Sermon Title – What’s your immigration status?
Sermon Text - Philippians 3:17- 4:1
17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. 18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. 19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. 1Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Since its inception the United States of America has struggled with developing a just criteria for immigrants seeking citizenship, particularly as it relates to people of color. The roots of this struggle lie in America’s arduous history as it relates to slavery. In 1776 as the American colonies were preparing to separate from Great Britain, Thomas Jefferson wrote what has become almost a sacred document for not only Americans but for oppressed people across the globe who seek freedom, justice and an opportunity to have a better life.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he penned the prophetic words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and the fathers of America signed it, they had no idea that they would be motivating marginalized people across the world, generation after generation to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because even though the Declaration of Independence professed that all men were created equal in reality only white men were considered to be full citizens when America was born.
When America was born slaves had no rights and free people of color and women had few if any rights. Even after slavery ended people of African decent continued to experience discrimination and were denied full citizenship rights as a result of Jim Crow laws that were pervasive across the land. My former pastor Rev. Joseph Lowery use to put it this way, because of the laws of the land and the hearts of the people, “If you were yellow you were mellow, if you were brown you might be able to stick around but if you were black you had to get back!”
Nevertheless, God is a God who loves the oppressed and He is the King of Justice. So the Holy Spirit empowered people like Rosa Parks, Medgar Evans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. who initiated, formed and led the civil rights movement, which dismantled legalized segregation in the 1960’s. Finally, descendants of African slaves had full citizenship rights in America.
But, the battle continues. Every year thousands of people from around the world flee their home country and travel to America because it is perceived as a modern day promise land. Most of you know just what I am talking about. Most of you left Sierra Leone or Liberia and traveled to America …
Because your home country was being ravaged by violence due to civil war. Some of you left your home countries in West Africa or the West Indies because of economic conditions. But, no matter what reason we find ourselves in America today we all want full citizenship.
We all want to live in a land flowing with milk and honey, where we are not denigrated or made to feel less than someone else just because we happen to be a different color. We all want to be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. We all want to live in a land where we are treated with dignity, respect and justice. We are all made in God’s image and we rightfully expect to be treated like children of God.
We all want to be treated as full citizens who can enjoy Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. None of us wants to fear being deported or having someone we love deported. None of us wants to have to work harder and smarter than our co-workers and still receive less money and be the first laided-off because our employers are exploiting us because of our immigration status. None of us wants to live in fear day after day and night after night.
So we spend a lot of money hiring attorneys who promise a lot but in some cases deliver very little protection when we or one of our loved ones are faced with deportation. Many of us spend our first and last dime to stay in America. Some of us will even miss church to work so we can continue pursuing what we believe will make us happy. Don’t miss understand me it is okay to want and pray for American citizenship but we should never forget that the citizenship that matters the most is our citizenship in Heaven.
So my assignment this morning is to encourage everyone under the sound of my voice to have courage and stand firm in the LORD as you seek citizenship for people who are hurting.
I know a lot of you are hurting, scared and afraid because you are undocumented. Some of you have already had loved ones deported. It’s not easy to fight against injustice it takes courage, patience, persistence, perseverance and passion. It’s not easy to fight against injustice but it is necessary. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. use to say: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” In other words we can never have a just society if we allow injustice to exist anywhere. As long as anyone in our faith community is caught up in the bondage of fear because of their immigration status we are all in bondage because we are connected in Christ.
During the civil rights movement a lot of clergy both black and white were against Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Joseph Echols Lowery and others organizing a non-violent coalition to fight against the unjust Jim Crow laws in the south.
A lot of people felt like Dr. King should have just continued to pastor his middle-class black church in Birmingham, Alabama and leave things just the way they were, separate and unequal. But, deep down on the inside King knew that he had to make a difference. He knew he had to stand up and fight against segregation even if it meant hurt, harm, danger or even death for him or his family.
It would have been easy for Dr. King to stay up north and teach after he finished his seminary education at Boston University. Dr. King was a brilliant man so he could have easily chosen the comfort of teaching in academia in the north over the challenge of transforming the south. But, when Dr. King was called to pastor Dexter Avenue Baptist church he accepted because he knew he could not know true happiness in the north if his brothers and sisters in the south were still being oppressed. It drove Dr. King to tears to see how people who professed to be Christians would treat African Americans.
