It is all too familiar: a small family – dad, mom, and baby – fleeing for their lives. To remain where they lived would mean certain death. They had to gather what belongings they could pull together and make a run for it in order to start over again in a new place. Most of us have never had to face this kind of decision, but many have. These individuals then become refugees. Although such scenarios are all too common today, the one I am thinking of took place some 2000 years ago. I am referring to Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus having to flee Bethlehem because of Herod’s order the killing of all male children two years old and under. We are told that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take the Child and his mother and go to Egypt (see Matthew 2:13-18). Very early in life, Jesus knew what it was like to be uprooted and displaced; to live in a different land with different customs where everything was new and strange. The soft light of the manger in Bethlehem, “the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay,” gives way to harsh and ugly realities that we’d rather not think about. On the church’s calendar, immediately after we celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day we then commemorate the Holy Innocents on the following day (December 26), remembering those young lives cut short by greed and fear.

Refugees, immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers – what’s the difference between these various categories? A refugee is defined as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of war, violence or persecution, often without warning. They are unable to return home unless and until conditions in their native lands are safe for them” (Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference? | International Rescue Committee (IRC). The coming administration has vowed to deport those who have entered our country illegally, fulfilling a campaign promise. Opinion polls indicate how divided our nation is over this issue, not only for humanitarian reasons, but for the projected cost to carry out this plan, estimated to be in millions, if not billions, of dollars. Does this issue go deeper than politics? How does a faith rooted in One who himself was a refugee speak to this current situation? In this holy season, our faith must move us beyond fear, remembering the words of Jesus: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me… Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40b). The Lord Jesus comes to us in the face of the hungry and the homeless, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner. How will we respond? The call to love is often not convenient or easy; it will cost us. But then again, it also cost Jesus. Why would we think it should be any different for us?

Some will say that these words show great naiveté and a lack of understanding about complex problems. That may well be true. What I do know is that what changes hearts for good and for God is not greed or fear, but love. Joining Jesus on his mission is about taking the risk; it’s about reaching outside our comfort zone to those who are around us. It starts with where we are, not where we think we should be or where we ought to be. The mission of Jesus begins with Jesus who became that helpless Infant, who endured the hardships of being a refugee in order that he might give himself fully for each one of us. The wood of the crib at Bethlehem gives way to the wood of the cross at Golgotha where Jesus would offer his very life as the once-for-all sacrifice for our sins. And that is love – not just talk, but action. Jesus now calls us to do the same: love others not just with our words, but with our whole lives. Love others as Jesus has loved us.

God does not love from the margins where it’s safe and secure. Rather, in Jesus the Word-made-flesh (John 1:14), God has entered into our world that has been broken by sin and sorrow. God-in-Christ reaches out with compassion and love to the hurting and oppressed, including the refugee. In the face of those who are in need, including the immigrant, the outsider, the refugee, Jesus tells us that He is there. 

In this season when we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, I encourage you to take to heart and put into practice the 5 mission practices of Joining Jesus on His Mission (seek the kingdom, hear from Jesus, talk and listen to people, do good, and minister through prayer). Not familiar with this? Learn what Greg and Susan Finke have been teaching so many, including my own congregation (Dwelling 1:14). Perhaps now more than ever, people are hungry for Jesus. Sometimes without even knowing it, they are looking for what only He can give. You and I have the great privilege of showing them in word and deed this Savior who became a refugee for them.