Now, I don’t know whether my great grandfather and grandfather felt humiliated or persecuted by this demand or not. Because my family is white, we were able to easily de-emphasize our ethnic background.

I know that quite often immigrants try extra hard to prove they are loyal to the United States. Last month, I received an award from the Islamic Society of North America for my efforts to advance Christian-Muslim understanding. At the ceremony, an Islamic Boy Scout troop brought in the flag, we said the pledge of allegiance and sang the national anthem.

But we see all around us racist and bigoted talk and assumptions made about Muslims and Hispanics, some of whom are immigrants but many of whom have been born and raised in our nation. My wife and daughter are of Mexican and Central American descent and often feel people look differently at them as they move about our daily lives.

Scripture, however, is clear on how we are to treat the foreigner and the stranger:

“You have become guilty by the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made; you have brought your day near, the appointed time of your years has come. Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you.” (Ezekiel 22:4,7)

“For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.” (Jeremiah 7:5-7)

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for nby doing that some have enterained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

I could cite many other verses, but I think you understand the point. Now, there’s a sad part to the story of my grandfather’s experience during WWI. Just a few years after he experienced some degree of persecution, he joined the Ku Klux Klan and visited persecution on African Americans, in particular, although I can guarantee you my grandfather, who I loved, was an equal opportunity hater of all minorities as well as Jews and Catholics.

My father, I am happy to report, did not follow in the footsteps of my grandfather. Dad grew up in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, the Deep South, and the Southwest. He moved around because my grandfather, who worked in local Ford dealerships, fought a continuous battle with his temper and with alcohol. Most of the time alcohol and his temper won and grandpa would have to look for another job. Because good mechanics were always in demand, he found work.

The story goes that grandpa would call my grandmother to let her know he’d found a job and a place to live and tell her to bring the children. Then, on the first week they’d visit First Methodist Church, the second week they’d join, and the third week my grandmother would be elected president of the UMW.

It was my grandmother, the United Methodist Women, and the Methodist Youth Fellowship that kept my father from becoming racist and anti-immigrant. When he was in his late teens, Dad went to a camp for young Methodist leaders. His car broke down on the way so it was late when he arrived.

He was taken to his cabin and saw he would be sharing it with 3 other young men, all of whom were at an evening worship service. Since he was exhausted, dad fell asleep and when he woke up the next morning he learned he was sharing a bed with an African American for the first time in his life.

It was not just any African American. It was Rev. James Lawson, who went on to be one of the most significant leaders of the civil rights movement. Rev. Lawson was a disciple of Gandhi and taught nonviolent civil disobedience techniques to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to John Lewis—now a congressman from Georgia—and to those who participated in the sit-ins at lunch counters throughout the South.

Jim Lawson had a profound impact on Dr. King, and on my father and his understanding of racial equality. This carried over not only into his ministry—he served local churches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois for 55 years—but into the values he instilled in his children. I am and will always be grateful to my dad for raising us in such a manner.

I grew up in the church and in an anti-racist household. Don’t get me wrong. I believe if you are a white person living in this country you are a beneficiary of white privilege whether you want it or not. Therefore, although it’s impossible to avoid complicity in a racist society, you can strive to be an anti-racist. Similarly, you can live out the biblical values and do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

The National Council of Churches and its member communions, as well as Roman Catholics and many evangelicals, are united in speaking on behalf of justice for immigrants.

I have hope for our nation and for our future and I know it will require hard work and commitment from people of good will. We need to be a non-anxious people in an anxious time.

Above all, we must remain faithful to God.

(This sermon may be read in its entirety at www.nationalcouncilofchurches.us.)