Ep.65 - When Illegal Immigrants are Flown to Martha's Vineyard

The charter flight heard around the world!  Florida Governor Ron Desantis took full command of the news cycle last week when he chartered a flight to send 50 illegal immigrants to the upper-class elite island of Martha's Vineyard.  Those on the left call it a political stunt that endangered the lives of real people for political gain while people on the right called it a necessary public relations strategy to put a spotlight on the crisis at the southern border.  Evangelical leaders also weighed in claiming their preferred perspective was on the moral side of God's heart based on their understanding of scripture.  In this episode, we will take a close look at one of the clearest passages in scripture that sheds light on God's heart for the foreigner and then decide for ourselves which side is on God's side when it comes to immigration.  Enjoy!
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right, and welcome back everyone to the Christianing podcast. Thank you as always for tuning in and joining us for another great discussion. The world of Politics is just such a great content giver these days as we have just issue after issue after issue. I don't know, compared to other, you know, I've only, I was a little kid in Reagan and kind of started paying attention in Clinton and Bush, W. Bush and Obama and Trump and now Biden. That's kind of my... my historical lens i can't compare much further but it just seems like politics nowadays is the gift that keeps giving i don't know um generations above me can can be better give better comparative um perspectives but man it just i I try not to do, it's not intentional to do a bunch of politically minded podcasts, but you know, these things keep popping up. So as you are aware, last week, I believe it was, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida decided to ship some Venezuelan illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard on a plane, sent 50 of them up there, and then boom, the explosion happened as far as social media and political pundits, you know, all the talking heads, you know, started talking and you saw everybody start to file into their predetermined camps. Yeah, and then here's you and me, the regular Joe, regular Christian folk, you know, kind of thrown in the middle, just, you know, where we're typically just asked by friends and family and, you know, when you're at church and people make comments and you kind of feel like you have to Pick your side or whatever. So here we are yet again. Christianing Podcasts help you Christian well in a moment like this when immigrants are sent to Martha's Vineyard and illegal immigration is put in the spotlight. Not like this is the first time. As both sides, I will say I've heard both White House Democratic leadership and Republican leadership congressional leadership say that we have a crisis at the border. So that statement, as far as I'm aware, is not picking sides. There's not showing a bias either direction. Both sides understand that there's something going on at the border. It just, obviously, there's variety and a vast difference in what needs to be done, if anything, and stuff like that. But Today, the reason why I want to do an episode on this is, as usual, I was scrolling through my amazing Twitter feed. Again, as you know, I like to follow a variety of Christian voices, a variety of Christian leaders from the conservative theological camp to the more liberal, socially-minded camp and see where people file in. I saw really strong tweets condemning Ron DeSantis from... really from the mouth of the Lord, basically, that God was very much against this stunt and it violated God's heart and his intention and things of that nature. And so I was like, okay, if you've got Christian leaders pouring in on either side, let me dig in. Let me dig in. I think it's just, again, I can't encourage you guys enough. by the miracle invention of the printing press, we have unfettered access to the Word of God. We have unfettered access to the heart and mind of God. And like I've said in previous episodes, it's not the easiest book to digest, but thank God we have the Holy Spirit to help us every step of the way. So we are not left to just be tossed to and fro based on Whoever is the most cunning, crafty communicator in the Christian world, we can go straight to the book. And so that's what I did. And I knew I wanted to dig into Leviticus because just in my biblical study myself, that's where I had found previously just the clearest articulation of God's intention when it comes to immigration. Illegal immigration, that's kind of contextual. That's modern context. There really wasn't such a thing back when God was setting up the geopolitical nation of Israel. And that's what we see in Leviticus. We see the guideline, the manual, so to speak, as God was organizing his people for his plan and his purposes. And he has some pretty simple yet specific and pointed comments as far as what's he wants to see happen with the sojourner in the ESV. The word sojourner is what is used. So we're going to dig into just really four or five verses out of Leviticus 19, if you want to flip there and follow along. But it's not