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“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God”

 (Leviticus 19:33-34).  

“In the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, where we pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” Luther writes about the importance of praying for our leaders, asking God to grant them wisdom and strength. He also speaks to the responsibility of leaders to provide stability, sufficiency and equity, saying, “[I]t would be very proper to place in the coat-of-arms of every pious prince a loaf of bread instead of a lion, or a wreath of rue, or to stamp it upon the coin, to remind both them and their subjects that by their office we have protection and peace, and that without them we could not eat and retain our daily bread.”  (ELCA Bishop’s Message -  January 24, 2025)

I usually try to stay out of the political news as much as possible these days, but with all the verbiage that is being shared through multi-media and emails in the greater church I can’t help but make some comments. 

I have had many of you come to me with your concerns about Lutheran Social Services (LSS) and their hard work supplying our refugees and immigrants the basic needs in life such as food, shelter, and safety.  The recent executive orders from the White House and our political leaders have declared many of these social services “illegal” because they aid those in our country who are not all legal. Most of the people assisted who are trying to escape war, violence, and persecution.   This has seriously affected LSS especially it’s governmental funding.  There has been no misuse of these funds.  Every penny is accounted for and has been used as appropriate.   As Lutherans, we have a long tradition of hospitality, dating back to the end of World War II, of helping displaced refugees, assisting refugee groups and welcoming new immigrants. Our church has long called for compassionate, just and wise immigration reform.

Today, anybody who even looks like a refugee or immigrant is concerned for their safety as anything could happen to them when government authorities are ordered to arrest and deport asking questions later.  Let me start by saying the ELCA supports the view that nations have the responsibility to protect their borders and safeguard their communities. However, these policies must cause “neither undue repercussions within immigrant communities nor bias against them.” Just policies include recognition of the humanity of immigrants without status, respect for the dignity of those at the border and refuge for displaced people.   Come on… these people are human beings and ought to be treated as such with human rights of being treated with dignity.   As a sanctuary denomination, the ELCA proclaims walking with immigrants as a matter of faithfulness. The ELCA does not call for activity contrary to the law but for congregations, leaders and individuals to explore resources addressing how to interpret this memorial to their own contexts.   At the same time, God calls us to welcome the stranger and love the sojourner as we love ourselves. 

This past week as a part of reforming the government it has shut down many of our humanitarian aid agencies providing foreign aid to immigrants, dropping the funding for these agencies thinking there is corruption.   Most of the agencies affected are connected with faith or church communities.  These organizations are not misusing funds that were provided for humanitarian needs.  Lutheran social services is one of the first responders to national disasters and makes a huge difference serving the vulnerable.  Please know the work of all these faith-based organizations is making a huge difference and is necessary in meeting the needs of the people.  They exist to serve the neighbor. 

Why has helping the poor, disadvantaged, elderly and refugees/immigrants become a political issue?  How did the Gospel and scripture become politicized?  It is NOT illegal to receive federal grants as a church-organization and there are clear processes of how to receive these funds and each organization must prove the funds are being used correctly… and LSS has and is doing this.  The government has always partnered with non-profits to extend its aid to help the needy.   This isn't new, and it's certainly not illegal.  Facts and the truth matters.  No one is “benefitting” from these organizations other than the people they are meant to help.  Really… the reality is that the Gospel has always been political.  Let us remember that Jesus’ death was political.  So it’s almost impossible to keep politics out of the pulpit if we’re going to talk about Jesus and his ministry.  Not to mention, of course, the entire Old Testament is all about prophets confronting kings on political issues, how they neglected to care for the poor, needy and marginalized.  Keep the faith and keep loving the neighbor! 

For more information regarding this issue you can hear from the ELCA Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton.  Go to   ELCA responds to false accusations on X 02-02-2025 | Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton - YouTube