Refugee Crisis How should the Church respond to the Refugee Crisis: A look at the Biblical response and a survey of the cultural implications

What is a refugee? The 1951 Refugee Convention spells out that a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.“ In 1980 the United States adopted the same definition.

What is important in the definition Refugees under the UN definition is someone that is oppressed Refugees are sojourners / foreigners

What does the Bible have to say? Deuteronomy 16:11“You shall rejoice before him—you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites in your villages, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows among you—in the place where the Lord chooses to locate his name.” Deuteronomy 24:17 “You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.” “The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:34)

What does the Bible have to say? Jeremiah 7:5-7 “You must change the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly .Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.”

What does the Bible have to say? Ezekiel 22:7 “They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you.” Ezekiel 22:29 “The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.” Zechariah 7:10 “You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’”

Why? “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” (Psalm 9:9) “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” (Psalm 103:6) ““You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

Do you fear the Lord? “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.” (Malachi 3:5)

Something curious Did you notice the sojourner was constantly linked with widows and orphans? Taking care of the oppressed whether they were widows, orphans, poor, or foreigners is the call for all of God’s people James goes as far to say that if you are not involved in doing so you do not really know who God is, let alone what He requires of you.

James 1:27 “Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows in their hardships, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.” (James 1:27) Why did James not make mention of the foreigner? Was James releasing Christians from the command of helping the foreigner?

The Context of the book of James Who was the book written to? James 1:1 gives us the answer “From James,... Greetings to the twelve tribes of the Dispersion.” (James 1:1b) What is meant by dispersion? James is writing to Jews that believe in Messiah that live outside of Judea

Why is this significant? The Old Testament verses are written to Jews living in the promise land and the command to take care of the foreigners among you presupposes living in the land of Israel James is writing a rebuke It is wrong to rebuke someone for not fulfill a command they cannot fulfill James’ audience may have not needed to be rebuked in the this area James’ audience were foreigners themselves

How does this apply to us today? What does James mean by religion? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in a believers life? How does this relate to refugees?

What does James mean by religion? We have all heard the cliché “I am not religious, I am in a personal relationship” – The very idea of religion has become a stigma in Christianity but that is not how James used the term. Religion is a good word but it has been used to mean legalism or false religion. True religion is having a right understanding of who God is and the proper response to Him and His commands as King. James is saying if you think that you are saved from your sin and trespasses and have the indwelling of the Spirit of God and you are far from the very things God says he is near then the Holy Spirit is not in you and you only think you are saved.

What or who is God near? “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18, NASB95) Those that need refuge (Psalm 73:28) The poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed (Luke 4:18) “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18, ESV)

What if the Government lets in terrorist? The government is responsible for restricting evil with the sword and policy (Romans 13) The Church is responsible for restricting evil with the love of Christ and the gospel message

The Gospel can change a life Former terrorist changed by the gospel Kamal Saleem Walid Shoebat Ibrahim Abdullah Abdullahi Jirbil Taysi abu Saada Refugee ministry can save lives both spiritually and physically