Alien

Genesis 26:1-5 (NRSV) Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Reside in this land as an alien.   Reside in this land as an alien. I think it might need to sink in a little bit.  God blessed Abraham.  And Isaac.  And as part of that blessing?  He told Isaac to go be an alien. There is a consistent theme in God's story.  We are used to Jesus talking in the Gospels about the "least of these."  But that wasn't anything new.  God was always looking out for the outcast.  The widows.  The orphans.  The alien. And here...being an alien is actually part of the blessing. Who is the alien in my life?  Who is the alien in your life?  Who are the groups of aliens in our country? What does that God call us to do for them?  How are we meant to care for them? You can't read the news most days without some story about immigration in our country.  Aliens.  We've labeled them "legal" or "illegal."  Do those labels mean anything to God?   Or is the proper label for them "blessed." God of the stranger, the outcast and the discarded, move me to love my neighbors - all of them, especially those who have come from far away seeking a home and safety.  Help me to be a blessing to them.  Amen.