Suffer the Little Children ...

Lord, you taught your chosen people the importance of hospitality. You taught them to give water, food and shelter by sharing your gracious gifts. Give us a full measure of your Spirit that we may grant your protection to those who flee from war and the threat of death. May we secure the lives of the children who come among us. Amen.

It is not an immigration problem. It is children fleeing from three countries with three of the top 5 murder rates in the world. It is parents desperately sending their children north into Mexico and the United States to secure their children's lives. The numbers we are experiencing here are reported to be 10x higher in Mexico.

Jason Miller of the Franciscan Action Network wrote of the priest addressing his local congregation saying, "We have failed at Christianity." His proof was the angry mobs meeting buses at the border protesting and demanding that the children on board be sent back home. Worse yet those children are being turned into political pawns by the agendas of politicians and parties as a means leveraging issues.

As Christians we are failing Christ when we fail to provide the basic security needed for children. We cannot claim the label of Pro-life when we strike out in anger and hostility at the most vulnerable in the world.

President George W. Bush understood the unique vulnerability of children and in 2008 signed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. This act requires border patrol agents to turn over unaccompanied children to Health and Human Services for processing. That law and the responsibility under the law to properly care for those kids fleeing Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador in the least restrictive environment is overwhelming because of the numbers involved. TVPRA's ability to deal with a protect these children is immensely complicated by those who seek to convert it into an immgration issue.

Can anyone imagine Jesus turning away such vulnerable children who are alone and thousands of miles from home. In Matthew 19 when his disciples are trying to stop parents from bringing children to Jesus for a simple blessing Jesus chastizes his disciples saying, ""Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Can any Christian believe that Jesus would not be welcoming every child at the border and encouraging his followers to do everything they can to secure the children's safety.

Jason Miller further challenges us to understand that to follow Christ is to willingly take action beyond our comfort zones. To move beyond the ease of check writing and into action.

If we believe in real Christian hospitality what does that look like. What is it to love our neighbor. Is it only for people like us, only people of the right economic class, only the right color, only the right education, only the right political views, only the right whatever? Or is it is true that "... God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Just how much do we believe in Jesus?