How Big a Welcome (Isaiah 56:1-8)

The scripture we just heard is from the third section of Isaiah.  Scholars usually divide the book of Isaiah into three sections, which isn’t particularly important to our topic today, but some of you might be curious.  

 Only the first section, which is chapters 1-39, could possibly have been written by the prophet Isaiah.  The remaining chapters describe events that happened after Isaiah’s time, and therefore were clearly written by someone else, someone who hoped to carry Isaiah’s themes into a new day.

Chapters 1 – 39 talk about Israel’s journey into exile.

The later chapters talk about life after exile.  Starting in chapter 56, the focus is on the restored community; life after exile, back in the homeland, and how members of that community are to live in relation to one another as well as in relation to others in their midst.

So the first words of this section, in Isaiah 56, are important.  And they are:  “maintain justice.”

And then the author talks about foreigners and eunuchs who want to be a part of this newly re-formed community.

This isn’t the first time scripture has something to say about foreigners and eunuchs.

Deuteronomy 23 mentions foreigners and eunuchs.  Specifically, it says that neither is allowed to be a part of God’s community.  Neither is welcome in the temple.  Regarding foreigners, Deuteronomy specifically says: “You shall never promote their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.”

In other words, “build high the walls and fences and keep them out.”

No foreigners.  No aliens.  No immigrants.

Then we have today’s passage, from Isaiah 56.  The author clearly knew what it said in Deuteronomy.  Deuteronomy 23 was in the forefront of his mind as he wrote. 

Yet he boldly contradicted Deuteronomy 23 when he wrote:  “Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will exclude me from his people…’ This is what the Lord says: ‘To the immigrants, the foreigners, who have joined me:  I will bring them in to my house of prayer.  I will accept them and welcome them, for my house will be known as a house of prayer for all people.  After all, I am the God who gathers not only Israel’s outcasts, but also others as well.’”

If you’ve been following the news this summer, you know that these scriptures touch on an issue that has been front and center in American politics:  immigration. 

And depending on what your view is on the current immigration debate, you could pick either Deuteronomy or Isaiah – whichever one matches your own view – and use it to defend your position.

This is why it’s not helpful to just throw verses around.  You can find a verse, take it out of context, and use it to justify just about anything. 

I once attended a high school play, and since it was at a Christian high school, the organizers felt the need to include a Bible verse at the top of the program.  I think the verse might have been Hebrews 13.18: “Act honorably in all things.”  It made me laugh.  The verse has absolutely nothing to do with putting on a play.  Yet there it was. 

You can find a verse to justify anything if you look hard enough and are willing to ignore the context.  And even when you pay attention to the context, you can probably still find a verse to justify your position, because scripture does often come down on both sides of an issue… just like it does with foreigners and immigrants.

But there is an even bigger picture. 

One question I ask in situations like this is, “What core value of faith and scripture applies here?”  A core value is a message, an emphasis, that – thought it may be contradicted – appears often enough in scripture that any contradictions appear to be anomalies.

Clearly, the most important core value of scripture is love of God and love of neighbor. 

In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy – the same book that commands the exclusion of foreigners and immigrants – we have a passage that says this:  “Hear, O Israel:  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” 

This short passage is quoted often throughout scripture, even in the New Testament.  It even has a name:  the Shema.  It is recited regularly in Jewish congregations to this day.  Ask any Jew what the Shema is, and they’ll recite the verse.  “Shema Ysrael; Hear, O Israel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”   

I have no doubt that growing up, Jesus learned to recite this verse often.  It was probably one of the first that he learned.  And later, when Jesus was asked what the most important command was, he replied by quoting it.

But after he recited the Shema, saying that “you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might,” Jesus then added, “…and you should love your neighbor as yourself.”  For Jesus, the two could not be separated.  Love of God, and love of neighbor. 

And just who is one’s neighbor?  Jesus answered that question as well, with a story about … wait for it … a foreigner.

The Samaritans lived in the wrong place, they worshipped at the wrong place, and there was great animosity between them and the Jews who centered their life in Jerusalem.  And yet even the Samaritan, Jesus said, is one’s neighbor, one whom you should love.