long, it's not complicated, but you see clear, you see God's heart for the foreigner. And then we will just read it for what it is, face value. And then we will take a look and see what type of line can be drawn to the modern context, specifically this kind of highly controversial episode, stunt, depending on... It's a stunt if you're a Democrat. It's just an episode if you're a Republican of Ron DeSantis sending illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard for the upper crust elite... Democrats to experience what a lot of the border towns in border states like Texas are dealing with. Florida's not a huge border town, but they do receive a lot of Cuban and Central American immigration through Florida. So yeah, what we'll do is we will dive in to Leviticus 19. We'll draw out three conclusions. I see our very clear conclusions as far as what is God's heart for the foreigner. And then we'll see if either of these sides are in violation of God's heart. And then we'll let you kind of draw your own conclusions and opinions as far as what to do about it. But... Yeah, this should help. So let's dive in. First thing we want to do when we are attacking a book like Leviticus. Leviticus, I know when it pops up in your Bible reading plan, it's just like, ugh. And I think we have a hard time understanding how to digest Leviticus in a modern context. So we just see all these random rules and guidelines and laws that we don't quite understand for for an ancient time that it's just like i know the times where i was reading through the bible you know cover to cover like i've shared chronologically you know those leviticus uh weeks are just like oh man but This is kind of how I've learned to read it and digest it. I set this up because I think it'll help this quick study in Leviticus 19. One of the things that we have to be very careful of when you're reading a book like Leviticus is not to draw a straight, dark, bold line from Leviticus and God's setting up of the geopolitical nation of Israel to modern American history. governmental and political issues. We have that tendency just because it's kind of the simplest. We're like, oh, God set up this rule here, so obviously he wants all governments here to do this. And And it breaks down. I mean, we have to admit as Christians, we break down. It gets confusing to people that aren't Christians that are kind of aware of the Bible that there's a lot of just random stuff in Leviticus, like how to wear your beard, how to wear your hair, you know, stuff like that. Things that obviously Christians, New Testament Christians aren't going to really focus on or hold themselves or each other to. And so it kind of feels like we're being selective. The stuff that kind of suits our political desires is what we believe. is what we pull out, you know, like the verses on homosexuality being an abomination and things, you know, we like that aspect of Leviticus, but then, you know, not cutting your sideburns, you know, that's a part we're like, you know, we're not so much going to, grow out are the locks of next to our ears you know like an orthodox jewish community would so so it does get a little confusing for the us in the church and then those out of the church looking in and saying like so is this book authoritative or not so so that's why i say don't really i always hesitate to draw a direct line from any of it to modern american christian experience and understand the role that it played as God was setting up a nation for his plan and his purpose. And that plan and purpose was perfectly fulfilled in Christ. So Israel in the entire Old Testament narrative ultimately is ushering this plan of Messiah, this plan of Savior to be the ultimate Israel, to be the perfect Israel, to be the final Messiah. kingdom of god and the entryway into that kingdom through his death on the cross and now so national governments that you know the the american government as much as we'd like to think that you know we're you know we are kind of taking back our nation for god and you know the united states is this ordained nation for god it is not israel it is not the united states is not that's In my mind, that's heretical to equate the United States of America with the plan and purpose of what God set up Israel to be and to do because Jesus isn't coming out of America. He already came. So that plan has been fulfilled, and it's continuing as we're in the New Testament era of it. We're in the post-resurrection era of it, and so it's changed. It's not the same, but for us to draw a clear picture, a clear connection, a direct connection from God setting up geopolitical Israel for a very specific plan, a very specific purpose to modern America and us confusing the two to say that basically it's the same thing. We don't want to do that. So what do you want to do when you come across a book like Leviticus? What Leviticus does is you look the next layer beneath. God gives a specific guideline, a specific command to fulfill his specific purposes, but it also reveals a timeless truth about God's heart and his intentionality, the way, what he intends with his creation and what he intends. And so there are these, as you look a layer beneath, you see an intentionality that God, comes