Meditation: Justice Moving from Welcome to Belonging (Rev. Christina C.)
What does it mean to execute justice, as Deuteronomy asks? This question has weighed on my heart as I see neighbors living in fear, denied dignity, with uncertainty about their future. In answering, I see a contrast between welcome and belonging.
I wonder, what it truly feel like to belong? Think of moments when you've been surrounded by people who see and accept you. In that space, there is peace, no need to prove yourself, no need to fit a mold. You just know you belong. You are valued. You are home.
Now consider the opposite. Imagine the fear of a friend asking, “Should I send my children to school?” or a neighbor wondering, “Who will care for my kids if I get deported?” Many live in fear of being torn from their families or having their place here questioned. The fear of deportation is not abstract; it is a real reality for many.
Pastor Elmer’s words echo this pain: “I fled from sexual abuse… I have nothing there… my children don’t speak Spanish… What will happen to them if I’m deported?” The question, “Could you stay with my children if both of us are deported?” reveals how the fear of losing a place to belong can shatter families.
In Deuteronomy, God commands us to love the foreigner—not with a fleeting, “we will let you in” kind of welcome, but with a deep, abiding love. We are called to love strangers because we once were strangers. This isn’t about a temporary invitation; it’s about making people belong. It is about welcoming others as neighbors and creating space for them to belong—not just now, but for the long haul.
This is God’s justice: an enduring love that transcends borders. God’s justice is not about offering a temporary seat at the table; it is about saying, “You are part of us—forever.”
It is simple yet profound: to love God, to serve God, and to love others. This love is not transient or conditional but rooted in God’s heart.
Here is where we see the difference between welcome and belonging. Welcome is fleeting, a “come in, make yourself at home for now” invitation. But belonging? Belonging is permanent. It is saying, “You are a part of us, not just now but always.”
This is the community Jesus calls us to build: one where there is no “us” and “them,” but only “us.” In Romans, Paul describes a community where we are kind to one another, share in each other’s struggles, and love without pretense. We honor one another, forgive quickly, rejoice with those who rejoice, and bear the sorrows of those who weep. When you belong, you are not just seen—you are known, and you are a part of the whole.
Yet policies like Project 2025 threaten to make belonging conditional, casting immigrants as “others” and tearing families apart. These policies are not just about immigration; they strike at the heart of justice and human dignity. The church must rise to challenge these systems and create spaces where everyone can declare, “I belong here.”
The PC(USA) General Assembly urges us to advocate for policies that expand belonging. God’s justice demands that everyone belongs—no one should feel like a stranger in their own home, whether they have lived here for generations or are seeking refuge. As theologian Kate Bowler, from Duke Divinity School, reminds us, belonging is rooted in God’s grace: God’s love is not conditioned on status, nationality, or past, but on being God’s beloved child.
God’s justice calls us to create a world where immigrants, refugees, and all who seek safety can belong not just temporarily, but permanently. Where their dignity is upheld, their dreams valued, and their worth recognized not by where they come from, but by their inherent worth as a citizen of God.
So, we hear God's question again : What does it mean to execute justice? If we hear God’s words, live by Jesus' example, and follow Paul’s community guidelines, we must trust in God’s abiding love and share that love with neighbors and strangers. We must be a community of “us,” where everyone is seen, valued, celebrated, and cared for without pretense. We must recognize that all of us—the whole of humanity—are made in the imago Dei—God’s very own image. Our status, citizenship, and value are rooted in God’s eternal embrace, and God’s invitation to belong stretches beyond borders, culture, and language.
Let us pray for a world where all know they are loved, where everyone can live in safety and security, where all are treated with the utmost dignity. Let us choose to be a community where everyone can say, “This is home. I belong here.” And as we pray, may God’s spirit, God’s very own advocate, the eternal immigrant in our midst, move us to action.
May it be so in our churches, communities, and lives.
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