Blessed are the poor, we hear Jesus say today. Blessed are the hungry, those who weep, and those who are hated because they follow him.
In these beatitudes, or blessings, Jesus is naming those on the margins, the outskirts of society, and saying that in God’s kingdom they will be blessed. Those blessings are extended to all who society has cast aside, or deemed less worthy than others.
That the marginalized are blessed in God’s eyes does not take away our imperative to care for them, and help them to a life that takes them from the outskirts of society.
This week the Episcopal Church lived out our gospel imperative to aid those on the margins by filing suit against the Department of Homeland Security maintaining that its rescinding of guidelines that prohibited immigration enforcement in churches is a violation of the First Amendment, and its guarantee of freedom of religion.
The Episcopal Church is one of many faith-based plaintiffs in the suit filed in the United States District Court in Washington DC. Others include Lutherans, Mennonites, Quakers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarians, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
What these diverse groups have in common is the understanding that hospitality to strangers and care for immigrants are commands at the heart of both the Old and New Testaments.
Allowing ICE, or immigration enforcers, to enter into worship space, or ministries like food pantries, homeless shelters, and ESL lessons interfere with our religious mandate to welcome and serve immigrants.
“An immigration enforcement action during worship services, ministry work, or other congregational activities would be devastating to their religious practice,” the suit says. “It would shatter the consecrated space of sanctuary, thwart communal worship, and undermine the social service outreach that is central to religious expression and spiritual practice.”
All of the religious organizations involved in the suit are “unified in a fundamental belief,” the suit says. “Every human being, regardless of birth place, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care, and love. Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices.
“The choice that congregations currently face between discontinuing social service ministries or putting undocumented participants at risk is no choice at all. Either way, congregations are forced to violate their religious duty to serve and protect their immigrant neighbors,” the suit says.
Julia Ayala Harris, the highest lay office holder in the Episcopal Church, wrote a powerful and moving letter about why the church has taken this action. I share it today with you.
“Every time we gather at Christ’s table, we proclaim an ancient truth that echoes through the centuries,” she wrote. “Divine love knows no borders, grace flows as freely as living water, and in the face of the stranger we may encounter Christ himself.
“Today the Episcopal Church stands at a profound crossroads where our deepest theological convictions call us to prophetic action.
“Like thread through Scriptures’ tapestry, the story of divine welcome shapes our story — from Abraham’s journey to the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. When we offer welcome to the stranger, we echo Christ’s own table fellowship with those whom society pushed to the margins.
“These ministries of welcome are not peripheral programs but vital expressions of who we are as Christ’s body — as essential to our worship as the bread and wine upon our altars.
“The Episcopal Church welcomes the stranger. The Episcopal Church upholds the dignity of every human being. The Episcopal Church stands against policies that sow fear, division, and injustice.
“This is who we are. This is what we believe. And this is what we do.
“I speak these truths not merely from the authority of my office, but from the depths of lived experience where divine welcome has transformed shadows into light,” she writes. “As a first-generation American and child of an undocumented Mexican immigrant, my story is woven into the larger tapestry of sacred welcome that defines our church.
“I have experienced the profound grace of a church that sees beyond borders to behold the image of God in every face. In the embrace of this beloved community, I discovered not just a healing balm from fear, but a deeper truth: that our worth flows not from documents or status, but from the indelible mark of divine love that claims each of us as beloved children of God.”
Harris writes that the Department of Homeland Security’s position of allowing ICE agents to enter houses of worship “threatens to transform our sanctuaries — long havens of safety, community, and worship — into spaces shadowed by fear.
“When fear of raids keeps families from our sanctuaries, we cannot fully live out Christ’s command to welcome the stranger,” she writes.
“Immigrants — and everyone on the margins — are the very center of the story Jesus reveals in the Gospels, and we cannot worship freely if any among us live in fear. I know firsthand what impact this has, and I want to tell you, as the daughter of an undocumented immigrant:
“The Episcopal Church sees you. We hear you. Your story and lives are sacred, and your dignity is divine.
“When you gather courage to enter our sanctuaries, when you share your stories of hope and heartbreak, when you trust us with your fears and dreams — you reveal Christ’s face to us anew. Your presence among us is not a burden, but a blessing that enriches our common life.
“As we navigate these challenging waters, may we be guided by the words of Hebrews 13:2: ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.’
“Let us be the church that future generations will remember as having stood firm in faith, unwavering in welcome, and unshakeable in our commitment to human dignity.
“Together, we bear witness to a love that knows no borders, fears no differences, and a God who continually calls us to wider circles of inclusion and deeper practices of hospitality.”
Amen.