Embracing Strangers

In our text today, Solomon intercedes for the foreigner who has come to be in Israel because of the reputation of the Lord. The reputation of the God of Israel is the story of the power of God demonstrated when God set Israel free from slavery in Egypt. It is the story of how God defeated Israel’s powerful enemies with an outstretched hand.

Solomon sees that these saving actions of God will induce reverential fear in the people of other lands and attract them to Israel. As a visionary leader, Solomon is preparing the ground for immigrants who will come to his kingdom in the future. With a discerning spirit and deep care and concern for those under his leadership, Solomon prays for those who are yet to be a part of the community he leads. This prayer is not about the one who is praying but about the God to whom the petition is being made. God will answer the prayers of the immigrants in this Temple because the Temple bears God’s name.

We live in a time when immigration issues are regularly in the headlines. The rate of migration from less developed countries to developed and affluent nations is rising rapidly. It seems that the more this rate rises, the more the care and treatment of migrants deteriorates. In today’s reading we see the kind of leader we need in our own time—on national and international levels, as well as local and personal levels. The God we serve loves and cares for the strangers among us.