I also wanted to share the Bishop's Introduction for our JFON Florida Advent Devotional:
As the church prepares for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem when the heavenly host of angels announced peace on earth, you are invited to prepare for Christmas by using this Justice For Our Neighbors Advent Devotional. The devotions in this book will enable you to see more clearly how our relationship to our immigrant neighbors is connected to our life as disciples of Jesus Christ, whose own birth occurred during a journey that had to take place because of the decrees of the government.
The church has been called by God to show hospitality to strangers ever since the time of the apostles. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).
The author of Hebrews was thinking of the story of Abraham who showed hospitality to three men who were angels of the Lord (Genesis 18:1-8). In Orthodox iconography, these three angels are depicted as messengers of the triune God.
The hospitality Abraham demonstrated toward strangers became a characteristic mark of the people of Israel to whom God was revealed as the One “who loves the strangers, giving them food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:18). The church, which worships the God of Israel who sent Jesus to be the Messiah, is also called to show hospitality to strangers as a sign of God’s love for them.
Why would God call God’s people to demonstrate hospitality to strangers whom we today call immigrants?
The context for this divine direction for God’s people is the story of the tumult of humankind throughout history. In all times people have left familiar places for a better home. Often they have left because of wars, oppression, persecution, poverty, famine, and climate change. In other words, human suffering has always been a main motivation for migration. In this world of suffering, God’s people are called to be witnesses to God’s compassion for those who are pushed around by the tragic forces of history and nature.
Many of the immigrants to America are a part of this larger story of migration because of human suffering. We too are called today to show hospitality to strangers by our welcome, our practical help, and our advocacy on their behalf. In answering this call we may discover that they are the angels of God, the messengers to us of the love of the triune God who is present with them and who has pledged his commitment to their cause according to divine revelation in both the Old and New Testaments. As the stories of Jesus’ infancy indicate, God’s revelation to the world came through Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem on a journey coerced by the government and whose family had to migrate to Egypt to escape threats to their security. If God’s supreme revelation occurred in this Jesus, then we should expect to find God’s presence with our neighbors who are immigrants today.
-Bishop Timothy Whitaker
