By Reverend J. Loren Russell
Leviticus 19:32-34 NKJV
“You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord. And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
In pre-COVID days, we hosted people in our homes, on our jobs, invited them to break bread or otherwise entertained friends and strangers alike. Today we are less likely to extend invitations let alone invite them into our homes. Nevertheless, we have new buildings being erected throughout the nation that bring people into our neighborhoods, our communities, our cities, our states, and our nation who are strangers to us. These are the ones that we are told to love as we love ourselves.
The Children of Israel were given specific guidelines on how they were to interact with those who were in their nation but not of their heritage. The spirit of those guidelines run through both the Old and New Testaments. In the book of Leviticus (19:18, 34), they are told to love their neighbor as themselves. Those same words are repeated twice in the Gospel of Matthew (19:19, 22:39), once in Mark (12:31), once in Luke (10:27), once in Romans (13:9), once in Galatians (5:14), and once in the book of James (2:8). If you follow the guidelines to love strangers as you love yourself, that would automatically include all of humanity.
The word for love in the text is translated in the Hebrew as a’hab, and from the Greek, phileo. Both words mean brotherly love. The Lord is telling the nation to love strangers as if they are their brothers.
There could not be a more profound mandate than to love your neighbor as yourself in 2021. Beyond COVID-19 preventing us from assembling together, there are mass murders that seem to be happening weekly, racially biased attacks, the misuse of governmental authority, community violence against one another, gang violence, sex trafficking, and drug proliferation. These are only some examples of a lack of love one for another.
When we discover a way to faithfully apply the guidelines of loving strangers as we love ourselves, we will have found the cure for violence, hatred, and the mistreatment of people. This is the only way to bring genuine peace in the world. We must find a way to love strangers as we love ourselves.
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Strategy & Consulting; an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx; creator & host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook LIVE and author of Matters of Faith: The Book (eBook available at Smashwords.com)
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