Who's A Stranger?

We look at strangers as the awkward weird kid a school. Or that homeless woman living on the streets. Jesus had read the word stranger over 100 times in the OT or its cousin Alien.
And all those passages had one of two emphases on them.

#1 If you have an alien living among you they need to live like you.
So if a group of Jewish people stop working come Friday night, if your living with them your supposed to stop working too.
If you get to the temple and the Jews are making sacrifice in a particular way. You’ve got to follow the pattern.
If you are going to live among us, you better live like us. Only exception is you can eat bacon. We don’t care about that. Your a Gentile, oy vey!

#2 God kept saying you’ve got to care for the aliens among you. And out of the dozens of passages we could turn to, I just want to leave you with one
Deuteronomy 24:17
“Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.”

Three categories of people are mentioned in this text. Orphans, widows, and aliens. This trilogy is consistent throughout the old testiment that Jesus read.
Even Jesus’ Half brother James wrote a little book in the NT In James chapter 1:26 he says pour and undefiled religion is ministering to orphans and widows in there distress. And keeping on with stand from the world.
Now He only mentioned two. Where did the strangers go for James? Was it like, Oh were Christians we don’t take care of strangers anymore? I think not! Put that in your pocket and save it for later.

James is missing one third of the trilogy. Vs.18 in Deuteronomy 24 “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.”

why did Jews take care of the aliens? God is saying you people where
strangers, you know what it was like to be put in slavery.
Your people where strangers, you know what its like to not be able to find a job, don’t do that to other people. You know what its like to be hungry, you know what its like to be naked, you know what its like to be abused, don’t do that to other people. Sound familiar?
Like “Do unto others like you would have them do unto you.”

So Jesus comes along and says look, you’ve got to take care of strangers. That’s as kosher as a dill pickle. He didn’t make that up. That’s Jewish.
How did they take care of strangers? Lets look at vs. 19”When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands”

Take a look at how many times the trilogy comes up. vs. 21”When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.” Chapter26:13 “Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.”
Its right to support the clergy. And the trilogy has just as much right o it as the Levites. Vs 11 “And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household.”
If the trilogy keeps coming up, even in the sacred tithes, why does James miss one third of the trilogy. How come he says to take care of widows and orphans but doesn’t talk about the stranger? I think the clue is actually in Peter. 1 Peter 2:11 “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
You need to understand who James was speaking to, and who peter was speaking to. these where Christians living in a roman world. They were the strangers and aliens.
To the Jews who came into there own land. You could say, do you remember where you lived? Who you used to be? If you remember that don’t treat the current strangers like that.
But in Peters world and in James world they where the aliens. They were the ones getting beat up, run out of town. They where the ones who couldn’t find a job.
And I would suggest, we fuss when we go a little bit without electricity, but we can go out and by a generator. We fuss a little bit when we don’t have running water, but we can still go buy bottled water. And even so, do you ever feel like your a stranger in this place?
I watch the news and I’m going “Am I really one of these people? Is this the world that I’m really leaving in?” Look we are described as Christians, aliens, and foreigners to this world.
So if someone else also fits that category, they belong. A homeless person belongs. Though they might not live like us (yet). They understand what its like to have people stare at them as they walk by. A prostitute belongs, because they know what its like to be used abused and lie’d too. They know what its like to be treated inappropriately by a culture that pushes them off to the margins. These people may not agree with you theologically (yet). They may not live like you morally (yet). But they understand something of what its like to be a Christian already, because they live counter culturally where they are. That’s theology.