Then there is the time Philip, one of Jesus’s disciples, met a man from Ethiopia – a foreigner – who also just happened to be a eunuch.  And after some conversation, this man asked Philip, “What is there to prevent me from being baptized?”

I suspect that, in the back of Philip’s mind, he was thinking, “Well, there’s Deuteronomy 23 for one thing! … But then, there is also Isaiah 56, which contradicts Deuteronomy 23… Which is right?”

Since he was familiar with the scriptures, perhaps Philip thought of Abraham, who welcomed two travelers into his household, offering them protection, shelter, and food… and how Abraham was blessed because of it.

And perhaps he thought of Lot, who also welcomed two strangers from another land into his home, offering them protection, shelter, and food… and how Lot ended up with a whole heap of trouble right at his doorstep because of it.

And yet, scripture lifted both of them up as heroes, men of great faith.

So maybe welcoming strangers and foreigners and immigrants is the right thing to do, even if it’s not always easy.

And then of course there were the words and actions of Jesus which I already mentioned, which Philip was familiar with.

And there are other passages as well; passages like Leviticus 19:34, which says “Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens.  You must love them as yourself, because you yourselves were immigrants in the land of Egypt.”

And then there is the whole movement of the New Testament following Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.  It’s a constantly expanding movement, an outward movement. 

It starts local: in Jerusalem. It goes regional, to Judea and Samaria.  Eventually it goes global, “to the ends of the earth.”  Scripture consistently challenges us to grow in love, to widen the circle of inclusivity, to extend the welcome, to broaden our understanding of who is our neighbor.

Are we ready to apply scripture’s message to our current situation?  Well, not quite yet.  We must take into consideration that our time is not the same as the ancient times.  Every situation is unique. 

One question that gets asked a lot is, “Can we afford to just welcome anyone who wants to come in?”  Will our economy be weakened by an influx of immigrants and refugees? 

We cannot just dismiss those questions.  They are important questions.  Important in terms of the welfare of our nation and its people.  Important in terms of the prosperity we hope to achieve and maintain.

There are other stories in scripture that may help us out here.

Last week, I talked about what Jesus did after he heard about the death of his cousin John the Baptist.  He went out into the wilderness for some alone time, but a great crowd of thousands of people followed him, and he ended up feeding them.

The way this is presented in the gospel, it deliberately contrasts the feeding of the 5,000 with Herod’s banquet which is where John the Baptist died.

Herod worried about running out.  Herod had it all!  All the wealth, all the power, and yet his banquet party ended in death and sadness. 

On the other hand, those thousands of people with Jesus had wandered out to the wilderness – a desolate place, a desert, a place seemingly devoid of life and sustenance, a place where resources were definitely in short supply.  And yet with Jesus, the focus is not on running out.  With Jesus, the focus is on abundance.  With Jesus, there is always enough.

When we look at the issue of immigration, I think the  way we approach the issue, and the opinions we hold, depend on which banquet table we sit at. 

If we sit at Herod’s banquet table, where we are in constant fear of running out even though wealth is all around us, our questions and answers are going to be very different than if we are sitting in the wilderness at Jesus’s banquet. 

Is there enough to go around?

Herod’s banquet was a private event.  Doors were guarded, I’m sure, to only let certain people in.  After all, Herod had his wealth, his prosperity… and he wanted to keep it.

There were no doors at Jesus’s banquet.  At first glance, there wasn’t enough food, either.  Just five loaves and two fish, for thousands of people.  It was the disciples who pointed out the obvious:  “We can’t feed this many people with what we’ve got!  Send them away!”

Isn’t that the same argument used against immigration today?  If you welcome “them,” they’ll take our resources, our wealth, our jobs… so, send them away.

So the question we have to ask when it comes to the immigrants and refugees seeking new life in America:  Will we tell them that we don’t have enough?  Will we send them away?  Will we close the doors and post guards, so that they don’t come in and take away from our wealth and prosperity?

Or will we welcome them in Jesus’s name, trusting that our limited supply of loaves and fish will be enough for us all to be blessed?

I know that politically or economically, the answers to these questions might be different than what I suggest.  Politically or economically, my answers might even be foolish.

But I am not a politician.  I am not an economist.  I am, first and foremost, a follower of Jesus.  And it’s his wisdom that I seek when I wrestle with difficult questions.