The Stranger at the Gate

It is difficult to read the many perspectives on the problem of mass human migration without internalizing the conflict between the clashing points of view. We know that people move en masse when persecution, repression, war, poverty or natural disasters force them to acknowledge that their once-loved home no longer exists. They must move to survive.

We feel compassion.

We also know that the stress placed on available resources, social safety nets and infrastructure in the welcoming community can be devastating. It is one thing to give ten percent of our income to feed the poor, but another, entirely, to be required to offer up all but ten percent, and to become the poor. We can afford to welcome the stranger at the gate into our homes as a guest at our table while (s)he sorts out living arrangements, but we do not want to give the house and the table to the stranger and become the displaced person sleeping by the gate.

We crave simple answers like “Resolve the situations that trigger a mass exodus, and things will reverse, or at least stabilize.”  But that solution will not work once the trigger has been pulled. The blood of martyrs produces a lasting stain. It is difficult for the survivors of such persecution to return to their old way of life with any real sense of security. People cannot move back to homes that no longer exist or take up work in factories reduced to rubble or in burned-out, polluted fields. There may be no welcoming place to go, but they must go somewhere. We know that.

It is tempting to say that what we need is some plan for the redistribution of wealth, but mandated generosity is just theft dressed for dinner, isn’t it? Robin Hood was not (is not) our messiah. In an attempt to force the absorption of the flood of refugees, we imitate the oppressive regimes that initiated the disruption. Societal upheaval was the root of the problem. How can it be reinterpreted as its solution?

Let’s walk back to compassion.

In this age, we are seeing a massive societal unsettling. We look to Scriptural passages like this one in Luke 6:38 (NLT) “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” with hope for the future. The key to dealing with the enormity of the challenge before us is not legislative or political. It is spiritual. We need a revival of compassion and a call to willing generosity.

We also need open eyes to recognize the villains in the mix, because they will be there. Among the strangers at the gate there will be assassins and suicide bombers. Some come to share our bread, and some come for the express purpose of poisoning it. There is evil in the world. We cannot afford to deny that.

What is your calling in this moment? What is mine? There are strangers at the gate, and our little children and aged parents are looking to us to provide both hospitality for the strangers and security for the family. How will we meet this age’s expectations? How will we honor God in the meantime?

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13: 1