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March 14-21, 2007

Immigration debate back in the headlines

Warm-up Question:

What are people in your life (at school, church, home) saying about the issue of illegal immigration?

 

As Congress prepares again to take up the question of immigration reform, activists from around the country on all sides of this complex debate are preparing for marches, ad campaigns, and lobbying efforts aimed at swaying our nation’s leaders to their point of view.

Edward Sifuentes, a writer for a California newspaper, tells the story of two Latina women who are on opposite sides of the issue. Claudia Spencer’s face appears in an ad for an organization called “You Don’t Speak for Me,” a group of American Hispanics who oppose illegal immigration, under a caption that reads: “Illegal aliens and their supporters would have you believe that all American Hispanics want open borders, unrestricted immigration and amnesty for law-breakers. That is just not true.”

Tina Jillings, on the other hand, is readying herself for a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in a massive lobbying effort organized by several different organizations of Latinos aimed at passing sweeping immigration reform that would include providing a path to legal residency for the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. She argues that “You Don’t Speak for Me” does not represent a very large portion of the Latino community, adding: "I think they (represent) a minimal amount of people. They don't have a big following."

Whether this debate will spark the same amount of marches and other public protests as happened last spring remains to be seen. One recent development that will surely fuel the fires is the mounting efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and deport people residing in the U.S. who don’t have proper documentation. According to an Associated Press report, 363 illegal immigrants were arrested and readied to be deported in New Jersey alone during the first two months of 2007 in a national effort dubbed “Operation Return to Sender.”

Sources:

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What is your family’s immigration history? Do you know where any of your parents, grandparents, or other ancestors came from—or what brought them here? How were they received when they arrived? If you don’t know, why do you think this is a part of your history that you either don’t talk about as a family, or that you don’t remember?
  2. Are there recent immigrants to the U.S. in your community, school, or church? What do you know of their stories? What parts do they play in your community? How are they treated by their new neighbors? If you don’t know about any recent immigrants in your community, how do you imagine newcomers would be received by your neighbors? What difference would it make if they were “legal” or “illegal” residents?
  3. Why do you think this is such a big issue in our country right now?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 18, 2007.
(Text links are to oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection
The book of Joshua tells the story of the Israelites after Moses dies and Joshua leads the people into the Promised Land after centuries of slavery in Egypt and then 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Just before the reading for today, we hear that no one is left who was alive while they were in Egypt (Joshua 5:6), and certainly no one remembers what life was like for the ancient ancestors who lived in the land of Canaan before going down to Egypt. That means that the only life these people know is that of wanderers in the wilderness. They have no homeland of their own. They have been eating manna, that mysterious bread from heaven, but they have never stayed in one place long enough to grow crops or cook their own meals. They have lived in tents their whole lives, trusting only in the grace of God and the kindness of strangers for their survival. In short, God’s people were an immigrant people.

Then, finally, they reached the Promised Land, and for the first time in their lives they ate crops; they cooked their own food. The mysterious bread that fell from heaven every morning stopped falling; no longer would they need manna, because now they had a place to stay, to grow crops, to be “normal people.” They could finally stop wandering; they had a home.

This theme of wandering, migrating, and “coming home” is all over the Bible. At the beginning of our history we have Abram/Abraham, a native of what is now Iraq who was called by God to wander over to the land of Israel. Then the family moved to Egypt. Then they wandered in the wilderness. Then they came to Canaan. A while later, they were taken by force back to the land that is now Iraq to live as exiles. Then they came home to what is now Israel-Palestine. Then they got spread out again by the Romans along with the early Christians, like Paul. Throughout the Bible, God has been sustaining, loving, challenging, and leading a chosen people through countless journeys away from and back “home,” even when that “home” was a totally new place, as it was for the people led by Joshua.

This is one reason (out of a million!) why the story of the “Prodigal Son” in Luke is such a powerful story. The father runs out to meet the returning son out on the road to welcome him back home. God is always running out to meet us as we travel along roads away from and towards “home”—to guide and protect, forgive and sustain a wandering people every step of the way. All our ancestors in the faith, from Abraham on down, and almost all of our recent ancestors (with the exception of those of us with American Indian families), have been immigrants, trusting in the grace of God and the kindness of others for our very lives.

Discussion Questions

  1. What are some ways that God “sustains you” in your life? How does God use the love and kindness of others—family, neighbors, strangers—to sustain and protect and care for you?
  2. When do you feel most “at home”? What makes home “home” for you? When do you feel most lost? What keeps you going when you feel like you’re “in the wilderness”?
  3. How does God help you find your “home”?
  4. How do the stories of our ancestors—ancient and more recent—help us understand how God has helped wandering people find a home? In what ways might that help us when we’re feeling “homeless” or lost?
  5. How might being the descendants of immigrants like Abraham or the Israelites under Joshua affect how we relate to neighbors from other countries? How might our history of God’s love and protection for immigrant peoples change the way we have this conversation about immigration? What questions or issues are raised by “illegal” immigration that might make this a more complicated conversation?

Activity Suggestions

  • Your Family Tree: You will need paper or newsprint, writing utensils, crayons/markers, and perhaps some international magazines (optional).
  1. Draw your family tree as far back as you can remember it. How many of your relatives came from other countries? Label those countries with names, flags (if you know it), some words/phrases in the language of that country, pictures or words about customs or traditions that came from that place—whatever you can think of.
  2. Then talk about them:
    • How international is your family tree?
    • What traditions are alive in your family that come from other places?
    • Are there marriages or adoptions in your family that bring together very different cultures or countries?
    • How many different journeys—by boat, plane, or border-crossing—had to happen in order for you to be who you are?
    • How would your family tree be changed if some branches of it were left out or not able to get together?
  • Hearing the Stories of Immigrants: Arrange to have a recent immigrant to this country come and share her/his story with your youth (or your congregation). This could be especially powerful if this person were a member of an ELCA (or other ecumenical partner) congregation.
     
  • Learn more about the ELCA and immigration: Read together some of the ELCA resources on immigration reform (see below). Talk about how you might have open and loving conversation about these difficult issues together with your families or other people in the congregation. Think about writing letters to your representatives in Washington, D.C., telling them—based on your faith—how you feel about immigration reform. (Remember to respect all sides of the conversation and allow young people to explore and articulate their views in gracious dialog with their faith, their scriptures, and their neighbors.)

ELCA resources on immigration:


  Closing Prayer
God of Moses, Joshua, and Abraham, our lives and our place of home is in you. No matter where we wander or where we've come from you are with us and always gathering us close to you through love and forgiveness. We give thanks for those people in our lives who have made us feel accepted and loved, and we ask that your Spirit would move within us so that we may also embrace friends, neighbors, and strangers alike with the unselfish and fearless love of Jesus Christ. Amen
 

Contributed by Pastor Jay McDivitt
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Denver, CO
 

Permission to reproduce for local use. Copyright © 2007 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ELCA Youth Ministries. 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2447. To offer your comments or responses to Faith Lens, e-mail:  rod.boriack@elca.org.

Program Resources