9 December 2009
Group 4 Bible and Immigration
This week was focused on the Biblical text and how it conveys social justice.
The “Yo Trabajo” video was beautiful in its illustration of both gift and tending of the earth, as well as the condition of immigrant farmers with reference to oppression. The earthly pictures gave a sense of God’s creation still among us. Each scene detailed the work of the farmer, as God intimately worked the earth in the second creation story.
The farmers eating together reference many stories of the disciples eating together in the New Testament. It was also wonderful to see the communion given to each member of the immigrant family. The Table is meant for all.
Music played during the “la Tierra” was much like the Psalms of the Old Testament. We could also hear the cord of God’s presence with the Israelites, as well as the presence with the immigrant farmers.
The use Mark 12:30, 31 in reference to many social problems and specific biblical doctrines of God that humanity wants to reject or disregard because it doesn’t fit contemporary ideology. Adan Medrano’s video places both a face and a Christian belief on the illegal immigrant’s situation in America; therefore if this biblical passage in Mark 12 is taken seriously, than as Christians we must not do wrong or oppress a stranger because we love God and want to obey Him. Many Christian people love God, but when it comes to giving others the same privileges and rights that they possess. This is a problematic area we did not want to give away some of our prosperity, in order that others might have a good life. This found to be very convicting.
The study on immigration by the Colorado Council of Churches was full of Biblical reference to immigration and social justice. The four sessions includes these Biblical texts:
In “Session 1 – We Are All Strangers in the Land of Egypt”, explores immigration from our historical and spiritual identity, the Biblical text focus is on Exodus 23:9 – “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt” and Leviticus 19: 33-34 “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.”
“Session Two: What Does the Lord Require of You?” focused on exploring the faith concept of justice in relation to past and current immigration laws and movements. Biblical texts supporting this session are Micah 6:8 (NRSV) – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do Justice, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” be offspring blessed by the LORD— and their descendants as well.”
“Session Three: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear” focuses on exploring immigration through the biblical teachings of love. Supporting Biblical texts included: 1 John 4:7; 16b-21 (NRSV) – “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the Day of Judgment, because as God is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because God first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars, for those who do
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 11:29 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through this RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
10 December 2009 at 1:32 am
Hypothetical question: imagine you are leading this CO C of C Bible study in four years, with a fun group of rowdy committed Christians who don’t mind disagreeing with each other. A group member who is dead-set against open immigration laws, and knows their Bible as well as the others in the group, quotes Ezra or other prophetic injunctions for God’s people to remain separate from ‘foreigners,’ and suggests you let scripture speak to scripture (and assume they use more tact and sincerity than I just did!). Now what (keeping in mind that the person was part of the group before you were, and will be long afterward)?
10 December 2009 at 8:06 am
hessma says...
OH, what a great question! I know I have lots of responses, but I’ll wait to see what other people say before I chime in. This is precisely the kind of question I hope for this blog process to elicit.
10 December 2009 at 9:52 am
Dean- your question struck a cord within me. When I first started to think about your question, I went straight to the “well we all have difference of opinions and let’s just agree to disagree”! But I’m not so sure that would be very helpful to anyone in the group, and especially to those in the congregation, nor the immigrant population. I know this is a different situation than what the ELCA is facing right now with the homosexuality vote, but in some ways there are parallels. Both sides of the vote have strong cases, but I’m not sure that if we just agree to disagree, it will help either side. Your question is a great question and I’m interested to see what other comments come. I don’t have an answer, which I suppose is another way of responding to the situation, to put our heads in the sand and ignore it. Thanks for the thought provoking question!
10 December 2009 at 1:56 pm
It is a great question! And you mention that this is a group that doesn’t mind disagreeing with one another. Two initial thoughts come to mind for me.
The first thought is that as we look back on our family history, many of us have a family member who was a “stranger” in this land within in the last 100-125 years. My grandfather was born in Belgium, and came over here at a very young age. He was a “foreigner.”
My second thought has to do with the subject of hospitality. It is not just one reason that individuals and/or families want to immigrate here, but many. And so, we need to seek understanding as to WHY the need to immigrate. Some of the reasons include fleeing a country that is consumed with war, violence, or poverty. They have HOPE for something better for their families.
The bible is full of images of hospitality. I was on the “Practicing Our Faith” website, and the following quote caught my attention on the hospitality page:
“The Greek word xenos means “stranger”, but also “guest” and “host”. From xenos comes the New Testament word for hospitality: philoxenia means a love of the guest/stranger or enjoyment of hosting guests.”
