Foreign & Friend

In the finale of our "Love Thy Neighbor" series, we turn to one of the most challenging commands in all of Scripture. Leviticus 19:33-34 tells God's people to welcome the stranger, to treat the outsider not as second-class, but as family. This isn't just a call to holiness, it is covenant obedience rooted in God's own character.

We explore what it means to see immigrants and outsiders the way God sees them, and how Jesus fulfills this command by welcoming us when we were strangers to grace. What does it look like for the church to live this out today? The answer may surprise you, and it might even make you uncomfortable.

Join as we discover how holiness means more than private morality; it means love in action that embraces the stranger as kin.

Other Episodes in this series:

1. Leftover & Left Behind
2. Honesty & Hospitality
3. Love & Loyalty
4. Sin & Slavery 
5. Foreign & Friend

Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.

Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472

Chapters

• 0:00 Trailer
• 0:15 Theme song--"The Dirt Path" by Jeremy Edwards
• 1:19 Podcast Greeting
• 2:05 Introduction: Mr. Rogers
• 7:03 Reading of the Passage: Leviticus 19:33-34
• 7:29 Series Reminder
• 8:32 v33 When the Immigrant lives with you
• 10:27 v34 Love them as you love yourself
• 17:20 What does this teach us?
• 24:14 How should we apply this?
• 27:50 Invitation: Who will they walk away thinking they met?
• 31:45 Closing prayer
• 33:13 Outro

Transcript

*not a word for word transcript, but the sermon manuscript*

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

#5 FOREIGN & FRIEND

     Some of you might find this hard to believe, but I was an odd kid. One of my favorite TV shows was Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I always loved his sweaters and the way he changed shoes. And as a boy with an active imagination, I loved that Mr. Rogers encouraged me to use it. Everyone was welcome, whether it was the postman, puppets, or the person next door. Everyone was always greeted with, “Howdy, neighbor.” To Mr. Rodgers, everyone was your neighbor.

     As a child, I thought that was the way the world worked. But as I grew older, I learned that viewing everyone as your neighbor is considered dangerous. It makes people uncomfortable, challenging their comfort zones. It raises suspicion. But God’s Word calls His people to the same radical idea as Mr. Rogers (because Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister).

     What do you do when God’s Word commands something that your gut, your friends, or your culture tells you is foolish, dangerous, or even unpatriotic? What do you do when obeying God might make you look like a traitor to your own people? That is the tension in Leviticus 19:33-34 we will explore.

Leviticus 19:33-34 (CEB)

33 When immigrants live in your land, with you, you must not cheat them. 34 Any immigrant who lives with you must be treated as if they were one of your citizens. You must love them as yourself, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.

This is the word of God

For the people of God

Thanks be to God

     In this message, we are wrapping up our “Love They Neighbor” series. Over the last several weeks, we have explored leaving room for the vulnerable, justice, honesty, and confronting sin. This whole series has been about holiness as love in action, holiness that reaches outward. And this final sermon is the most risky of them all.

     Verse 33 begins with “When the immigrants live in your land.” The phrase “with you” added in the Common English Bible emphasizes that an “immigrant” is not a tourist there to try out the local pastries, but someone vulnerable, lacking protection or land.

     Continuing, the verse adds, “You must not cheat them.” This is not just “be nice” to them. God is saying not to take advantage of them economically, legally, or socially. 

     The next verse identifies how God expects His people to treat them, saying, “They must be treated as if they were one of your citizens.” “One of your citizens” means “as one who sprouts from the land.” Immigrants were to be treated not as second-class citizens. They were not to simply be tolerated. They were to be treated as fully belonging.

     “You must love them as yourself.” This is the same wording used in Leviticus 19:18, quoted by Jesus as the second greatest command, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Here God is saying that “immigrant” and “neighbor” are not opposites. It is the same holy love rooted in covenant and commitment for both commands.

     God gives His people the reason why this is so important. “You were immigrants in the land of Egypt.” The Israelites experienced both sides of being immigrants. They went to Egypt because the famine was so severe, it was the only means of their survival. Over time, the Egyptians grew fearful of the Israelites, so they enslaved them. God is commanding His people to be different.

     The whole command ends with, “I am the LORD your God.” This is God’s signature on His law. It signifies that the command is rooted in God’s identity. He is this kind of love, and His people are called to reflect that love.

     What does this teach us? As it was with the other commands we examined in this series, God’s holiness is more than private morality. It is an inward transformation rooted in God’s love that overflows to outward actions. Leviticus 19:33-34 tells us that loving the stranger is not an optional kindness, but covenantal obedience. God’s people welcome strangers as kin, because we were once strangers too.

     Maybe we are not strangers in a foreign country. But at one time, we were strangers to God. Think about the first time you stepped into this church, or the first day at a new job or school. Or how about the first time you gathered with your spouse’s family? We have all been there, feeling like an outsider who did not belong. That was how it was with God before Christ; we were strangers. But God welcomed us in, not as visitors, but as family. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19, “You are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household.”

     This is the way of God’s Kingdom. It is something that challenges the nationalism and tribalism within us. Our natural tendency is to view outsiders with suspicion. Our fears amplify this suspicion, often drowning out the voice of God through His Word.

     If we are to follow Christ, we have to let go of our fears. We must let God’s Word speak louder than the politics around us, because this is not about politics. It is about imitating Jesus in how we treat others. Jesus, God himself, “became flesh and made his home among us.” (John 1:14) He left His own native land of heaven to enter our world as an outsider to make us outsiders His family. For us as believers, how we treat the immigrant is not about status. It is about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

     We are to greet the outsider and invite them in. As a church, we need to become known as a place where strangers are treated like family. If we are kingdom people, we will see every outsider as a mirror of our own story. We were once outsiders until Jesus welcomed us. Like Mr. Rogers was trying to teach us, we begin to see everyone as our neighbor.

     The question is simple, but countercultural: When outsiders encounter us, how will they walk away? Will they walk away thinking they have met a defender of borders, buildings, or pews, or a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Revelation 7:9 describes a scene that surrounds God’s throne. It says, “And there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language.” This is God’s family, adopted by His grace. God’s people welcome strangers as kin, because we were once strangers to grace.

     Mr. Rogers said it every day: ‘Won’t you be my neighbor?’ Jesus asks the same, but in a deeper way: ‘Will you welcome the stranger as I welcomed you?’ That’s the invitation today.