Written by CWS Wilmington Office Director Wes Magruder
Last Sunday marked the beginning of the Advent season for Christians, and congregations around the world celebrated by decorating the sanctuary, lighting the Advent wreath, and beginning to read the Scripture texts, which foretell and lead up to the birth of Jesus.
Advent is meant to be a time of eager expectation, of preparation both inner and outer for the coming Savior. It’s usually a time of great excitement and celebration, all leading up to the moment when the baby is laid in a manger.
This year, things seem very different. Advent 2024 is a time of waiting, yes, but for what? Christians have to juggle two competing expectations — the birth of Jesus and the incoming presidential administration.
One waiting is for good news for all people, shouts of joy, news of peace, and lovingkindness for the most vulnerable among us. The other waiting is for promised mass deportations, children separated from parents, bans, expulsions, and cruelty to those who flee persecution.
The irony is that Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, were migrants themselves, forced to travel to Bethlehem for an extended period of time. After the birth, they became refugees when they fled the iron hand of Herod into the foreign land of Egypt, where they remained until it was safe to remain. Fortunately, Jesus was not separated from his parents at the border; nor were they deported despite lacking formal documents.
As an adult, Jesus retained his sensitivity toward people who were persecuted, abused, and mistreated by the surrounding society. His compassion didn’t extend only to the people of his own ethnic group, race, or religion; he was notoriously kind to Gentiles, tax collectors, sex workers, and other people who didn’t fit into conventional categories. All he asked of his followers is that they model this kind of behavior in their own lives.
The biggest moral test that U.S. Christians have faced in recent times will begin on January 20, 2025, when the new administration takes office. If campaign promises prove true, new executive orders will be handed down which strip people of their protected status; camps will be built to house vulnerable people; the military will be called up to arrest, detain, and frighten people whose only crime is trying to protect their families; and local law enforcement will be empowered to racially profile our neighbors.
Everybody knows that we are supposed to “love our neighbor,” but someone once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
He answered by telling one of the most beautiful stories in the Gospels, known to most as “The Good Samaritan.” The hero of that story is …. a foreigner. A Samaritan, hated and feared by Jews in 1st-century Israel, stops to save the life of a beaten, bedraggled man on the side of the road.
Jesus asked his fellow Jews, “Who acted like a good neighbor in the story?”
This plot twist serves as a challenge to every American Christian in the coming days. As we wait anxiously for the change in government, will we act in accordance with the one who poured out his life in love for all people, or will we pass by on the other side of the road, wagging our head and saying, “Build that wall!”?