across all cultures and all historical timeframes. So that's really where the good stuff. And so when you're going through a book like Leviticus, you ask yourself the next layer question. Okay, I see that he wants this law in ancient Israel. Okay, what is this revealing about his heart towards his people? and towards other people. And you take it that step deeper, then you hit the gold mine, I think, of really applicable, heart-changing stuff. So that's what we're going to do here. That's kind of the little exercise I'm going to run us through here as we just look at a couple quick things. We'll pull out, like I said, three conclusions of God's heart for the foreigner. And then we'll see which side of the Martha's Vineyard stunt episode, if either side can claim moral goodness before God. So, Leviticus 19, 9 and 10 says, Very interesting, it says, When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest, and you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. I am the Lord your God. So again, that word sojourner also encapsulates alien, stranger, foreigner. Someone with less rights because they are away from their homeland is what that word sojourner. So that's as clear of a connection. Like I said, you don't want to draw a straight dark line, but we can draw a dotted line from the concept of foreigner in ancient Israel to the concept of immigrant and even a legal immigrant here today. in modern america we can draw kind of a a dotted a thinner dotted line uh to that because this is uh it's as close as a connection as you're gonna get in the bible but just real quick to help us understand the concept of verse the context of verse nine and ten the instruction is basically this Harvest your field. Harvest it for your purposes, for your family, for your ability to trade. Provide for yourself and your family. Make money. It's just God sets up this plan where you leave the edges, the boundaries, untouched. So there's fresh harvest for somebody to come behind you and get something fresh off the vine. And specifically said that's for the poor, for the sojourner. OK, so someone who's poor, not doesn't have any land to grow for themselves or a sojourner that does not have the same amount of rights to buy property is away from their family homeland to where they don't have full protection like you would for whatever reason. OK. God has a plan so that those people can come alongside at harvest time and they can know that there will be something there. Not enough to make millions of dollars, but enough to take care of their immediate needs so they can go about whatever, what they're doing. If they're traveling through the land of Israel, they can make it through and stay about their business. And then he also says, Gleanings. That's gleanings of a harvest is basically leftovers. Doesn't matter how good of a harvest you are, harvester you are, you don't catch everything. Things drop out of baskets and there's fruit left on the vine, so to speak. And then he brings up the grapes of the vineyard. Now there's grapes in a vineyard that'll just fall themselves. So he says, you just leave that on the ground. Don't, don't, Over-harvest your field. So don't pick up the scraps, the leftovers, the gleanings. Just leave that. Take all the good stuff. Take all the stuff that's fresh and get as much as you can. But just don't double back and pick up the leftovers because it was God's desire that if you're poor, you're a foreigner in the nation of Israel, you knew that you would be able to feed yourself because you could find food. you could find a field, depending on what harvest season it is, and there would be something there for you. Okay? Very clear. Very important, though. Okay? So let's fast forward now to verse 33 and 34, because then, you know, Leviticus leaves the concept of sojourner, hits a couple other issues, and then comes back to it. Verse 33. When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. So again, if you ask that next deep question, Okay, what is verse 33 and 34 revealing to us about the heart of God? He puts it on very clear display. Verse 9 and 10, he talks about the practical realities. Verse 34, 33, 34, he gets into the heart. He gets into the attitude of what he expects the attitude of his people to have. And there's a very specific reason why, and we'll get into that. And that same reason why, thousands of years ago in ancient Israel, the New Testament actually brings up and reiterates as the same reason why for you and I as modern Christians, New Testament Christians. So, some great stuff. Obviously, you don't need me to go much further for you to see for yourself that, oh man, there's some... There's some clear stuff here that if I'm open-minded and open-hearted and I'm willing to descend from whatever my political, ideological preferences for the moment and just let the intention of God wash over me, there's going to be something very, very clear. So you probably don't need my help with this, but just to kind of finish the exercise, let me show you what... What I draw are the clear conclusions for God's heart for the foreigner. First thing you see in the first two verses, verses 9 and 10, you see a plan to provide for. You see a clear plan to provide for. So