Spiritual Insight: Immigration and Welcome

Dear God of the Long Journey,

You who led your people out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm — You who watched over a young family fleeing to Egypt in the dead of night so that a toddler named Jesus might live — You know what it means to be a stranger in a strange land.

Matthew 25:35 does not ask us to check papers before we offer water. Jesus said, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Not "I was a stranger and you investigated me." Not "I was a stranger and you debated whether I deserved to be here." You welcomed me.

The Black Church has always understood this in our bones. Our ancestors were brought to these shores as strangers — not by choice, but by chains. And yet, in the miracle of Your grace, we built communities of radical welcome. We hid the runaway. We fed the hungry traveler. We sang "Wade in the Water" because we knew that the God who parted the Red Sea was the same God watching over every desperate crossing.