Yes, The Sojourner Has Certainly Been Oppressed.

"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears:

for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Psalm 39:10

Have you heard it?

"Your bible permits sojourners and so it is wrong to have borders- where is your Christian compassion you hypocrite?”

The latest apologetic sentiment for the political Left seems to be the ‘sojourner,’ and very likely, those making this assertion have not read the Bible, or having read a little, read in a self-serving and superficial manner. Likely though, they merely rely on what others say that the Holy Scriptures teach rather than laboring through diligent and communal study as do Christians-- within the Body, the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit.

The usual result of such an approach is something known as Presentism a fallacy or logical error imposing contemporary cultural agendas on ancient texts without generally realizing they even commit the error. Others though, are certainly aware some Christians will not have the wherewithal to spot such twisting of an archaic doctrine and these people are guilty of committing argumentum ad ignorantiam, another fallacy 
exploiting the ignorance of an issue and thereby ‘guilting’ the hearer into accepting the error as valid.

The line of faulty reasoning behind the sojourner issue insists that an illegal alien is the contemporary and moral equivalent of the Old Testament sojourner and that Scripture tells us the breaking of our Country's laws are acceptable to God.

This new dogmatism (dogma being the epiphany of Revelation and subsequent preservation) we are not to question comes from the very people who mock us for accepting the authority of God in the first place. A God they claim to be myth and reject in their own lives. We are, under this new Inquisition, to be judged by a subjective ignorance born of the uninitiated in whom the Holy Spirit has no home and therefore sojourns not. The Christian knows that without Godly understanding (Isa 11:1- etc), one is in a state of natural man and thereby repeating the same errors as endless generations before them.

Epistemology: We have sound historic and doctrinal reason to reject these fallacies:

Sometime prior to the fourth century an anonymous author penned an apologetic known as the Epistle to Diognetus. The relevant themes in this letter with which we concern ourselves are Christian faith and manner in the world. It presents a bit of a problem for our friends who think they understand what sojourning actually is and believe they have ‘evolved’ in intellect and society.

"Every foreign country is to them as their native land, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry as do all; they beget children; but they do not commit abortion. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are the citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor, yet they make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all. They are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil-spoken of and yet are justified. They are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign a reason for their hatred.”

So just who is this ‘sojourner?’

We Christians are told to accept illegals as sojourners all the while being treated as illegals in our own country. Throughout today’s world Christians are ostracized, marginalized, sued, slandered threatened, and often killed by those who say our book says we should be accepting of others. Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today and yet we accept not just our own as Christians, but people of all cultures and races. Why? Because that old ‘book’ the Bible says we are all "of one blood" and all one in Christ. Our detractors want to impose their dogma on us while using our tax dollars to fund the government as a proxy for their compassion.

The student of the Bible knows the OT foreshadows the New and understands the concept of dispensation and covenant. She knows the Bible is not an amalgam of isolated rules but rather a coherent revelation on living towards an ultimate end- being acceptable to God. The Christian interprets the Scriptures in context and indeed this novel Leftist Dogma has no historical context. The idea that sojourning can be twisted into a convenient political agenda in such a way as abrogating the articles of the Decalogue is no more logical than believing a local municipal ordinance can abrogate the U.S. Constitution. Attempting to present such fallacious and fantastic ‘doctrine’ only makes those attempting it foolish in the eyes of anyone with reasonable familiarity. The attempt to displace true doctrine with such nonsense is to treat us as illegals in our own religion- an act condemning the perpetrator as both superficial and hypocritical. The sojourner, just as many doctrines, has both a literal as well as allegorical sense. Not only do they misconstrue the literal sense, in this case the greater sense is lost on them as well, a loss that may well condemn them for their effort.

Consider some facts about the sojourner in the sense of the Old prefiguring the New Testament. Whether today, or ages past, the sojourner is not one who willfully violates the law while expecting material handouts from the host. The sojourner is here for a season because he is not of this ‘country.’ In a greater sense the sojourner is not of this world, but of another. Such a sojourner is “not without honor except in their own land” (Mark 6:4). He has not come to stay, but is journeying towards a Kingdom which is not of this world and yet is visible in this world. Dare they see this Kingdom is Christ’s Church? Just as Diognetus explains centuries ago, the true sojourner, whether the coming King or his subject, seek a Kingdom not fully manifest. Sojourning as it were, for a season and estranged in the land he lives.

