Can Any Good Thing Come From Nazareth?

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"  For 241 years, our country has been a place where people came to make a better life for themselves and their families, as Emma Lazarus' lovely poem memorializes.  We have taken in those who needed help, due in no small part to our Judeo-Christian roots and Biblical commands to take care of the poor and take in the refugee.

A week ago, President Trump's comment on people from Haiti and many African countries reflected that he wants to change that culture.  He wants to make immigration policy based on "merit."  When he said that he wanted more people from places like Norway, he didn't just mean that he wanted more white people (although, seriously, could he have chosen a whiter place?) but that he wanted people with something to offer.  If he passed his ideal policy, America would no longer be the friend that helps you clean up your house after a flood.  America would be the friend that helps you move only if you helped him and are willing to buy him dinner afterward.  Everyone has that friend, but no one likes him.  

I have come to expect this from President Trump, so it is difficult to be disappointed in him.  What I am disappointed by are the number of people that I know and love, people who claim to love Jesus and want to follow His example, who defend this attitude.  I have friends who immediately posted about the long history of presidents using foul language.  While true, I don't know when adults decided that something was acceptable as long as other people had done it too.  I have friends who were quick to sidestep the issue by complaining that the media isn't reporting on rising stock market or companies who are bringing jobs back.  Again, these things are true, but how does doing one thing right make another thing less reprehensible?  I have friends who jumped totally on board with the Norway portion of his comments, exclaiming how glad they are to "finally" have a president who wanted to bring people here who could help us.  I think these are the people who bother me the most because it shows that they share his "America first" attitude and are proud to abandon any concept of our melting pot history in the name of cold, hard greed.  Some of you that are reading this are offended by this statement, and I'm fine with that; but if you love Jesus, let me ask you to set aside your offense for just a minute and consider something about Jesus.

Jesus was born in poverty and adopted by a working tradesman.  His parents fled with him to Egypt as refugees from a king that was paranoid and unstable.  He grew up in Nazareth, a town of around 500 people.  It may have had one public bath at the time of Jesus earthly ministry.  It is seldom mentioned in the historical record outside of scripture, from which most people infer that it was considered too trivial a place to mention.  This appears to be supported by the statement of the not yet disciple, Nathaniel to Phillip, when he said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"  To borrow the phrase of President Trump, Nazareth was a "s#*!hole country."  Jesus offered no skill that would cause people to think He had merit.  He was exactly the kind of person President Trump's policies seek to exclude.  How many people missed the Messiah because of their expectations, their prejudice, and their self-centered attitudes?  How many people would have preferred that their Messiah come from the ancient equivalent of Norway?  

William Holman Hunt - Nazareth.jpg." Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. 23 Mar 2017, 18:37 UTC. 22 Jan 2018

My blog is supposed to be about education, and so far this post has been political and religious meddling.  So, here is my application to the classroom, at least the Christian school classroom.  We must teach our kids that EVERY person on this planet, no matter where they are from, is a creation of God who carries His image.  We must teach them that EVERY person on this planet, no matter what their skill level, was created with a unique purpose.  We must teach them that EVERY person is a fallen sinner in need of a savior (yes, everyone, including me and you).  God doesn't have an America first policy; He so loved the world that He sent His Son.  If we are going to view people the way God views them, we must love the world.

The kids we teach will soon vote.  One day, some of them will be responsible for making immigration policy.  We owe it to the future to teach them now to view people the way God does.  Viewing people as God views them will not make immigration policy less complex; there will always be more need than resources.  Viewing people as God views them will not even make immigration policy easier; difficult decisions will always have to be made about how to allocate resources.  These are thorny issues that deserve thoughtful discussion.  Viewing people as God views them, however, should make those discussions more compassionate.  Start those discussions in YOUR classroom.

Statue of Liberty Poem - "The New Colossus." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Jan. 2018. Web. 22 Jan. 2018.