Loving our Alien Neighbors

 Leviticus 18-19; Ps 13; Acts 19 

“…do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest…Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God...When an alien lives with you in the land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:9, 10, 33, 34

God’s call to love the aliens, the immigrants in the land, and to be generous toward them, is based on his very nature as a loving, just God. God also ties our treatment of aliens to his call to love our neighbors, a commandment Jesus taught as foundational. How we treat the most vulnerable and marginalized in our community should testify that we act like God because his generous nature indwells us.

Who comes to mind in your community when we read the word, “alien”?

What invitations toward generosity are we hearing from the Lord?

In what ways has God been generous toward us when we were “alienated” from him?

“Thank you for welcoming me into your family as a native-born son of the King. Fill me with your just love for those around me.”