logically matters related to human beings who choose or are forced to cross borders. The ELCA Conference of Bishops stated: “As people of faith and leaders of the church, we support public policy that protects children, reunites families, and cares for the most vulnerable, regardless of their place of birth.” The prophetic words of Bishop
SHUTTERSTOCK
sians 2:19, the author breaks down the common discriminatory distinc- tion established between citizens and aliens.
Emphasis on hospitality Throughout the centuries, Chris- tians have continued to reflect the spirit of the Hebrew people and Jesus’ emphasis on hospitality to strang- ers and sojourners. In the aftermath of World War II, which created mil- lions of displaced people, Lutherans founded what eventually became Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which has assisted congrega- tions in resettling tens of thousands of refugees fleeing wars and disasters on every continent. Given its exper- tise in this work of compassion, LIRS is often sought out to advise govern- ment officials in the ongoing quest to improve our nation’s immigration policies. In more recent decades, themes
related to migration and hospitality to strangers have been central in the writings of many so-called “theo- logians of liberation” whose works have emerged particularly from set- tings throughout Latin America. (See some recommended authors in the author bio.) On Nov. 14, 2009, the ELCA
Church Council approved a social policy resolution regarding immi- gration, “Toward Compassionate, Just, and Wise Immigration Reform” (search for this title at
www.elca.org). The text reflects the rich legacy of the Lutheran church’s concern for the neighbor, particularly the uprooted, the alien and the stranger. The biblical and theological foun-
dations for the resolution lie in core commitments based on hospitality for the displaced as a means to practice the gospel’s call to love our neighbor in response to God’s love in Christ. An open invitation to respond to the social policy draft resolution received additional feedback on Lutheran theological principles to strengthen the appeal for a deeper engagement with one of today’s most serious moral and theological challenges. Among the main theological
principles raised by several Lutheran teaching theologians was one reflect- ing on the power of the redemptive act of our Triune God in the cross and resurrection events. Following President Barack
Obama’s address to the nation on immigration in November 2014, many church leaders weighed in with encouragement that we not simply react emotionally but ponder theo-
Wayne Miller of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod captured in a signifi- cant way the relevance of solid theo- logical foundations for addressing the challenge of immigration reform today from a Lutheran theological perspective: “I believe the time has come,
perhaps in a special way for us as Lutheran Christians, to reassert the fact that our attitudes toward the stranger, and toward all who are vul- nerable or marginalized, are a mat- ter of primary confessional theology rather than being a question of elec- tive etiquette. “So we begin where all Christian
conversation should begin, with the power of the cross—the cross upon which Jesus died for the redemption of the whole creation …. “For us as Lutheran Christians,
there is another element of con- fessional urgency. ... In a growing number of states, anti-immigration legislation … and the way [laws] are being enforced, have created a condi- tion of persecution. In the tradition of Article X of the Formula of Concord, unjust persecutory legislation pushes beyond ‘adiaphora’ (debatable, spiri- tually neutral). These laws now rep- resent a denial of the Cross and the gospel of universal freedom for voca- tion, and, thereby, drive the issue, for Lutherans, toward Status Confessionis (be in a state of confession), meaning that silence, compliance and indiffer- ence become apostasy.”
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