...Jesus...our Cornerestone...

“17 So Jesus came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through Him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone; 21 in Him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God”Ephesians 2:17-22.

I am upset with how our country and many other countries — today are treating refugees and asylum seekers. And you have to know that I have some pretty amazing, 1st-hand, experience with Vietnamese refugees when I worked in their refugee camps in China in the early 1980s. Hundreds of thousands of refugees escaped Vietnam after the war, crossed the South China Sea in small coastal fishing vessels, and entered Hong Kong harbor illegally. Hong Kong built them huge refugee camps, set up medical clinics and schools inside the camps, and encouraged the adults to find jobs working in Hong Kong. The United States took 90% of these refugees into our country, and they rest in a beautiful history.

More people than ever, it seems, are displaced from homes and homelands, as more and more countries have heavily-armed gorilla armies who rape and murder their own citizens, and today, more and more of the world’s population find themselves wandering the world in search of somewhere to live. The countries where they arrive are often overwhelmed, and find that their resources, and their patience, are under strain. What refugees want above all, assuming that they can never return to their original homes, is what we all would want — to be accepted into a new community where they can rebuild their lives and their families. All of my grandparents escaped Europe, Italy and Ireland, and many escaped at the end of WWII to escape the hated and fear Nazis. They got their passports, eventually learned to speak English, got jobs, and made a life for themselves as Americans. They helped build American cities and churches, brick by brick, and they farmed our land, grew crops and raised cattle. For years I have been burying many of them with my heart flowing with love and gratitude to them all.

These refugees and asylum seekers were once like the early Jews and Christians, “strangers and aliens” (See verse 19 above) who eventually became “fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” ( See verse 19 above). This is what Paul is praying and praising God for accomplishing in the verses above, that “Jesus came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near”…and that “you are all now members of the household of God” (see verses 17-19 above).

But here is the key to how we are all to treat refugees and asylum seekers in the world today: Are we allowing “Christ Jesus Himself to be the cornerstone” of all who come to our shores (see verse 20 above)? You may not know this, but one of the most common name given to Christian Schools across the United States today is “The Cornerstone Christian Academy.” We must all look in the mirror and ask ourselves this question: Is Jesus Christ the Cornerstone of our voting and conversations regarding “refugees and asylum seekers”?

We need to remember what Paul is praising God for accomplishing, namely, that He brought together both Jews and Gentiles to form the Christian Church. This was a melding together of two kinds of people no one ever imagined would constitute any single church. But what made the difference was that Jesus was the Cornerstone — and still is — of this church.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, help me to examine my prejudices

that lie hidden within my heart.

Help me to do away with my prejudices

based on sex and nationality and levels of poverty or wealth.

Lord, help me to learn to love others as You love others.

Help me to love others as You love me!

Thank You, dear Lord, for including me, a sinner, amongst Your family.

Thank you for forgiving me and for sometimes

dragging my reluctant self along with You.

Put a new heart within me, Lord,

and cast out all the enemies of my heart.

Bring our country and leaders together, and bring our world together.

Raise up for us all in the world today,

leaders who will work together for the common good,

with hearts that are rooted in You, the Cornerstone.

In Your holy Name, I humbly pray, amen.