Alien: Genesis 26:1-5

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 and I will be with you and will bless you."

Sit with that a minute.

Wherever you land on the ongoing debate in the US about immigration and refugees, it seems a bit shocking to see God commanding Isaac to BE an alien. A refugee.

And not only commanding it, but standing with Isaac in the midst of it.

And not only standing with Isaac in the midst of it, but blessing it.

Goes against almost everything we are used to seeing in our modern understanding of the refugee crisis.

Blessed? 

We do well to remember that our very faith is centered on refugee status. Not only do we get reminders (at Christmastime especially) that Jesus and his family were refugees, but we can look back to the beginning of the Abrahamic tradition and see that Abraham himself was a refugee sent by God.

And his people were given the land of this refugee status.

As Christians we are also refugees of a sort. "In the world, but not of the world." 

So being an alien - a foreigner, a refugee, a migrant - is a natural state for us.

A state of blessing.

A state of grace.

Even if it may not seem like it, or feel like it, God is with the refugee.

This is good news not just for the alien but for us. Because at some point in your life - even if you never stray more than five miles from your home - there will be a point in your life when you are the alien.

The refugee. The foreigner.

And God will be with you then and bless you.

Lord, open my eyes and heart to the stranger in my midst that I may love them and bless them as you do. And comfort me when I feel like that stranger - alone and lonely. Amen.