God enacted in the system, in just the natural, everyday, year after year system of God, hebrew experience there's just this this clear socio-economic law you leave the borders of your fields i mean you you harvest as much as you can and you you make as much as you can from that harvest you just leave the borders and you don't double back and pick up what you missed so you go through and you can be as thorough as you want the first time just don't double back and pick up what you missed Clear plan. So now everybody in the nation of Israel knows that if you fall on hard times, maybe you're a widow, you lose your husband, you lose land, you lose whatever it is, or you're an immigrant traveling into Israel because your life was threatened in another nation, whatever it may be, I can take care of myself. And what's awesome about this plan, it's not some huge burden. It's almost giving out of the excess. God sets it up to where there's plenty. And then there's also enough left over for those that are hurting. And those that are hurting, there's not enough there for them to get lazy and to use that as a way to make millions or make more than they need. But there's enough there to take care of needs. It's a really kind of beautiful picture that... I think we could learn a lot from both sides, Republican and Democrat. So here you see a clear plan to provide for. It's already baked into the cake. It's already part of the recipe. All right, so that's 9 and 10. You move down to verse 33, 34. You see in God's heart for the foreigner, you see a command to treat well. It's a command. It is not an option. It's not a suggestion. This would be really nice. The expectation from God for God's people. Again, this is what you see when you go another layer deeper. You see kind of a timeless principle. You see a command to treat well sojourners, foreigners, poor people, immigrants, those that for whatever reason show up And he says you treat them as if they're native. This is what God's people do. Again, that's the other key. That's the cool thing about reading Leviticus is you're seeing the principles of how God expects his people to act. Leviticus wasn't written to the Canaanites or the Hittites or the Jebusites. It was to the Hebrews, to the Israelites. And there's a clear commandment. to treat well you shall do him no wrong you shall not do him wrong you shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you so god's people we look at immigrants when we when we come across them and we see oh this is just this is a brother sister this is neighbor this is this is an american okay i think that that principle And it's not only here. It's not only here. But this is, I think, where you see it the clearest. So two, you see a command to treat well. And all this is anchored in the third observation, which I think is the most important observation. So in God's heart for the foreigner, there's a plan to provide for. There's a command to treat well. And third, there's a desire to identify with. This desire. is where the motivation comes in. This is where God's people truly shine. This is where God's people do the right thing and we do it all the time because we have a deeper motivation. We have an ability to identify with the stranger, the foreigner, the poor. Now, specifically in ancient Israel, there was a historical marker that all Israelites would have been extremely familiar with at this time in their history. He says, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. If there was a history book of the Hebrew nation written at this time when Leviticus, which is basically the first five books of the Bible, you see it's The biggest portion is dedicated to the Israelites and their time in Egypt and God's deliverance from Egypt. So every Israelite reading this book, the second, the author of Leviticus, Moses, brings it back to remember you were strangers in the land of Egypt. So all of his instruction about Egypt The plan to provide for foreigners and the command to treat them well. He's like, you remember? Our entire nation was that. Our entire nation was a foreigner. And we were completely at the mercy of Pharaoh and whatever he was feeling, we were helpless. If Pharaoh had a bad day, we had a bad day. And when I mean bad, that's kind of tongue in cheek. It was horrendous. So there was a very real cultural empathy that God is tapping them into it. And when you can... When you can empathize at that level, there's a motivation there that's really, you can't duplicate it any other way. So God's people, this wouldn't have been a hard thing for them to follow. They would have been highly motivated as long as they didn't lose sight of their national identity as former foreigners. And it wasn't that long off when Leviticus was written, when God wrote these down for them. It wasn't that long way off. So what does that have to do with modern Christians? Well, we should have the same level of motivation because the Bible is very clear. Jesus and the... And Paul, the New Testament writers, often pick up the Exodus and the treatment of the Israelites as foreigners, as ones with no rights, as slaves, and then ultimately delivered. That was the biggest symbol foreshadowing the cross and what Jesus did for all