Strangers, Aliens, Foreigners, and the Poor (Mid-week Message)

Strangers, Aliens, Foreigners, & the Poor

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

July 20, 2016

The current political cycle is looking more and more contentious, and, quite frankly, a little crazy.  Emotion-laden issues include border security and immigration, dealing with foreign powers, poverty, race, and economic opportunity.    Both sides are citing scripture (or something like scripture) and claiming Jesus and God.   Without commenting directly on specific candidates or parties, I thought it would be useful to review what scripture has to say about some of these hot button issues.   

In the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s people are defined by their experience of social and economic exclusion or oppression.  Deuteronomy preserves an early fragment of Hebrew liturgy that sums up the national experience in these terms: 

“My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.  He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut. 26:5-9).

Again and again, the prophets call the people to turn back from their own oppression of others, reminding them, “You too were slaves in Egypt.”  Again and again, they say we must take particular care of the wretched of the earth, the poor, orphans, widows.   Providing a fair playing field and then ignoring those who do not succeed is not enough.  We must see the poor, note their needs, and take care of them.   

An underlying idea is that fair is fair, and we must treat others as we would want to be treated.   Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, is God of rich and poor alike, and is particularly concerned with the poor because the poor need him most.  There are right and wrong ways of behaving, standards of common decency.  We must not exploit or take advantage of the weak, ignore them or turn a hard heart to their pleas, nor degrade or violate their human dignity by forcing them to do things against their consciences.  The holiness of Yahweh requires his demands on his people in this regard:  

“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.  Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless ...  If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate” (Exodus 22:21-27).


“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt”  (Exodus 23:9).

“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and Yahweh your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.  When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this” (Deut. 24:17-22).

One of the great differences between Yahweh and the gods of the nations surrounding Israel is summed up in his care for the poor and the alien.  In contrast to the gods that personify wealth, power, and fertility, Yahweh is the God over all the earth, of rich and poor alike, who takes the part of the weak and defenseless, and can turn things upside down:

“I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor” (Ps. 140:12).

“[God] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deut. 10:18; see also Isa. 25:4; Psalm 10:14; Isa. 41:17).

Because God is compassionate he demands that we be compassionate too:

“If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which Yahweh your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks” (Deut. 15:7).

“Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow…” (Jer. 22:3).

The fact is, Jesus and John the Baptist in the Gospels teach this, as do St. Paul and St. James.  The doctrine is found on nearly every page of the Bible, in all the areas of the Church’s reading of Scripture:  Torah, Prophets, Psalms, Epistles, and Gospel.   The message is simple, but insistent: help those in need.   Give them material support and take their cause.  It's not at all hard to understand; it's just hard to do.  We must do it as individuals.  And the government does have a role as well:

 “[You kings,] open your mouth for those unable to speak, for the rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy” (Prov. 31:8-10).  

The importance of this doctrine to care for the needy and especially the alien and stranger is underscored by Ezekiel’s understanding of just what was wrong in Sodom and Gomorrah: 

“Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy” (Ezek. 16:49-51).

As we hear various people pray and preach it for their candidates in this election, let’s keep in mind what scripture actually says. 

Grace and peace,

Fr. Tony+