I read a chilling statistic the other day on cnn.com… “Imagine every man, woman and child leaving home in 29 states, mostly in the U.S. West and Midwest. That’s everyone west of Ohio and Kentucky and north of Texas, all the way to California.

The 158 million people in those states make up the same share of the U.S. population — 49% — as the proportion of Syrians that have fled carnage there.

The war in Syria is so hellish and unrelenting that more people have left that country than any other in recent years. One of every five displaced persons in the world is Syrian.”

Of course Syria is not as big as the United States but if it were, the above statements would be accurate. That is disturbing and it is heartbreaking.

I am reminded of what God says to the people of Israel even before they take possession of the land of Israel. “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

Why yes, God is speaking to His chosen while they are still on their way to the “Promised land” of Israel and yes, God is referring to those who will be already living among people of Israel some day. I readily admit that is what it says. However, is our interpretation of the Bible so narrow that we would limit who we would extend help to based on where they live? I didn’t think so either.

It is heartwarming (to me at least) that God says to Moses—“I show no partiality…” or more bluntly God says, “I don’t play favorites.” He loves equally. It is not the brightest and best or the richest who are on the top of God’s most loved list. Not at all! God wants Moses (and us) to see that God cares about those who struggle or as Jesus puts it, “the least of these.” And we should to.

There are refugees from many places in the world. Even Jesus, Joseph and Mary were refugees. (See Matthew 2:13). The problems in Syria have highlighted the plight of those seeking a safe place to live, raise a family and make a living. Many of the refugees are caught between ISIS or ISIL and the Syrian government that is not that much better. Most Syrians are between a rock and a hard place. That is not meant to minimize those fleeing from other oppressive situations but it serves as a reminder to me to think critically and faithfully about the struggles of others in this broken world of ours.

Should Christian love be limited by borders or by a shared faith? I can’t imagine saying to someone, “I’ll help you if you can come to me first.” Or, “I’ll help you if you are Christian but no one else.” That doesn’t sound like love to me. The “Golden Rule” keeps bouncing around my head. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) I keep thinking, “What would I want/need if I were in that situation?” Clearly I hope others would come to my aid.

I am not offering solutions or even asking anyone to see things the way I do. I am writing because this weighs heavy on my privileged, rich, white American heart. However, I do know that I feel compelled to do more than just write about it. Maybe this is the first step…

God bless,
Pr. Ben