This same site has this Bible verse from Leviticus: When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. — Leviticus 19:33-34
I look forward to more sharing their thoughts on this question.
10 December 2009 at 9:31 pm
One of the strongest critiques I’ve heard on campus at Luther is that the latest decisions of the ELCA show that we as a church are allowing ourselves to be driven by a renewal of the Social Gospel movement. The Social Gospel movement was an intellectual Protestant movement in the late 19th/early 20th century that basically sought to apply Christian ethics to social problems.
I’ve heard some students at Luther (primarily ones who are affiliated with Word Alone) claim that the ELCA is allowing itself to be distracted by applying itself to solving social problems instead of preaching the Word. From what I can tell, these students see the church’s involvement in social issues (such as immigration and poverty, which are issues raised by this week’s video meditation) as problematic.
I’m wondering if anyone can speak to why the church’s involvement in social problems is problematic. I tend to come from a more incarnational background – meaning I believe that in Jesus Christ God became flesh and dwelt among us, and God continues to dwell, live, and work among us. If the church doesn’t fight for social issues, who will?
10 December 2009 at 10:16 pm
Frieda says...
First, doesn’t preaching the Word also mean motivating people to act (to be doers of the Word and not just listeners)?
As to what Dean said about separation or Israel being a separate nation, I take that to mean separate and holy–from corrupting influences like idolatry, but not from social justice. To paraphrase the prophet Micah the Lord requires us to do right and love goodness and walk humbly with God.
10 December 2009 at 11:46 pm
The issue of the church being involved in social problems is certainly one that can be met with mixed feelings. I think it can be a challenge for the church to address larger soceital issues and at times I think that comes from a fear. As Gary Gunderson mentions in “Boundary Leaders” churches need to learn how to act out of hope rather than fear. Leaders in the church should learn how to live at the boundaries. Aren’t there connections between families, communities, individuals, God, and the world? If there are connections between these aspects and groups in life shouldn’t the church speak to what is impacting it’s members? What would happen if leaders would as Gunderson mentions – live at the boundaries? Especially the boundaries of where different cultures and issues meet.
11 December 2009 at 7:53 am
hessma says...
Why not ask some of your colleagues from Word Alone to comment on this thread? One of the nice things about an open discussion on a blog, is that other people can join in. That being said, I would want to point out two things: first of all, that the social gospel movement was far more complex than the characterization of it that you often hear on campus. And secondly, that some people fear — legitimately — that a concern for one’s neighbor will become (or grow out of) a selfish fear for one’s own salvation. Sort of like “we’d better do unto others as we would have them do unto us because otherwise we won’t be saved” — which is a belief that utterly denies that agency and grace of God. I would argue, however, that the overwhelming gift of grace frees us to love our neighbor, and draws us out into service and engagement — into diakonia and koinonia — that is the “already not yet” of the Kingdom of God.
11 December 2009 at 7:56 am
hessma says...
One other thing that strikes me is that students who claim that the controversies in the ELCA are distractions from proclaiming the Gospel have little or no understanding of the history of the Christian church more broadly, and little or no respect for the depth of biblical engagement that the controversies grow out of and continue to fuel. People are disagreeing about sexuality issues, for instance, precisely because they care so deeply about the Gospel — on all sides of the conflict! You can’t avoid controversy by proclaming the Gospel, you invite it.
11 December 2009 at 9:42 am
My own instinct on this question is that while an intellectual argument of directed persuasion, like the approach used in the CO C of C curriculum, may reveal insights into the facts of the matter, and one’s own position/history/hermeneutic/ignorance, there is much more to be gained in the space between two people than the discussion space around a theory. Sr. Medrano’s video is fantastic, and even better might be for congregational members to enter into relationship with those they don’t know. (And perhaps they would come to this conclusion/desire naturally via the open invitation of the video meditation as or more easily than by the exhaustive analysis of the curriculum which has as its goal and method, movement, and conformity toward a pre-determined thinking/action.)
When I was in high school, my Luther League (that’s all 3 of us from my country church, plus a dozen friends) took a trip to Brownsville, TX. We lived with the people there on the border for a week, in their church, in their homes. When we came back, the people of our little country church (of a farming community, not far from the sugar beet farms closer to Fargo that employed migrant workers) entered into a mission partnership with the people of that congregation — relationships are transformative.
