You shall allot it as an inheritance for
yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children
among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you
they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. Ezek 47:22 (ESV)
We tend to think of Christmas as family time and
indeed much joy is derived by close relatives anticipating getting together for
dinner and gift-giving. The biblical
story that inspires this holiday tells us of a God who comes into a world as a
sojourner, sometimes referred to as a stranger or an alien depending upon your
Bible translation. The Savior of the
world comes to a human-inhabited planet in human garb, but is not welcomed by
his own (John 1:11). Jesus repeats this
theme of being on the outside in the parable of the sheep and goats. The true Israel found a stranger, naked,
hungry and thirsty and welcomed him (Mat. 25:35). The banished ones were those who could not
see the sojourner as worthy of their time, their hospitality and a seat at
their tables.
On a crowded plane returning home to Alabama from
Chicago, strangers held fast to their seats and with diverting eyes made it
difficult for me and Lauren to find a seat (as we returned from visiting Wheaton
College). A small inconvenience on a flight is nothing compared to the refusal
to welcome and make space for Mary and Joseph as they sought a place for rest
on their journey home. Finally, they
find a place among the common livestock of a sleepy village. It was there in a small and forgotten corner
of Bethlehem, that the Savior of the world came as a child, born of a woman,
yet son of the Eternal God. People still
refuse to welcome him and to make room for the sojourner who comes to us, more
often than not as an inconvenience to our schedules, or an unexpected guest, as
Savior and Redeemer. Even in the season
of Christmas, if we are not careful we can ignore him once again. If we do, then we forget that the stranger
who came to Israel is the sojourner who comes to us not to disrupt our
Christmas but to give it meaning and restore it to the biblical fulfillment
that Ezekiel envisioned as when the stranger is treated as a native-born and
the Kingdom is a river that runs to the sea and gives life to all.
Finally, the sojourner of the Christmas
story is the Savior King that awaits us on our journey home. This season before Christmas has
traditionally been a time to focus on what we long for and anticipate. Not presents under a tree, but the final and
blessed home with Jesus, who gave himself on a tree. J.I. Packer said heaven is “an unknown
country with a well-known inhabitant.” Until
then, we all are sojourners on this planet, and from time to time we find
welcome among those who realize they are looking toward another home as sons
and daughters of Abraham living in a foreign land but looking forward to a city
and a home whose “designer” is God (Heb. 11:9-10).
