The Most Repeated Command

You and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. Numbers 15:15

The Most Repeated Command
By Rev. William Dohle

"How many times do I have to tell you??"

Oh! Teenagers! My family has two of them in the house now. One just turned a teen and the other celebrated his second birthday as one and believe me...it strains the patience.

For instance...let's say you want them to do the chores that you have arranged for them to do. Countless times you have met with them and discussed exactly what they're to do and how they're to do it. They agree it needs to be done and agree that they shall do it. As you part ways, do you then sit back will they do it?

No!

Instead even after the lecture, they just sit there and stare at you. When you remind them, they say, "Oh sure..." or they groan and moan and then continue to sit there. Or they get up and look like they're going to do it, but they don't. Or they start doing it and get distracted and then leave the job. Or they never get up. Or...

Yeah, getting teenagers to work requires a whole lot of work and a whole LOT of repetition. "Do it...do it...do it...I said do it...if you don't then I'll..."

Shall adults be any different?

No. Adults need repetition too. And the most repeated things are usually the things God wants us to do most.

Of all the commandments in the Bible, there is one which is the most repeated. Rabbi Daniel Boggard often stumps his congregation with this one. The most repeated command isn't anything that we'd think it would be. It has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments or anything that we've ever memorized. No, the most repeated commandment concerns the alien residents among us and sounds something like this:

An alien who lives with you, or who takes up permanent residence among you, and wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord, shall do as you do. As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout all generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord. You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.(Num. 15:14-16)

The most repeated commandment is: Treat the alien resident with respect!

This may come as a shock to us given our culture's emphasis on other commandments, but God cares more for how we treat the outsider than he does for anything else! That's the commandment that he repeats over and over again. That's the one we read over and over again!

But why? Why repeat this? Why not repeat the commandment to love or the dietary laws or anything else?

Because, I believe, this is the one commandment that we ignore more than any other.

We're pretty good when it comes to loving our neighbor(as long as we can define that neighbor as the person we like). We're okay when it comes to not doing the things that destroy us(as long as we're not liking those too much either). We'll think about keeping God's name holy and worshiping only him.

But the resident alien? What?!

Think about America in the 21st century. How many God-fearing people quote all the other commandments but ignore the commandment that God gives the most times that says, "You and the alien shall be alike before the Lord?"  How often do we hear one Christian politician or another stand up to speak while showing no compassion to the illegal immigrant? How often have we seen hatred funneled to the "resident aliens" among us?

"Those illegal immigrants..." we say with disgust, as though being from another country in our country makes them somehow less than human.

God is clear "you and the alien shall be alike before the Lord." God doesn't look at our nationality. American or illegal immigrant to America are all the same to him. God doesn't care whether we speak English or not. He's doesn't say the pledge of allegiance. He doesn't salute our flag. God considers us all the same. American and Palestinian, Israeli and Saudi, Russian and German and Irish. All of us the same. There is no distinction.

If we claim to be a Christian nation, shouldn't we look to treating everyone equally, regardless of their nationality or language or creed? If we claim to follow the path God gave us, should we not look to this most repeated law of them all?

God reminds his people too why they're to treat the resident aliens this way. Later he says, "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm..."(Deut. 5:15) In other words: Remember you were just like they are once.

And we were. Each and every one of us. Few people in America can claim not to originate from somewhere else. Our country was founded on immigration and an open door policy. So...why do these immigrants now consider themselves natives? Why do we shut out and shun people who are resident aliens now just as our ancestors were?

It's time we listen and respond. It's time to listen to what God is repeating to us over and over again. It's time to give the grace that has been given us. Let the Holy Spirit change our minds individually. Let him change our perspective on things and together, the mind of our country can be changed too.

God, we are all of us pilgrims on earth. Give us grace that we might see and love our fellow pilgrims whomever they might be. Amen.