our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Aug 6, 2018, 2:43:49 AM8/6/18

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Strangers Welcome Strangers

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. . . . Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. Leviticus 19:33–34

When my husband and I moved to Seattle to be near his sister, we didn’t know where we would live or work. A local church helped us find a place: a rental house with many bedrooms. We could live in one bedroom, and rent the others to international students. For the next three years, we were strangers welcoming strangers: sharing our home and meals with people from all over the world. We and our housemates also welcomed dozens of international students into our home every Friday night for Bible study.

God’s people know what it means to be far from home. For several hundred years, the Israelites were literal foreigners—and slaves—in Egypt. In Leviticus 19, alongside familiar instructions like “Respect your mother and father” and “Do not steal” (vv. 3, 11), God reminded His people to empathetically care for foreigners, because they knew what it was like to be foreigners and afraid (vv. 33–34).

While not all of us as followers of God today have experienced literal exile, we all know how it feels to be “foreigners” on earth (1 Peter 2:11)—people who feel like outsiders because our ultimate allegiance is to a heavenly kingdom. We are called to create a community of hospitality—strangers welcoming strangers into God’s family. The hospitable welcome my husband and I experienced in Seattle taught us to extend welcome to others—and this is at the heart of being the family of God (Romans 12:13).

To whom can I show hospitality?

同是异乡人

若有外人在你们国中和你同居，就不可欺负他。……并要爱他如己，因为你们在埃及地也作过寄居的。-利未记19章33-34节

我和丈夫为了能与小姑相互照应而搬到西雅图，起初我们还不知道要在何处谋生与落脚。一间当地的教会帮我们找到了一栋有很多房间可供分租的房子。我们可以住其中一间，并将其他的房间分租给国际学生。接下来的三年，我们这两个异乡人接待了许多异乡客，与来自世界各地的学生分享我们的居所与膳食。每周五晚上，我和这些国际学生会在家中举行查经聚会，一起款待更多的异乡客。

上帝的子民知道远离家园的滋味。因为以色列民就曾在埃及当过异乡客，还沦为奴隶，达数百年之久。利未记19章不仅提到“当孝敬父母”及“不可偷盗”（3、11节）这些耳熟能详的教导，上帝还提醒祂的子民，要能将心比心地关顾异乡客，因为他们深知身为异乡客心中的恐惧（33-34节）。

虽然，并非所有跟随上帝的人都有离乡背井的经历，但却都知悉在世上为“客旅”的感受（彼得前书2章11节）。因我们最终所向往的乃是天国，所以在世上俨然是个异乡人。上帝要我们建立一个好客的群体，我们原本都是异乡人，祂要我们带领异乡客进入上帝的家中。我和丈夫在西雅图受到了殷勤的款待，也让我们学习如此接待人。这是身为上帝家中的一员应尽的责任（罗马书12章13节）。

上帝啊，谢谢祢接纳我们进入祢的家，进入基督信仰的群体。求祢让我们也乐意开放自己的家来款待人。