To vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants like Jesus and toward a life that follows Jesus and the laws of the land...

This week, we have been examining the issue of immigration. Specifically, I would like for us to ask and answer two questions. And the two questions are “What policy would Jesus promote when it comes to the immigration of people from other countries? And what would Jesus say we should do about illegal immigrants who are now in the United States?”

So far this week, we have looked at four passages in the letters that make up the Bible that address the issue of immigration and the responsibilities that an individual follower of Jesus and a government has when it comes to the issue of immigration. We looked on and discovered that what the Lord is addressing in these passages is how we are to treat our fellow man who bears the thumbprint of God. What the Lord is addressing in these commands is that we are not to wrong, oppress, or persecute immigrants.

 Now this reality leads us to the fifth passage that addresses the issue of immigration and the responsibilities that an individual follower of Jesus and a government has when it comes to the issue of immigration. This passage is found in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Romans. In Romans 13:1-7, we read:

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³ For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷ Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

As we talked about a few weeks ago, God, who is sovereign over all nations, created the institution of government to represent Him in a way that promotes the good of people and punishes the evil of people. Thus, government has a responsibility to make laws for the good of the people and uphold the law in a way that protects and promotes the good of the people in that nation. And because of that reality, it is legally and morally acceptable for government to deal with those in the country illegally according to the nation’s legal provisions.

This passage also reveals for us the reality that immigration policies of a nation should be designed to benefit the citizens of that nation and not immigrants that are in the nation illegally. In addition, the letters that make up the Bible reveal that nations in the world placed a high priority on protecting their borders and having the right to decide who would enter and who would not. And finally, throughout the letters that make up the Bible, we see a clear connection between immigration and assimilation. The expectation was that those who immigrated to a foreign land were expected to assimilate into that foreign lands, culture, religious views and political system.

And it here that I believe that we see the greatest tension and emotion when it comes to the issue of immigration today, don’t we? There is a feeling, there is a perception that many immigrants enter the country illegally with no desire to assimilate into the American culture, but instead are forming their own ethnic communities in which their primary loyalty is not to the United States, but instead to their nation of origin. Combine that with the incredible economic cost of illegal immigration and the threat of terrorism, and we quickly see how this issue has become so heated and toxic.

So what policy would Jesus promote when it comes to the immigration of people from other countries? And what would Jesus say we should do about illegal immigrants who are now in the United States? It is the answer to this question that provides for us a timeless truth when it comes to voting for Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: To vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants like Jesus and toward a life that follows Jesus and the laws of the land.

You see, to vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants as we would love fellow followers of Jesus and as we would love ourselves. To vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants in a way that asks “If I was an immigrant in their situation, how would I feel loved?” and then responding in a way that expresses the love that you would want expressed to you to that immigrant. To vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants in way that provides for the pressing and practical needs of the immigrant as the vehicle to reveal Jesus to the immigrant. And to vote for Jesus is to love all immigrants in a way that gives wise and law abiding counsel to the immigrant so as to encourage assimilation, not isolation.

To vote for Jesus is to support policies to promote the protection and the good of the nation against potential threats to the safety and security of the nation. To vote for Jesus is to support policies that provide access to America for immigrants who are committed to assimilating into American cultural, religious, and political values. This means that immigrants have the same freedom of religious expression that we have as American citizens as long as that religious expression does not threaten the safety of the nation. And to vote for Jesus is to support policies that protect America from those who refuse to assimilate into American cultural, religious, and political values and are committed to harming America.

You see, as so often is the case, Jesus does not fit into one political party or ideology. Jesus is for security for the nation and for loving access to the immigrant in the nation. Jesus is for national borders and Jesus is for love without borders. Could it be, as John Piper has pointed out recently, that while we as followers of Jesus have been called to go to the nations, that God is now bringing the nations to us. That is why, as an EFCA church, we are such big supporters of Immigrant hope. Immigrant hope is a part of the EFCA that desires to equip churches to provide immigrants with the HOPE of the gospel, HELP finding a pathway to legal residency, and a HOME in a church that cares for their needs.

So, do you view, talk and treat immigrants in a way that loves them as you love yourself? Do you view, talk and treat immigrants in a way that reveals and reflects the love of Jesus to them? Do you view, talk and treat immigrants in a way the leads them to Jesus? Do you view, talk, and treat immigrants in a way that provides the HOPE of the gospel, HELP finding a pathway to legal residency, and a HOME in a church that cares for their needs?