Try to imagine arriving in America as a Venezuelan immigrant. You’ve left your home, spent what little you had making the journey north, and you’ve finally arrived in a country you know is desperate for workers. You pursue an employment opportunity some states away, only to arrive at a destination you never intended all because the governor of Florida paid for your flight to Martha’s Vineyard as a way to own Democrat elites.
Then if that weren’t low enough, the senator from Texas tweets, “Nantucket next!”
It’s hard to identify which level of low we’re at when our nation’s most prominent elected officials use vulnerable migrants as political pawns. It’s a sociopathic level of callousness.
It also ultimately makes me wonder whether these evil officials really know Americans as well as they think. I work in refugee resettlement and have done so for decades and one of the things we have learned over the years is that even in deeply red states like Arkansas where senators like Tom Cotton will make use of the abuse of immigrants for political gain, the regular people on the ground want to care for migrants, not manipulate them.
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However tonight is Saturday night. I’m a pastor, so I’m getting ready to preach in the morning. This means per usual I have my head as much in a very ancient text as I do in the daily news. No, I’m not watching the football game. Instead, I’m typing out this blog and wondering what God may have to say to us in and through the interaction of life and those old words.
Tomorrow the texts are from 2 Samuel. We’ve been reading lessons from Will Gafney’s Women’s Lectionary, which I highly recommend. If you’re unfamiliar with the context for 2 Samuel, I suggest watching this 5 minute video from the Bible Project.
That book opens with a surprise: when David learns that Saul has been killed in battle he writes a long song of lament. This is a surprise because Saul has long been seeking to kill David. It’s literally an example of deeply lamenting the death of your enemy.
David writes, “Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul/who clothed you with scarlet, in luxury/ who overlaid your garments with adornments of gold/How the mighty have fallen…”
David models lament for the fall of one’s enemies. That’s what I have to sit with this night as I experience profound disgust at the actions and words of Republican xenophobes.
Certainly, David’s lament does not arise from a spiritually pure and upright man. Keep in mind when he learns of Saul’s death from the soldier who executed Saul, he immediately has that soldier executed. David is not a man of clean hands.
But this lament he sings… it gives me pause.
So here’s the right order of things. First, we have a primary responsibility to care for any and all migrants in our midst. Before we get busy with culture wars or political analysis, we ask ourselves: Are we funding and participating in networks of support for those seeking asylum?
We ask ourselves this question because it is positive side of the most frequent command in Scripture: “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner.” (Exodus 22:21)
Or the longer form in Leviticus: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
If you aren’t doing that, stop reading this blog post and go donate to an organization or church that helps immigrants and refugees. And sign up to volunteer.
Okay, if you’re still reading, then I’ll say the rest. I guess David’s song helps me see my appropriate response to the actions and words of DeSantis and Cruz and Cotton and all the other hateful idolatrous nationalists is to keen a song of lament over them.
How the mighty have fallen!
These are fathers, husbands, neighbors
Who carry bibles in their briefcases.
Lord God, they represent us in the halls of justice,
they have a holy calling to care for the least among us,
and instead they abuse the immigrant in our midst
for political theater. They do it for the tweets.
Oh Lord, our taxes pay their salaries,
our silence and inactivity resulted in their election.
They are our own people and we have not called them in.
Forgive us, God of the immigrant,
God beyond borders,
how the mighty have fallen
and we, we, we still cling to our might.
Tonight as I prepare to sleep, I will be praying for all migrants, all those wondering where they will sleep, whether they will be safe, what they will eat. I will remember their dignity as human beings.
And I will pray the prayer of lament for our callous leaders who have fallen into moral depravity. I will confess my own complicity.
And I will be inspired by the little acts of kindness and support that in the end shine a light into the darkness, like the story of the Episcopal church on Martha’s Vineyard who cared for the Venezuelan immigrants when they first arrived.
Because that’s another important part of this story: there are faithful communities everywhere still heeding the commands of Scripture and the love modeled in Jesus. You can always find them, just look for the helpers.
Thank you. As we have been studying David the whole year at our church, I liked the reference and truth laid bare about the immigrants being used in such horrific ways. Hopefully our politicians will lament to God and turn from their ways. Love & Blessings!
I couldn’t agree more with this assessment. As I was traveling this past week in New York City, I couldn’t help but notice all of our immigrant brothers and sisters doing the majority of the work in the city. My hotel housekeeper was from Albania, I had Lyft and Uber drivers from Spain, Africa, South America, China, and Iran. All of these workers were so very nice and kind. It’s a reality that our country is and has been made on the backs of so many immigrants. Lets all remember to love one another and lend a hand to those less fortunate whenever we can. I feel very blessed to find to have found the church family here at Good Shepherd. Thank you for your share in your writings.