him. Then, at the end of Lent, when we reach the celebration of Christ's triumph over death, we'll have a greater appreciation for the depth and power of God's love for us. Please don’t pass up this opportunity.

I’ll see you in Church!

March 3, 2014