But, he didn’t have a pity party and drown himself in tears. Dr. King and countless others spoke out, stood up and marched with courageous faith to make a difference in the lives of people who were not only being treated less than American citizens but they were being treated like they were less than children of God!
Likewise, today it is our moral duty to speak out, stand up and march for changes to the unjust immigration system in America. We can never feel fully American or be content as Christians as long as there are people living in America who pay taxes, who abide by the laws of the land and who want to be citizens but they are constantly being denied citizenship for no good reason. It is not right to make people wait year after year after year to obtain American citizenship without giving them a clear reasonable path to becoming American citizens. So it’s time to put our fear aside! It’s time to stop crying and complaining!! It’s time to put the pursuit of earthly things aside!! Now is the time to be courageous and fight for Immigration Reform!!!
Immigration reform is not going to just happen with no effort from the people who want the laws of the land to change.
We have to pray for change and be willing vessels of God who will fight for change. Power concedes nothing without a fight!
There was once a young man named Kimana. He wanted to marry the Sky Maiden. He wrote a letter to her father, the Sun Chief.
Kimana went to Rabbit. “Will you take this letter?”
Rabbit said, “I cannot go to Heaven.”
Kimana went to Antelope. “Will you take this letter?”
Antelope said, “I cannot go to Heaven.”
Kimana went to Hawk. “Will you take this letter?”
Hawk said, “I can go halfway. But I cannot go to Heaven.”
Then Frog came to Kimana. “Why do you not take the letter yourself?”
Kimana said, “This I cannot do.”
Frog said, “Then I will take it for you.”
Kimana laughed. “Can a frog take a letter to Heaven?”
Frog said, “Whatever it is, I can do it. But only if I try.”
Now, Frog lived by a well. Every day, the girls who served the Sun Chief came to this well. They climbed down from Heaven on a web made by Spider. Then they filled their water jugs and went home.
Frog put the letter in his mouth and hid in the well. The girls from Heaven came for water, singing their song.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
They lowered their jugs into the well, and Frog jumped into one. The girls did not see him. Then the girls climbed back up the web of Spider. They went into the house of the Sun Chief and left the jugs in a room. Frog was alone. He jumped out of the jug and spit the letter out on a bench. Then he hid in a corner.
The Sun Chief came for a drink of water. He saw the letter and opened it. He read, “I, Kimana, a man of earth, wish to marry the Sky Maiden, your daughter.” The Sun Chief said, “How can this be?”
He went to the girls who fetched water. “Did you bring this letter?”
The girls said, “We did not.”
He went to his wife, the Moon Lady, and read it to her. “What should we do?” The Moon Lady said, “Don’t ask me! Ask your daughter!”
He went to his daughter. The Sky Maiden said, “Let us see if he can bring a wedding gift.”
So the Sun Chief wrote a letter and set it on the bench. Then he went away. Frog came out and put the letter in his mouth.
Then he climbed into an empty jug. The next day, the girls took the jugs and climbed down to earth, singing their song.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
They lowered their jugs into the well, and Frog jumped out. The girls did not see. Then the girls went back to Heaven.
Frog took the letter to Kimana, and Kimana read it. “You may marry my daughter if you bring a purse of money.”
Kimana said, “This I cannot do.”
Frog said, “Then I will bring it for you.”
Kimana laughed. “You took a letter to Heaven. But can you bring a purse of money?”
Frog said, “Whatever it is, I can do it. But only if I try.”
Kimana gave Frog a purse of money. Frog took hold of it with his mouth and carried it to the well. He climbed in and waited.
The girls from Heaven came to the well.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
Frog got into one of the jugs. The girls returned to Heaven and left him in the room.
Frog set the money on the bench. Then he hid.
The Sun Chief came and found the purse. “How can this be?”
He went to the girls. “Did you bring this money?”
The girls said, “We did not.”
He went to his wife. The Moon Lady said, “Don’t ask me! Ask your daughter!” He went to his daughter. The Sky Maiden said, “Let us see if he can come fetch me.”