people, not just Israelites, what Jesus did for everyone. Every tribe, tongue, and nation, as we all found our deliverance, we were once, the Bible is very clear, we were once foreigners. We were once aliens until Jesus extended his hand and brought us into the fold, brought us into the kingdom, brought us into the greater Israel, the kingdom of God, the government that... Leviticus was foreshadowing that it was ultimately pointing to, that it was ultimately setting up the railway to get to. So we, based on our conversion salvation experience, we have the exact same ability to be motivated and to empathize. I remember when I was a stranger and a foreigner and then God welcomed me in. By His grace, not based on my merits. But what about these illegal immigrants? They're criminals. Again, the biblical narrative holds true. We were criminals. We didn't get God's love because we deserved it, because we elevated ourselves to deserving. It was by His mercy. It was by His grace that He reached down went yet while we were still sinners and died for us. So that's, I mean, there's a whole biblical theology, you know, like literally seminary courses are built on trying to help, you know, pastors and ministers understand this grand narrative throughout Old Testament to New Testament that I just tried to break down for you in like three, four minutes. But it's pretty simple. It's hard to enact. It's hard to get over our sinful tendencies, but it's not super complicated to understand. God had a desire for the ancient Hebrew nation to identify with the foreigner and therefore have a true authentic motivation to reach out and treat them as if they were equal to Us, modern American Christians, we have the same, we've been put in the same position. Because if you're saved and you have a Christian testimony, according to Ephesians 2, you have an Ephesians 2 testimony. I did an episode on that. I think I called it when you don't have an exciting testimony, you can go back and look at that, just kind of how you can put your conversion experience, no matter what the circumstances are, you can put it into the Ephesians 2 testimony. storyline anybody any Christian can do it but some of us you know some of us it's easier because we committed you know kind of the top five sins some of us didn't we lived our lives more conservatively more you know quote unquote righteously so we can lose track of the fact that no we were strangers aliens just like the ancient Israelites were. So God has a desire for all of us to identify with the sojourner, with the foreigner. All right. So from review standpoint, real quick, what is God's heart that I just think Leviticus bears out clearly? And then once you have this in your mind and you keep reading throughout all of scripture, you're going to see it reiterated, reiterated, reiterated in different ways, different shapes. But It's pretty rock solid that God has a plan to provide for, and we can enact the plan. We have the ability to enact this plan. He has a command to treat well, and he has a desire for us to identify with. So, with that in mind, let's take a look. So, can anybody here, since... All politics is now moral, which is driving me insane. Since everybody now, it's no longer about policy. It's no longer about, hey, which philosophy best fits where our nation's at right now. No, everything has now been elevated to the level of morality, like which side is on the right side of history and all this kind of stuff. So, And again, so here with this Martha Vineyard issue, you see both sides claiming the moral high ground. Okay, so based on this lens, let's look at it. Who can either side claim moral high ground? I would say no. And this is me. You're free to argue with this and disagree. This is me as I look at these three conclusions of God's heart. And then I look at the reality of what I'm seeing. And I could be misinformed in some levels. I'm always open to learn. But it does make me a little bit sick that either side is trying to claim moral high ground on the immigration issue, especially the illegal immigration issue. Remember. It all started with a plan, a plan to provide for, an intentional plan like this. God laid it out first. This is what we do. I know there's going to be foreigners and poor people among us. So this is how God's people are going to make sure their basic needs are met. It was a great plan. It was simple, but it was great. It wasn't overburdensome on anybody and everybody got what they needed. Okay, so... Again, this is me generally looking at the national rhetoric of the Democratic Party. There's no plan. There's no plan. Can someone articulate for me the plan, the national plan that is in place from a Democratic standpoint to care for the needs of all these people flooding through the border? Is there a plan? They're just claiming compassion, saying we just got to let them in. But there's people saying, okay, well, what's the plan? So really, that's the nexus of what prompted DeSantis' stunt was to kind of put a highlight on, here, I'm going to... And what, you know, Governor Abbott, Texas, that, you know, Ducey and Arizona have been busing out of the border regions to other regions for them to feel the weight of, do y'all have a