Dear Friends in Christ,

As I look back I remember that there was always someone… There was always someone… living with us. My uncle, aunt, and cousin, when my uncle lost his job at the Chrysler plant. My grandma, when her Alzheimer’s was just starting. Our neighbor Karen and her 2 small children. Living with us, to escape an abusive and alcoholic husband. Karen’s 4-year-old daughter would wake in the night screaming. I can still see my mom holding her close and walking her slowly back and forth in the front room. Telling her that she was safe and loved. Whispering in her ear that everything would be all right.

When I was in high school Clayton Hendley moved in with us, because he had no place to live. Clayton was from the east side of Detroit, and played basketball for the team my dad helped coach.  Arguing over bedroom and bathroom space helped us work through our racial and cultural differences. Growing up, I had 2 sisters, but Clayton became my brother.

Looking back now, I realize that this is simply who mom and dad were and still are. This is how they lived out their Christian faith. When some folks follow Jesus, they actually do what Jesus calls them to do. So, there was the faith component.

And then there was the truth that dad’s family did not come to America like they should have. They walked in from French Canada to work in Upper Michigan’s logging industry, and they stayed. They worked. They went to Mass. They married. They had children and grand-children. But they were always near the border, and on the edge. Here, but not fully here. Aliens and immigrants among us. I think that experience had a profound effect on dad, and caused him to live his adult life with an open heart and an open home.

I am troubled. I am troubled by the words of God in Leviticus 19, “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress…” I am troubled by the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me…” I am troubled by what we are becoming… closed, angry, and fearful. This is not of Christ, and we are called by the Holy Spirit to be better than this. I want to be my father’s son, with an open heart and an open home. And I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, with open eyes and open arms (which is what bearing the cross demands of us every single time).

Maybe you’ll join me:

1. In Prayer: pray for the leaders of our nation and for the immigrant and refugee.

2. In Scripture:  read Leviticus 19:34-35; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 10:25-37.

3. In Study:  read the 1997 ELCA Social Message on Immigration in a small group and talk through it.

4. In Conversation: gather in small groups to pray and to talk through your own learning and experience with immigration.

5. In Invitation: invite a recent immigrant to come and share their story with your small group. Simply listen. Ask questions. Learn.

6. In Action: If you are aware of someone who is being adversely affected by new governmental policies, please do what you can to help make their plight easier. And please, share your stories with me, for as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are in this together. Together in the synod and in the world.

Let us pray, “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me abide in your tent forever, find refuge under the shelter of your wings” (Psalm 61:1-4).  

A Few Comings and Goings

On Thursday morning, February 2, at 9:00 a.m. I will be gathering with the North Central Conference Leaders at Calvary Lutheran Church in Northwood for Eucharist, conversation, and lunch.

On Sunday afternoon, February 5, at 3:00 p.m. we will be celebrating the installation of Pastor Matthew Wheeler at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fremont, Ohio.

2017: The Year of Grace Memory Verse

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”