Acts 7:6 And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and maltreat them for four hundred years.
This is a quote from a speech before the High Council by Stephen, one of the early Christian leaders. He's talking about ancient Israel being enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. So it's a guy from 2000 years ago talking about something that happened about 1200 years before his time. This is old stuff. Ancient stuff. And yet it resonates today. "Resident aliens in a country belonging to others" is an amazing phrase that describes Christian disciples today.
Many years ago (1989 to be exact) two theologians name Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon cowrote a book called "Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony." I have been influenced and challenged by this book in many ways. One of the things they mean by the title and that strikes me when I read this passage again is that we as Christian live in a culture that is not our own... if we're doing it right. Instead of winner-take-all, we are servants of all. Instead of the best and the brightest, we are the last shall be first. Instead of the survival of the fittest, we are the meek shall inherit the earth. It makes life difficult sometimes as a Christian in this alien culture we call the 21st Century West. But it's where God has called us to live. And just as God saved ancient Israel from their time of being resident aliens in Egypt, God has provided salvation for us as well. In Christ, the resident aliens find their home.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Join all the other resident aliens for worship at 8:30 and 11 this Sunday morning.
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