'He is to the world what the soul is to the body, in the world but not of the world, a light to that world just as the soul enlivens and enlightens the flesh. Bodies have many members and the soul enlivens them all and the soul is in the body but not the body. Christians dwell in the world and are not of the world. The world hates the Christian and the blood of martyrs, the seedbed of the Church, proves this both today and historically. The body hates and is in constant war with the soul because the soul aspires to a higher state of being than the flesh, which is weak and fleeting in nature, unable to reach such a state on it’s own.

The greater sense is that the flesh represents the world, and the world hates the Christian striving to perfect his soul and subjugate his flesh as he sojourns here for a season in preparation for a higher state of holiness that the world cannot attain. Reproved, the flesh hates the soul and hinders it yet the soul loves the flesh, all of it's members, and tempers it towards perfection, just as the Christian loves those who hate him or her while working to elevate natural man to a higher state.'

“But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him

who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.”

Gal 4:21-31

So the moral of the story is beware the people who decry the Christian for not showing compassion to those who break our laws as they are the same people who do all in their power to make us strangers in our own land. Compassion aimed at those they will never bear the burden of personally- theoretical persons if you will, all the while subjecting real neighbors to un-vetted criminals and diseases long unknown in this country. Persons who will rely on State welfare and entitlements and vote for those offering the handouts.

These same ideologues that redefine the sojourner to fit their political agenda attack our Church and culture by redefining marriage, inventing genders, suing florists and bakers for not accepting the new dogma, the Inquisitors that sue towns for displaying crosses and Nativity scenes. They demand our unalienable 1st Amendment right to religious freedom be silenced in the town square and exiled into private practice. They mock and scorn us for adherence to that 'old book’ written by ‘primitive patriarchal misogynists’ and then, as the double-minded are want to do, they cite those very patriarchs out of context to drag us down to their worldly level!

The truth is that this moral equivalency conflating a sojourner with illegal immigration also throws the precepts of God into contradiction. The idea that willfully breaking the law, and at the same time, demanding hospitality is preposterous. It is especially so, when having broken our laws of immigration with impunity, to commit more crimes emboldened by our Inquisitors willingness to aid and abet the criminal behavior. This is the compassion we are to imbibe?

The sojourner doesn't break down the door or scale the wall of the host like a common thief; he knocks in humility and allows the host to answer generosity and with grace or accepts rejection as the case may be. Yet this is exactly as our self appointed Inquisitors would have it- judging sinful things as good and good things as sinful because they are of the world and without Light, and in so doing absurdly redefine sin itself as compassion.

The precepts of the Kingdom to which Christians aspire preclude the true sojourner from violating authority and demanding welfare in the City of God.

“And Jesus answering said unto them,
Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.
And they marveled at him”.
St. Mark 12:17

There is a Gatekeeper in this City and a standard of character and conduct that determines either entry or rejection. There is no entitlement for sustenance, but rather the Bread of Heaven to quicken one for immortality.

“There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: [no] sojourner of the priest,

or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.”

Leviticus  22:10

Setting Scripture against Scripture is an evil enterprise and not binding on us. Buying into such distortions is to be blindly led by the blind- falling into a ditch of hypocrisy. Such will clamor at the Gate of Hospitality but their cloaking and deceit may well be their turning away. The reward for evil at the Gate of the Kingdom is the hearing of the words "I know you not.”

Let us continue our sojourning together in truth.

John Dixon
Warden
St. Athanasius Anglican

Sources and excerpt:  Joseph Cullen Ayer. "A Source book for Ancient Church History"

A CERTAIN MAN

The Bible is full of wondrous things some of which only become apparent with time. Have you ever read a passage and then reading it again after a time realized another aspect or dimensional quality? I’d like to offer an ancient perspective on a beloved parable we have all read and heard many sermons on Sundays past that might just have escaped notice. Blessed are the eyes that see.

The story of the Good Samaritan is about being a Good Sam, one who should help out his neighbor even when they are not like us, ethics, love, and of being a good steward. Is there anything else?

Prologue to the parable:
Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the Law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 

The Parable of the Good Samaritan
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.  S. Luke 10. 23

Let us concern ourselves with who is being described as “Certain" and what we are being taught both literally and figuratively.

The Last Adam saves the First Adam and Eve.

