The Wisdom of Hospitality to the Stranger Preached on October 24th 2021 at Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: Ruth 1:1-18 When my children were in the 3rd grade at our local elementary school, the class did a “country of origin” project. Each child was required to research the place, or one of the places, where their family had originated before they emigrated to the United States. The students spent many weeks researching their chosen country of origin. They had to find out when and where their first generation family members disembarked to begin a new life in the United States; what method of transportation they used; and whether the circumstances of their immigration were “push” or “pull.” Were they forced out of their homeland by circumstances beyond their control? Or were they drawn to the US because of the hope of a better life? I often wondered what the teacher would have done if a child in the class had been of Indigenous ancestry. At the time my children were in that grade the question had not come up. And, of course, not everyone who arrived on these shores came of their own free will. The teachers would have also dealt with situations where a child’s ancestors were enslaved people. Our son, the eldest, did his project without a problem. He was fortunate enough to have visited his only country of origin on several occasions. He had a detailed history of how his parents had arrived in Boston. At the Open House at the end of the year the children stood up to make their presentations. Every child in the class claimed Irish ancestry. even though we knew there were many other nationalities involved in their parentage. All except for a girl whose father was from Pakistan and our family who are from the United Kingdom. The stories of immigration from Ireland were dramatic. Great, great grandparents who were driven by famine and poverty, survived terrible voyages, were held and inspected on Ellis Island. Some had walked hundreds of miles to find a home and work in this overwhelming new country. When it was our daughter’s turn to do the project, she asked if she could choose a different country of origin from her brother. Maybe she could do Germany? I had to explain that although we did have family members who went to Germany, as far as I knew no one had come from Germany. And so our daughter also did her research on the UK. She was rather disappointed in our uneventful story. When it was her turn to present she stood up and held a picture of a Boeing 747. “My mom and dad came to the United States in 1987 on an airplane, they had a normal amount of money.” She went on “they were not pushed or pulled, they just came here to do some work.” My immigration story is not at all dramatic. It matches that of many British and Western Europeans who have the privilege of education and are offered the chance to study, conduct research or work in the United States. Many of those families enjoy the way of life in the US enough to find a way to stay beyond the usual year or two years. The immigration services have to be navigated. But if you are have an education from one of certain countries, you are in a particular line of work, you already speak English, and you can find the money to pay a decent lawyer, you stand a good chance of getting a Green Card. Having access to the immigration services at one of the esteemed local universities also helps. This week we continue our series on the Wisdom Literature of the Bible as we begin reading from the book of Ruth. Ruth is one of those books of the Bible named for a woman. Some scholars say that the book really ought to be called “Naomi” or at least “Naomi and Ruth.” It actually tells the story of two women: Naomi and Ruth. Ruth is another book that is in conversation with other books of the Old Testament. Ruth argues with the post-exilic books, Nehemiah and Ezra, who advocate ethnic purity among the people of Israel. They blame the misfortune of the Israelites on the fact that they took “foreign wives” and determine that these wives and their children should be cast off (Ezra 10:2-3). Ruth objects: As we discover at the end of the book, there is new hope for Israel because of Moabite Ruth’s immigration to the land of Judah. Ruth is a book that aligns with the in Leviticus to welcome the stranger and the foreigner: “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” (Lev 19:34) Naomi is the elder of the two women and mother-in-law to Ruth. Naomi, her husband, Elimelech, and their two sons had originally lived in Bethlehem in Judah. There was a famine in Bethlehem and so Naomi and Elimelech left in search of a place where food was available to them. They moved to Moab. The Moabites and Israelites were enemies, but the family had to move in order to survive. Naomi’s family remained in Moab for about 10 years. In that time, Elimelech died and their boys grew up and married Moabite women: Orpah and Ruth. Then, very tragically, the sons also died. The three women were left alone, without any men provide for them. In their ancient patriarchal culture, this was a dire