Day 7 of 14
The Stranger Among You: Immigration
What the Bible says about welcoming the foreigner
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Leviticus 19:33-34: "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
Then read Matthew 25:35-40, where Jesus says, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me... as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
Reflection
Immigration is among the most politically charged issues of our time. The left tends to emphasize compassion, open borders, and the dignity of immigrants. The right tends to emphasize law, sovereignty, and the need for orderly processes. Once again, the Bible gives us something more nuanced and more demanding than either side typically offers.
The command in Leviticus 19 is astonishing in its historical context. Ancient Near Eastern societies were fiercely tribal. Foreigners were routinely exploited, enslaved, or driven out. Into this world, God commanded Israel to treat the stranger "as the native among you" and to "love him as yourself." The rationale is deeply personal: "for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Israel's own experience of marginalization was meant to produce compassion, not amnesia.
The Hebrew word ger — translated "stranger" or "sojourner" — appears over ninety times in the Old Testament. The ger is consistently grouped with widows, orphans, and the poor as people who deserve special protection. Deuteronomy 10:18 says God himself "loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." To mistreat the foreigner is to oppose the character of God.
Jesus intensifies this in Matthew 25, identifying himself with the stranger. "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." In the parable, those who fail to welcome the stranger fail to welcome Christ. This is not a parable about border policy. It is a parable about the kind of people God's kingdom produces — people whose hearts are open to the vulnerable.
Tim Keller noted the force of the biblical command: "The Biblical command to love the stranger is not merely a suggestion for nice people. It is rooted in Israel's own experience of being strangers in Egypt, and it carries the full weight of divine law."
At the same time, Scripture affirms the legitimacy of national boundaries and ordered community. God established nations (Acts 17:26), gave Israel defined borders, and held rulers responsible for maintaining justice within those borders. Romans 13 assigns the state the role of maintaining order and punishing wrongdoing. A nation without borders or rules is not a nation at all.
The biblical challenge is to hold both truths together: radical hospitality toward the stranger and responsible governance that maintains order. Martin Luther King Jr. framed the deeper question: "The question is not whether we shall be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"
Going Deeper
What would it look like for your community — not just your government — to practice hospitality toward immigrants and strangers? The Bible does not let us outsource this responsibility entirely to policy debates. It asks: what are you doing for the stranger in your midst?
Key Quotes
“The Biblical command to love the stranger is not merely a suggestion for nice people. It is rooted in Israel's own experience of being strangers in Egypt, and it carries the full weight of divine law.”
“The question is not whether we shall be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
Prayer Focus
Ask God to give you eyes to see immigrants and refugees not as political abstractions but as individual people made in his image.
Meditation
Have you ever been a stranger somewhere — a new school, a foreign country, an unfamiliar community? What did it feel like to be welcomed — or unwelcome?
Question for Discussion
Scripture commands radical hospitality toward the stranger while also affirming the legitimacy of national boundaries and ordered community. How can Christians advocate for both compassion toward immigrants and responsible governance without reducing the issue to a partisan slogan?