Jesus picks words his carefully-- not any man, but a certain man; not just cities, but those that conveyed a message and it is so with each detail revealed. The certain man left the holy city of Jerusalem which is 2500’ above sea level and descended towards Jericho more than 800’ below sea level and outside of the safety of Jerusalem he fell among thieves. Do you suppose Jesus is illustrating something specific with these two cities? One is on high with a pleasant climate and the other down below, hostile and arid. Do  you see it? Jericho is the world and Jerusalem is the City of God.  And who first fell into the world producing such a sinful state? A world separate from God... a state brought onto all men by the disobedience of one. Was not Adam exiled from paradise because of sin and descended from eternal life into the lower world? If correct, Jesus would need to be making a point as we shall soon see.

This certain man falls among robbers who inflict mortal wounds. Because he turned away from God Adam has lost divine protection and is exposed to sin. His protection, his garment, which is his faith is easily torn away and his soul is wounded and near death. These robbers are the very same angel(s) of darkness (who can appear as an angel of light long enough to deceive) that stripped Adam of faith in Eden through temptation who seek to strip all men of their spiritual armor and inflict deadly wounds to prevent the journey back to the City of God.

Jesus uses the same word again- a “certain” Samaritan who descends (John 3:13) from the Holy City and come upon the injured man, and unlike the Levite and the priest, who are figures of the Law, has compassion on him. Christ is the "certain" Samaritan and the last Adam. Such a read is in harmony with the rest of scripture. The first Adam falls from grace, his race comes under the Law and the last Adam is a man of the Spirit who saves. We do not have space here to cover the whole economy of fall and salvation but you get the point. "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.. 1 Cor 15:45

The Samaritan (meaning defender) comes down to relieve (Psalm 116:6) and restore Adam and with him all of mankind to the City of God. The great Physician comes as a neighbor to share our suffering and bind up our wounds. His words are our medicine. “Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed” Matt 8:8. Words that forgive, heal, save, and warn us to prepare for coming judgment. We are defended from death.

The Samaritan puts the man on his own beast. We are raised up and borne with Adam. Our sins- our wounds are borne by the Samaritan and he suffers for them. He carries the lost sheep on His shoulders for otherwise we could not bear our own burdens for we are beasts to weak for the task.

We who are heavily laden are brought to an inn and given rest (Matt 11:28) from a long journey. Lifted up out of the dust and given care so that we may be become well enough to keep the precepts we are given. (Ps 113:7) The inn is the Church- the Ark of Salvation where we find help to overcome our wounds- our hospital for sinners. (Acts 2:47)

On the morrow, to use the language of the King James, he departs. The Samaritan was here for a season and then he returned from where he had come. What is the ‘morrow’ if not the Resurrection? This is the day which the Lord hath made (Ps. cxvii. 24)! The two Denarii are possibly the Old and New Testaments which carry the image of our Lord throughout and our guide back to the Holy City. The innkeeper is he that preaches the Gospel (1 Cor. 1:17). Those given the command to “Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Mk. 16:15-16). Saved from the robber’s attack and blows. The innkeeper is blessed with the gifts of healing and tends those in his care just as the Samaritan on the wayside.

I will repay thee. Blessed is he who gives freely as does God. Such a person no longer needs the law but lives by the Spirit and desires to be a good steward of God’s bounty. The Apostle Paul lived and preached far above that which he received in body and soul so that he could relieve others of their physical and spiritual sicknesses. The innkeeper of the inn is good and gives comfort and rest and protection from the ravenous wolves preying on weary travelers and earns blessings and gratitude of the Lord who promises payment on his return. When should He return but on the day of Judgment? How will He repay but with the reward of heaven! Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (Matt 5:12; 25:21).

Who could be more our neighbor than the One who has healed our wounds? And who should we imitate but Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Body and closest to it’s all it’s members? If we love the Lord, who is the head of the Body, we will love all his members with His same compassion. It is mercy that makes us neighbors and it is through mercy that the Last Adam comes down from heaven and suffers greatly to restore the first Adam and thus mankind to the Kingdom of God.

So there we are. In a short parable Jesus testifies to his authority as being the Last Adam by recounting the biblical narrative from fall through restoration and His place in it, all the while teaching a more basic lesson of unquestioning love of one's neighbor which is necessary for us to find our way back to the City of God.

I hope you enjoyed and gained something from this presentation. If you interested in going deeper into the scriptures please join us this Sunday at 9:30am at St. Athanasius Anglican Church.  We worship in a house, just as the early Church.

Peace of Christ,

John Dixon
Warden, St. Athanasius Parish

ps If you are wondering about Eve in all of this she is figured in the New Testament as well but that's a story for another day.

Source: Ambrose; On the Good Samaritan, 4th century