Fighting for My Neighbor

by Bethany Anderson

A few weeks ago, I gathered with some brothers and sisters from all across Orange County. There were about 75 of us in total. Our agenda? Prayer.

We prayed against the evil and corruption in so many countries around the world. We prayed for economic growth in these countries. We prayed for those on the journey. We prayed for their safety and protection. We prayed for those who have been manipulated, kidnapped, trafficked, abused and taken advantaged of. We prayed for border patrol and ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement), that they would have the strength to be compassionate. We prayed for the millions of undocumented people living in our country. We prayed for the children whose parents were deported, for parents who are waiting for a way their children can come here, for the students who dream of using their future degrees, and for all those currently in Immigration detention. We prayed for every person who the Church has seemingly forgotten. We prayed that they would feel our prayers; that they would know we see them. We heard stories that pushed us to think about the individual instead of the issue. We were inspired by the hope our God offers and reminded that freedom is on the horizon. We worshiped our Lord in Spanish and English and held hands as we took communion together. We confessed our brokenness and asked the Lord to forgive us for our apathy. We laughed together over a delicious dinner. We cried together as we realized just how deep the pain goes. It was a powerful collaboration of different denominations, ethnicities, languages, and ages. I believe it was a glimpse of what heaven will be like, minus the heaviness of oppression.

Mark 12 tells us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength AND love our neighbor as ourselves.

I have been trying to love my neighbor as myself for about 5 years now. As I have cried with my neighbors as they share the struggles of being undocumented, I realized that the call to love must go beyond comforting them in their darkest hour. I have to look at the root of the darkness and take on their pain as my own, just as Jesus did. I choose to carry the burden of my undocumented neighbor because I have to remember how Jesus carried my burdens on the cross.

I speak up for my undocumented neighbors because I know God intended us all to have a voice. I chose to fight for my undocumented neighbors to have rights here, because I know our identity and worth is not found in the country listed on our birth certificate. I care deeply for those that are “orphaned” and “widowed” by the oppression in their home country or by the broken system in our country because I know God is in the business of bringing freedom and justice for those our society says are “the least of these”. I want the Church to understand the complexities of immigration because I think this is our chance to be who God has intended us to be. We can chose to live in fear, hoard our blessings as Americans, and follow the kingdom of the world OR we can choose to live in freedom, lay our lives down for our neighbors and align ourselves with the Kingdom of God. I am here to tell you that amidst the confusion, pain, and struggle of doing the latter, there is indescribable peace and purpose. God calls us to love the orphan, the oppressed, the stranger in the land, not because he needs us to, but because it will make us more like Him.

As they have shared with our NOC community several Sundays ago, Matt and Bethany have taken Marlon, a young man with no family in the U.S., into their home. If you would like to partner with the Andersons in any way, please contact Bethany at bethanyanderson@solidarityrising.org You can also read her blog at www.whyifight.com

Sermon Rewind 12/12/10 (Peter Park)

Luke 10:33-37 (NASB)

³³"But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵On the next day he took out two [a]denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.' ³⁶Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
³⁷And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

Pastor Peter wrapped up the Status Update series by challenging us to not limit ourselves to asking “who is our neighbor?” but to push ourselves to “be the neighbor.” This moves us from thinking to acting. To help us grasp the scope of “loving our neighbor as ourselves,” he presented WWID(fm) – What Would I Do (for myself). Pastor Peter reminded us that the true calling to be a neighbor involves being a neighbor to someone that is hard for us to love. Finally, the results of our correct attitudes and actions are two-fold: Jesus becomes more real to others, but more importantly, Jesus becomes more real for us.

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