The Good Shepherd.1

"Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

-- Jesus

Much has been made lately about immigration. At the heart of the issue, whether immigration in the USA or in Europe or anywhere in the world where any people group is moving away from economic or political or religious

turmoil in their own country and seeking refuge in another, is this: are the immigrants willing to change their lifestyles -their language, values and habits- in order to assimilate into their new culture?

At the dairy farm where I formerly worked, I often engaged the Mexican workers in conversations about culture. On one occasion I tried to explain why it was important to Americans that people who come here should come through the legal process. The simple answer is because of a fundamental appreciation that we trust one another in our country. We believe in the ideals and principles of our founding; and that our laws, for the most part, are fair and that if we all try our best to live by the ideals and follow the rules we can trust each other. But if the very first thing you do in getting into our country is disregard the rules, it makes it very difficult to trust you. We don't want to live in a place where you can't trust your neighbor.

For those of us who live in the relative peace and comfort of the USA it is difficult to understand the fear associated with the uncertainty, hardship, instability and danger that so many live with everywhere else in the world today.

Fear may elicit compassion from the countrymen of the land you seek to enter, but it doesn't necessarily make you fit to become a productive member of that society. Fear can, however, drive you to desire the qualities that would help you assimilate and contribute to your new homeland.

The current administration in the USA is proposing new standards for those who want to come live here. They include:

"...a proposal that would grant green cards to immigrants who meet requirements related to education, age and English-speaking ability. The administration has previously proposed regulation that would deny immigrants entry to the U.S. or lawful permanent residence if they are likely to use Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) and other forms of public assistance."

This is in fact nothing new, for it has always been the intent of the people of this country that those people who want to come enjoy the fruit of the sacrifice of those who defend and protect this enterprise in freedom should understand and love the ideals upon which this nation exists. They should be willing to do their duty to live out and promote these ideals.

For Trust is very much related to Truth and Truth is tied to our behavior more than it is tied to our intentions.

We talk much about our "rights" here in the USA, for example, the "rights" every human being has been endowed with from the Creator:

• The right of self-government.
• The right to bear arms for self-defense.
• The right to own, develop, and dispose of property.
• The right to make personal choices.
• The right of free conscience.
• The right to choose a profession.
• The right to choose a mate.
• The right to beget one's kind.
• The right to assemble.
• The right to petition.
• The right to free speech.
• The right to enjoy the fruits of one's labors.
• The right to improve one's position through barter and sale.
• The right to contrive and invent.
• The right to explore the natural resources of the earth.
• The right to privacy.
• The right to provide personal security.
• The right to provide nature's necessities: air, food, water, clothing, and shelter.
• The right to a fair trial.
• The right free association.
• The right to contract.

(from The 5,000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen)

Clearly these are rights we enjoy (and too often take for granted) as US citizens but we do not spend nearly enough time considering and teaching our "duties" as citizens to keep our Republic viable and attractive.

"These are some of the more important responsibilities which the Creator has imposed on every human being of normal mental capacity:

1. The Duty to honor the supremacy of the Creator and His laws.
2. The duty not to take the life of another except in self-defense.
3. The duty not to steal or destroy the property of another.
4. The duty to be honest in all transactions with others.
5. The duty of children to honor and obey their parents and elders.
6. The duty of parents and elders to protect, teach, feed, clothe, and provide shelter for children.
7. The duty to support law and order and keep the peace.
8. The duty not to contrive through a covetous heart to despoil another.
9. The duty to provide insofar as possible for the needs of the helpless -- the sick, the crippled, the injured, the poverty-stricken.
10. The duty to honor and perform contracts and covenants both with God and man.
11. The duty to be temperate.
12. The duty to become economically self-sufficient.
13. The duty not to trespass on the property or privacy of another.
14. The duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure.
15. The duty to perpetuate the race.
16. The duty not to promote or participate in the vices which destroy personal and community life.
17. The duty to perform civic responsibilities -- vote, assist public officials, serve in official capacities when called upon, stay informed on public issues, volunteer where needed.
18. The duty not to aid or abet those involved in criminal or anti-social activities.
19. The duty to support personal and public standards of common decency.
20. The duty to follow rules of moral rectitude.

(from The 5,000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen)

There is much "fear" on the issue of immigration on both sides of the USA's southern border. 

• Political parties, fearing the fallout of voter's embracing the opposition, are waging a raging debate on whether or not there is a "crisis" of mass migration into the US. 
• Landowners along the border states are fearful of trespassers on their property, often armed and dangerous. 
• Taxpayers are fearful that reports of advertisements in central American countries inviting people to the USA for its "free social programs and work" are creating the stampede to our borders further burdening our strained social safety net, bringing low-skilled people and new diseases. 
• Central American citizens, fearing that stricter immigration policies and the "Wall" will make it even more difficult to flee their squalor, rush the border, endangering themselves and their children.

In the land of the free, the USA, in a shadowy way, illustrates important eternal truths:

• It is worth sacrificing all to be free
• There is a legitimate requirement to become fit for citizenship

Since none of us have internet access to Google the heavenly landscape, most likely Jesus was addressing the most common fear to man: fear of the unknown.

Old Testament prophets alluded to it; Jesus said He came from there; John the beloved had visions of the Kingdom's grandeur and Lazurus stayed mum about his brief encounter. So, really, the only first person account we have of God's dwelling place in the heavenlies is from Paul the Apostle and even he couldn't find the words to describe it!

Just as He has always done from the very beginning, God asks us to trust Him and understand that what makes Heaven Heaven is Him! Fearlessly we can choose and anticipate His divine good pleasure as our eternal home!

Eventually every human being will "migrate" from this war ravaged planet through the doorway of death into our eternal destiny.

Having established that our Creator, albeit at a painful cost, takes pleasure in giving us His kingdom, what is our part in preparing to participate in Kingdom life?

Is it too difficult an idea that God would want the people he invites to populate His eternal kingdom to be trustworthy and true? Of course not, but how do we become trustworthy and true?

Unlike desperate people eagerly entrusting themselves to "coyotes" to lead them into the US, God provided the Good Shepherd who not only leads

us into His Kingdom but prepares and fits us along the journey:

• teaching us the language of the Kingdom
• improving our perception of His ways
• using the consequences of our feeble attempts at obedience to His words to correct or confirm our character development
• delivering us from evil within and without
• Perfecting the currency of the Kingdom: Love!

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 24, 25

Hallelujah! What a Savior!