situation. Naomi was now a lone Israelite among Moabites, and so she decided that it would be best to return to Bethlehem. The famine was over and she would seek out her nearest male relative for protection. Naomi begins the journey with her daughters-in-law, but she realizes that this is not good for them. They will be foreigners in Israel, probably ostracized and unable to marry. They will be immigrants without any male protection. And so she tells them to turn back and go to their mother’s homes. They can marry new Moabite husbands and survive. Naomi will continue her sad journey home. Who knows what will become of her along the way? Orpah agrees to go home to her mother, but Ruth clings to Naomi, making that bold and loyal declaration: “Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die-- there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" Naomi cannot change Ruth’s mind, and so the two women travel to Bethlehem together. They walk the fifty miles from Moab to Bethlehem over steep terrain around the Dead Sea, through the desert, crossing the River Jordan, and through Jericho. There are wild animals and bandits waiting for unprotected travelers. Did they hire a “coyote”? Did they attach themselves to a caravan? Did they have places to lodge, gleaning from the fields as they did when they arrived in Bethlehem? We don’t know, but somehow they made it. As a part of my preparation for ministry I applied to do a chaplaincy internship with the Hebrew Seniorlife Organization in eldercare. I liked the idea of working in a facility where I could develop long-term relationships, I also valued the experience of interfaith learning in that setting. The interview process was quite rigorous. Afterwards I hoped I had made a good impression. I was delighted when I received an offer from Hebrew SeniorLife, but puzzled when my future supervisor said: “As an immigrant, you will have something in common with many of our residents and staff.” HSL does have a good number of residents who are immigrants from other lands. Some of the very elderly are Holocaust survivors. Others came from Russia and other Eastern European countries. A great many of the staff are immigrants too, mostly from Haiti. One of the principles of the Hebrew Seniorlife Organization is “hospitality to the stranger.” But, was I an immigrant? The statement took me off guard. I did not think that I had much in common with someone who had struggled to master English and make a home in an alien culture. I did not experience bias when I was out and about because of the color of my skin or my accent. My experiences with the Immigration and Naturalization Service were not great, but I had not been through a terrible process, in which I feared that I had no home in the US and also no home to return to. I wondered if there was something else in my reluctance to admit that I was an immigrant. What came to mind when I heard the word immigrant? The masses from many lands struggling to make their way from Mexico to the United States, by way of the Rio Grande, in the hands of unscrupulous coyotes? The people who could only do casual, backbreaking work, for less than minimum wages, because they have no papers? The numerous tiny, inadequate boats, crossing the Mediterranean and the English Channel, to bring asylum seekers from the Middle East and Northern Africa to the UK? Or, perhaps, the older Russian couple I saw huddled with their lawyer and awaiting interviews in the INS Office in Boston? Friends, we are repeatedly told by our political leaders and media that immigration is a problem. And we often transfer the problem onto the immigrants themselves: Why do they come, when they know they will be turned away? Why do they endanger themselves and their children? Why can’t they go the proper legal routes? Why don’t they learn English? Why do they cling to the customs and habits of their home countries? All questions that the Indigenous peoples may have asked the Pilgrims. We can all remember: we were all once a stranger and a foreigner in this land. And even Jesus, as a child, was asylum seeker in the land of Egypt, where his family found hospitality. We may not be able to influence immigration policy very much, but we can all empathize and seek out ways to welcome the Naomis and the Ruths: in our lives, in our church, in our community. We meet and see immigrants in our neighborhoods every day. The opportunity to welcome the stranger in right in front of us. Recently I learned that Quincy has the highest proportion of Asian residents of any town or city in Massachusetts. And so, even in this place, I propose we embrace the principle of “hospitality to the stranger.” We were once a stranger in the land and we can all say “I am an immigrant.” May all God’s people say, Amen
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
If you enjoy a sermon or have a question, please leave a comment. If you would like to quote any of my material in your own sermons or writings, please use appropriate attribution. I look forward to hearing from you!Archives
April 2022
Categories |