plan? Because... We don't have the capacity and a plan to deal with this. So, again, so from, you know, I really have a tough time looking at, you know, the left side of the debate and them, you know, claiming compassion and we have the compassionate, you know, kind of open immigration stance. Well, okay, but you have to have a plan to actually make that compassionate. Because if there's no plan, it's cruelty. It's still cruelty. So that's kind of my beef. That side, on the Republicans, I see no desire. Again, this is general national rhetoric. I'm not saying, I'm not trying to pub, you know, kind of Point every Democratic, paint every Democrat with this brush. I'm not trying to paint every Republican with this brush, but we are in a time where pretty much all politics are national and you see more and more people just falling in line with kind of the standard party lines. And so Republicans, you see no desire to identify with. It's just not my problem. Even in DeSantis' press conference, I understood the point he was trying to make. But again, from a God's people perspective, I don't know. I'm not in Florida. I don't know DeSantis' faith. I haven't really studied him that closely. I'm sure when he runs for president, I'll get a clearer understanding of where he stands faith-wise. But his words actually verbatim when he did a press conference was, Hey, we don't have a plan for you guys. So, y'all need to go somewhere else. Y'all need to go somewhere else. That's, I mean, there's just, remember God's clear command was to treat well and his desire was to identify with. There's zero, like, that ain't it. That ain't it. Just a clear, hey, go, he literally said that. He said, go to sanctuary cities, sanctuary states, you know, because they will care more about what your needs are and be able to provide because We don't have those policies in place. And I was like, that ain't it either. So again, and from a God's people perspective, again, not a political perspective, but from a God's people perspective, I hope we have the ability to look at both of these platforms and say, that ain't it. That's not a God's people perspective. So Now, what doesn't get in the headlines, and I've seen this, and I know my church here locally, there's a big refugee outreach kind of syndicate, for lack of a better word, within the Christian church in America. This doesn't get publicized, but there's a ton of churches that are on the front lines of immigration, whether they're refugees, illegal, whatever. trying to live this out. Now, they're not doing this for, you know, to advance a political party or whatever. They're just doing it because the heart of God is now in their heart. And so I've heard of so many programs and plans where there's churches that meet, you know, years ago where there's refugees from different situations landing at these airports. The churches were the ones that were there greeting them off the plane, giving them provisions and things. And then, you know, they had a... They had next steps for them. They had homes for them to temporarily stay at. That is God's people doing God's people work, irregardless of who they vote for. Those people, those churches, they can vote this way, they can vote that way. That's their prerogative as American citizens. But what they're doing is putting God's heart above political power. political issues and that I have a ton of respect for and I would love to see and it's happening I won't reach the front page of the Washington Post it won't but it's happening you know I had a conversation with a friend of mine who's running the the refugee assistance program you know through through my church and it's it's serious it's organized they're putting funding to it it's a beautiful thing You know, so it's happening everywhere. It's just it's not going to receive the headlines. So be encouraged. God's people are reflecting God's heart. Just I say that to encourage you and to motivate you to. If you see that the government doesn't have a clue how to do this, there's a ton that you can do through God's people. So. Put your effort and your energy there, and trust me, you are going to be blessed, blessed, blessed, and God is just going to be smiling. So yeah, I think that's good for today. As always, hope that helps. Hope that helps kind of put some of these ancient truths of God that are sometimes hard to digest, help you put it in more of a modern context in a way that isn't heretical or against God's ultimate plan and purpose with scripture, but help you go one layer deeper and draw some really good godly conclusions. So yeah, that's it for now. Thank you as always for joining us. Please share if you've been talking to anybody about this Martha's Vineyard thing and you think this could help somebody. Share it along. Hit the likes, hit the subscribes, do the five-star ratings, all that good stuff, all right? Thanks, as always, guys. We love you. Until next time, Christian Well, everyone, have a wonderful, wonderful week.

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He taught me how to live my life as it should be. He taught me how to turn my cheek when people laugh at me. I've had friends before, and I can tell you that he's one who will never leave you flat.