So the Sun Chief wrote a letter and left it on the bench. Frog put the letter in his mouth and climbed into an empty jug. The next day, the girls carried him to earth.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
He jumped back into the well, and the girls went back to Heaven.
Frog brought the letter to Kimana, and Kimana read it. “You may marry my daughter if you come and fetch her.”
Kimana said, “This I cannot do.”
Frog said, “Then I will fetch her for you.”
Kimana laughed. “You took a letter to Heaven. You brought a purse of money. But can you fetch a bride?”
Frog said, “Whatever it is, I can do it. But only if I try.”
Frog climbed back into the well. The girls came with their jugs.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
They carried him to Heaven.
Frog jumped out. He spit in all the jugs of water. Ptui. Ptui. Ptui. Then he hid in an empty jug.
The people of the house came and drank the water. They all got sick.
The Sun Chief called for the spirit doctor. The doctor told him, “You promised your daughter to a man of earth, but she has not gone. He has sent an evil spirit with a sickness. The evil spirit is in the shape of a frog.”
The Sun Chief went to his wife. The Moon Lady said, “Don’t ask me! Ask your daughter!”
He went to his daughter. The Sky Maiden said, “I will go.”
The next day, the Sky Maiden went with the girls down to the well.
Good day to you, my sister.
Good day to you.
The girls filled their jugs, and Frog jumped out. Then the girls left the Sky Maiden and went home. Frog jumped out of the well. “I will lead you to your husband.”
The Sky Maiden laughed. “Can a frog lead a woman?”
Frog said, “I took a letter to Heaven. I brought a purse of money. I fetched a bride. Whatever it was, I could do it. But only since I tried.”
The Sky Maiden said, “Then it is you I will marry.” She took Frog back to Heaven and married him. They lived on and on.
And Kimana is still waiting for his bride.
Grace I stopped by this morning to tell you we can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthens us. We become better Christians and the people around us become better Christians when we fight for justice. But, even as we fight for immigration reform we must remember the citizenship that we desire most has no national boundaries. The citizenship we desire the most has no quota system or lottery. The citizenship we desire the most is open and available to everyone. Apostle Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I love President Obama and I believe he is doing a wonderful job. I am glad he is standing firm in his quest for Health Care Reform and Immigration Reform.
But, even though I support President Obama’s efforts, my hope is hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. I don’t expect President Obama or any other man or woman to be my savior. My Savior was with God in the beginning and all things came into being through him. My Savior thought it not robbery to be born in a manger because there was no room at the Inn. My Savior was hidden in Egypt as a baby for a few years because King Herod was trying to kill him. My Savior confounded the temple priest with his wisdom when he was only a child. My Savior healed the lame and gave sight to the blind. My Savior proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. My Savior fed the hungry with food and heavenly knowledge. My Savior marched to Jerusalem even though he knew he would be betrayed and put to death. My Savior hung on a cross, bled and died for you and for me. But, three days later when all hope seemed to be lost. He got up! He got up!! He got up!!!
He got up with all power in His hand. And, because He got up He is both Lord and Savior. What’s His Name? What’s His Name? His name is Jesus! Jesus!! Jesus!!!
And at the mention of his name every knee will bow on earth and in heaven. O Bless His Name! Jesus is Lord! So I am not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the LORD. The enemies of the cross can take away my earthly citizenship but they can never take away my citizenship in heaven. They can send me back to Africa but they can’t keep me from going to heaven.
The enemies of the cross can take away my physical life but they can never ever take away my eternal life. They can take away my liberty but they can never take away the Blessed Assurance that I have been liberated by Christ Jesus. They can take away my pursuit of happiness in America but hey can never ever take away my joy unspeakable joy!
So what’s your immigration status? Are you a citizen of Heaven on an earthly journey? What’s your immigration status? If you are not sure spend some time in prayer with God this Lenten season and allow Him to examine your heart to see if your passport has been stamped HEAVEN bound.
God Bless you Grace!
Resources
Shepard, Aaron. “How Frog Went to Heaven – A tale of Angola” Website address: http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/044.html