11 December 2009 at 9:54 am
On the other hand, unreflective casual contact with others can reinforce division — Moorhead MN continues to bear scars of the contact between Scandinavian Minnesotans and Hispanic immigrants. Many of those who had lived there for generations (Scandinavian Americans) saw only conflict with migrant workers as they began to respond to farmers’ solicitations to work the fields. Wonderful families like those portrayed in Sr. Medrano’s film quietly worked the fields for their families “back home” each summer, largely out of sight for most except when driving by the fields being hoed. More visible were the young Hispanic men, who, coming from a culture that valued and expected elements of machismo, smashed up against the stoicism of the Red River Valley culture – often landing them on the news for all the wrong reasons.
11 December 2009 at 11:56 am
There is a striking interpretation of American immigration by artist Jay Koelzer here:
http://s3.images.com/huge.2.14366.JPG
11 December 2009 at 5:36 pm
Living in the Red River Valley that Dean talks about, I find this to be a very interesting and thought-provoking discussion. When I first began watching the video, I started thinking about how I know there are immigrants working the sugar beet fields in the valley but truthfully, we don’t see them in our day-to-day lives so it is an underlying issue that we should probably address. But how to address the needs of the immigrants. As someone earlier stated, we all have ancestors who at one time were strangers/immigrants in a foreign land. I know my grandparents arrived here from Germany and settled in America. My challenge when looking at this issue is how to address the needs of being better servants to work with and help immigrants. I really liked how the Colorado Council of Churches broke the issue into a multi-part Bible study. I found it to be very insightful and rewarding because when I first saw the issue that we were going to be studying I’ll admit I wanted to look at the issue in black/white but after watching the video (which stirred emotions in me) and also reading through the Colorado Bible study discussion material, I realized its not a black and white issue…but it is an issue that we should be discussing in such formats as this blog or in church Bible studies.
12 December 2009 at 12:31 am
Interesting discussion. I am currently living in south central Texas (and am born and raised Texan), and immigration, especially from Mexico, is a huge issue. (I must admit it still amazes me sometimes that Mexican immigrants made it all the way to the northern US-that’s some serious dedication)
The question I have heard posed to/about those who oppose immigration (or acceptance of homosexuals, or any number of other social justice issues) is: what are you afraid of? What is it about accepting the ‘other’, what is it about the ‘other’ that reminds you of something personal you don’t like?
I would say, also, to the question about using scripture against scripture, what does the scripture mean? What was the intention of the verses about separation from foreigners? Suzie brought up the verse in Leviticus about not oppressing the alien. This gets into terribly tricky waters, but I think if we view scripture from the lens of Christ, the way, truth, and life, and think about what it means to bring life, and if we can learn to see immigrants, or the ‘other’ as human rather than objectifying them maybe we can make some progress.
I hope that made sense.
12 December 2009 at 11:48 am
Professor Hess suggested that I contact one of my Word Alone colleagues to speak to my question about the Social Gospel movement as being problematic to the functioning of the ELCA.
I fear the intent of my original post may have been understood in a way I did not intend. I hoped that my post would act as an invitation for anyone in this class who understands this critique of the ELCA to share why they hold this view. I genuinely want to hear that voice and better understand the viewpoint.
Since my invitation may have been a little masked, I have since e-mailed one of my dear friends and classmates and asked him to speak to my question. If he gives me permission, I will share his response with you all. Thank you for such wonderful contributions!
13 December 2009 at 9:55 pm
Alright my friend has given me permission to share his response to my question:
My issue is not that we as individuals or as Christian communities are doing good things for people, it is a matter of priorities. When I hear “the social gospel is the only gospel” I take that to minimize the gospel of forgiveness of sins and salvation given to us through Jesus Christ. Non Christians can, and certainly do, much good in the world as well. Christians, however are the only ones to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope and pray that hearing the good news of Jesus will turn Christians outward from themselves and toward their neighbor in service through their vocation. When they do, they will cooperation with non-Christians for the good of all.
A related concern is that I do not believe that the institutional church has any inside information from God on just what the best method of helping others is. So for instance, consistent with Christ’s command we all should feed the hungry. But what is the best way to do this? Expanded food stamps? Sustainable agriculture? Giving grain to poor countries? Cheap food? There many ethical and policy concerns to examine. Not to mention the trade offs of making a choice of what to do with the marginal dollar, hunger issues or health care? To the degree that ELCA social statements have tried to be specific, I have not found them helpful. Social statements tend to raise good issues but end in largely useless platitudes that affirm the work of social advocates but seldom help to accomplish the goals that they set out to achieve.
So in short, the church’s chief focus should be on proclaiming the good new of Jesus Christ. As a result, we then turn toward our neighbor giving of ourselves for their benefit. If we reverse the order, we are simply people doing good things, which is fine, just not adequate.