Loving the Stranger

Do not oppress a foreigner, you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners. Exodus chapter 23 verse 9. Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, Loving the Stranger, was written by Patricia Rabin and read by Joyce Dinkins. Leviticus chapter 19 verses 9 through 10 and 33 through 34. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord, your God.

Now picking up at verse 33. When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

I am the Lord, your God. Loving the Stranger, written by Patricia Rabin. A friend's wife, a master seamstress, made a loving plan before she passed away from a long illness. She donated all her sewing equipment to our town's sewing guild, providing sewing machines, cutting tables, and more for classes teaching newly arrived immigrants. I counted 28 boxes of fabric alone, her husband told us.

Six women came by to pick up everything. Their students are hard workers, eager to learn a skill. Others describe such newcomers in less flattering ways. The plight of immigrants has become a divisive issue. Moses, however, issued God's view in Exodus chapter 23 saying, do not oppress a foreigner.

You yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners. He further shared God's decree regarding foreigners in Leviticus chapter 19. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen.

Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord, your God. God also declared, when a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native born. Love them as yourself.

For you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord, your God. God set the standard. May he bless our hearts to show love to the strangers among us. Let's pray. Dear God, you have called us to be loving, compassionate, and welcoming to foreigners. Help us remember when we were foreigners before you until we accepted your gift of salvation through the sacrifice of your son Jesus. Please give us hearts that honor you and show your love to all people. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. As you go about your day, reflect on these questions. How can you help those in your church or neighborhood from other countries or who speak another language? Where can you find opportunities to help someone from another culture?