“... You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. [God’s] using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what [God] is building. ...” Ephesians 2:19–22 (MSG)
Christ calls the church to strive for an existence where there are no exiles and everyone has a space in God’s home. The president of the United States declared a state of emergency at our southern border. What he calls a national security crisis, a use of our laws, is vastly different from the reality of those living on the border and those waiting in Mexico to seek asylum and protection in the United States.
Every nation has a right to protect its borders but that does not excuse us from our international obligation to those seeking safety. We as church are called to do better, to be better. With the reconciling peace of Christ, we can be guided in the work of providing aid, protection, and safety for those who seek a place of security.
In this message to the church, the Reverend Jimmie Hawkins, director of the Office of Public Witness, encourages members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to get involved and advocate for change. He delivers this invocation from a cemetery in Brooks County, Texas, where more than 200 unidentified bodies of migrants have been discovered in mass graves. We must never forget how easily we fall into sinful ways and how false divisions fuel that sin. Just as we can never forget the path to redemption is open to us all. Find out how to get involved.
Jimmie Hawkins on immigration from Office of the General Assembly on Vimeo.