Alien

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. ~ Genesis 26:1-5

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Reside in this land as an alien.  

Reside in this land as an alien.

I think it might need to sink in a little bit. God blessed Abraham. And Isaac.  And as part of that blessing? A call to go be an alien.

There is a consistent theme in God's story. We are used to Jesus talking in the Gospels about the "least of these." But that wasn't anything new. God was always looking out for the outcast. The widows. The orphans. The alien.

And here...being an alien is actually part of the blessing.

Who is the alien in my life?  Who is the alien in your life?  Who are the groups of aliens in our country? What does that God call us to do for them? How are we meant to care for them?

 And when or how are you an alien? And if you aren't one, how might God be pushing you to become one and have that particular kind of understanding?

 Where can you go to stretch out from your comfort-zone and become blessed by being the outsider? To add a little chaos to your life find a way to grow into a new kind of blessing?

We have labeled aliens as either "legal" or "illegal." Do those labels mean anything to God? 

Or is the proper label for them "blessed."




God of the stranger, the outsider, and the alien, move me to love my neighbors, all of them, and move me toward a greater understanding by giving me the chance to be an alien as well.  Help me to be a blessing to them.  Amen.

Thoughts for engagement:

- How does this passage challenge your ideas about what it means to be an alien?
- Have you ever been an alien? If not, what ways can you give yourself that experience? How can we add "chaos" (or something foreign, or uncertain) to our lives that we might experience something new ("to give birth to a dancing star")?
- Does God see borders as we do? What are the borders we put up in our own lives that God would have us tear down?

Popular posts from this blog

But we had hoped

Now on that same day two (disciples) were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles  from Jerusalem,  and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,  but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.   Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”  He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,  who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.  Mo
Read more

Resurrection Run

For the week after Easter, some deeper dives into the Resurrection . When (the women) looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. ~ Mark 16:4-8 No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach; the same restlessness; the yawning. ~ CS Lewis The cave you fear to enter holds the  treasure
Read more

God's People: Abram

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ~ Genesis 12:1-3 Abram was Shem's great times seven grandson. And sometime in between Shem and Abram was the Tower of  Babel. God's creation had begun in a garden, and with sin, creation spread east of Eden. As the selfishness of sin continued, God pulled the reins in and brought creation back to a smaller size, managed by one family. But before too many generations, that family grew and spread and once again became embroiled in trying to compete with God. And so God, with Babel, sent creation scattered off near and far. So when we meet Abram - already an old man - he is part of one of the many tribes
Read more