Welcoming the Stranger: God’s Heart for the Immigrant

Immigration is not just a political issue. For the Church, it is a deeply theological one.

As the Free Methodist Church – USA, we hold to the authority of Scripture and the lordship of Jesus Christ. And when we open our Bibles, we see that God has a particular concern for the stranger—the immigrant, the refugee, the sojourner.

From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals His heart for the vulnerable, and immigrants are consistently among them. As the cultural and political climate around immigration grows more tense—especially in light of recent enforcement actions in cities like Los Angeles—we must ask not first, “What does the law say?” but “What does the Lord say?”

Let’s start where the Bible starts: with Abraham. God called him to leave his country and become a sojourner in a land not his own (Genesis 12:1). His descendants, the people of Israel, spent centuries as foreigners in Egypt—eventually enslaved, mistreated, and crying out for deliverance. This was not a side story; it was central to their identity. And God responded not only with compassion but with justice. The Exodus became the foundational narrative for Israel’s faith, and God wove their immigrant experience into His commands.

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”
— Exodus 22:21

He commanded them to leave food in their fields for the foreigner (Leviticus 19:9–10), to include the sojourner in worship (Deuteronomy 16:11), and to administer justice with no partiality (Deuteronomy 10:18–19). Why? Because God Himself “loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” And so He says to us, “Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners.”

This isn’t just an Old Testament concern. When God came to dwell among us in Jesus, He did so as a child refugee. Matthew 2 tells us that Mary and Joseph fled with Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s violence. Jesus, the King of Kings, began His earthly life not with power and privilege, but as one fleeing danger in a foreign land.

How can we ignore that?

Throughout His ministry, Jesus aligned Himself with the vulnerable and the outcast. In Matthew 25, He tells us that welcoming the stranger is nothing less than welcoming Him:

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

These are not just nice words for a hospitality committee. They are kingdom marching orders.

Hebrews 13:2 echoes the same call:

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Hospitality is not optional for Christians. It is a reflection of the Gospel itself—the good news that God welcomed us while we were still far off.

In this moment, as the national conversation on immigration becomes more heated and fear-driven, the Church must not retreat into silence or indifference. We must not let our political preferences dull our prophetic edge. We are not called to win arguments—we are called to bear witness to the kingdom of God.

This does not mean we ignore the complexities of policy or national security. But it does mean that our posture must begin with compassion, not suspicion. We must remember that behind every immigration policy are real people—mothers, fathers, children—many of whom are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of them sit in our pews. Many of them worship the same Lord and serve the same mission.

And we must ask ourselves:
If Jesus were walking through our neighborhoods today, would He be siding with enforcement agents or with the terrified child hiding in the shadows?

Free Methodism was born as a holiness movement with a passion for justice. We stood with the enslaved when it cost us. We empowered women in ministry before the culture was ready. And today, we are called to stand with immigrants—not because it’s politically expedient, but because it’s biblically faithful.

Let us return to the Scriptures and be reminded of who we are.
We are a people who were once strangers—outside the covenant, far from hope—but who have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Now, as recipients of grace, we are called to extend that grace to others.

To welcome the stranger is to welcome Christ Himself.
Let’s not miss Him.

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