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The
Bishop's Journal
April 2002
"For I Was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me."
On any given Sunday, visitors to a random sampling of Eastern Synod congregations could worship in one of 11 different languages - English, Mandarin, German, Finnish, Swedish, Hungarian, Latvian, Danish, Lithuanian, Cantonese or Estonian. We are a people of rich ethnic diversity - an immigrant people who have come from many different places and contexts, but who are nonetheless united in believing and confessing that we are redeemed by God's grace alone.
All of us, either in our own life experience, or that of recent generations, know what it is to leave one home for another. For some of us, this was a choice freely made. Others of us were forced to flee harsh, and even life-threatening circumstances.
Many of us had that passage facilitated, to some extent, through the help of brothers and sisters in the global Lutheran community. In the post-WWII years, literally millions of displaced Europeans were assisted through the efforts of Lutheran relief and immigration agencies. And then, once passage to a new homeland had been arranged, new immigrants were warmly received by pastors, congregations and church agencies who worked tirelessly to help facilitate the transition into a new culture.
This was vitally significant work that impacted the lives of countless people! Indeed, as I travel through our synod, there is hardly a week goes by when I don't encounter someone who is eager to share the story of how they, or another family member, benefited directly from those efforts.
This same work continues today in a variety of contexts. Globally, our church provides assistance to poor and displaced persons through the inspired work of Lutheran World Service - the largest non-governmental relief and development agency in the world.
Here in Canada, we support those international efforts through our offerings to the Global Hunger and Development Appeal. We advocate on behalf of refugees through our support of various ecumenical coalitions and through the Lutheran Office for Public Policy. And then, through the committed efforts of Canadian Lutheran World Relief and various local refugee support committees, we are able to provide support and guidance to congregations who are wanting to provide direct sponsorships for persons coming to Canada as refugees.
In a description of the final judgement, Jesus speaks directly of the special responsibility we bear for those who are seeking refuge. "For I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Perhaps that was because of his own experience as a child whose family was once forced to flee to a strange and distant land out of fear for their safety and security.
The next time you hear someone make a disparaging comment about refugees or immigrants, try to imagine the faces of that young child and his frightened parents. And then, think about the faces you see each week in your own congregation - and about the faces you see in your own family photo albums. Because that's who we're really talking about. The One whose name we bear. Our own brothers and sisters - both figuratively and literally.
May God grant us both the grace and the desire to welcome others as we ourselves have been welcomed.
The Rev. Michael J. Pryse,
Bishop
