You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
I’m working my way through the more detailed commandments the Lord has handed down. This is one that is frequently cited in liberal-bent religious discussions, particularly around recent immigration travesties in the US. For you were aliens in the land of Egypt. Of course we should be kinder to aliens in our country. The Lord commands it, because we were once aliens. And this I fully believe.
But here’s my challenge this morning. This section goes on to say that I should not work on the seventh day. That I should celebrate 7 days of unleavened bread, and the festival of harvest and the festival of the ingathering – three major festivals I’m commanded to hold for God. We are not supposed to extract interest on lending to the poor. And there are all sorts of requirements about what to do with oxen, fields and virgins. These bits I conveniently dismiss is irrelevant or out of date, or in the case of the three festivals, commandments for Jewish faithful.
I have always felt that Scripture is living, that God’s voice to the people thousands of years ago would have been heard and should have been heard in the context they found themselves – with oxen and fields. They weren’t wrong in their understanding, and it was contextual. When I read that section of Scripture, I need to understand and appreciate the context in which they heard God’s commandments. But if I stop there, the Word stopped living with them. Rather, I need to hear it in my context.
My challenge is that we all look to Scripture to support our positions, finding the nuggets that endorse our beliefs, and conveniently dismissing the bits that are either deemed irrelevant or inconsistent with our perspective. Take care of the alien, because the Bible says. But that part about divorce, or slaves? That’s not relevant. Protect human life before birth, because the Bible says. But that protection does not extend to those on death row.
To be clear, I’m not advocating for looser immigration, or the outlawing of divorce. But it is a very dangerous path to cite a specific chapter or verse to defend a position. If the Bible is literally, inerrantly true, what about those inconvenient bits? Everyone does it. The left, the right, and me. And it just feels internally inconsistent.
So where does that leave me as a faith-filled person, who believes Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation? I need to refrain from specific references or citations, as proof. Rather, I think I’m safer using Jesus’ more simple and general guidelines. Love God. Love your neighbor. That leaves a lot of wiggle room or a lot of grey area. But maybe that’s good. Maybe that leaves us with the space to talk with each other, to figure out where Christ’s guidance might be. But more likely, that grey area leaves us room to acknowledge that there may be no right answer, as much as there is right dialogue.
This morning, I’m thinking about the living Word, and how my faith in Jesus can inform my understanding of God’s commandments to me.
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