By Rick Burnette, CBF field personnel
“Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
During the earliest days of his ministry, Jesus seemingly misses an opportunity to make a good impression with the folks back home in Nazareth. Invited to participate while attending synagogue on the Sabbath, he takes the scroll of Isaiah and reads:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Finishing the passage, Jesus announces, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
So far, so good with the congregants. But then he brings an unexpected twist to Isaiah’s passage of good news for the poor, liberty for the captives, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed.
Using only three sentences to recount how Elijah and Elisha brought God’s provision and healing to gentiles, Jesus communicated to the people of Nazareth – his own people – that the fulfillment of Isaiah’s passage is not merely limited to their tribe. The Nazarenes were not ready for that message.
In fact, they were so mad that they tried to throw their native son over a cliff. Amazingly, Jesus managed to slip away.
Brian McLaren explains that when the home crowd realized that Jesus was saying that the good news wasn’t just for them, but for all humankind, they felt betrayed and viewed Jesus as disloyal. Sound familiar?
Our churches are in a tight spot right now. Societal tensions have amplified the us vs. them mentality. To court favor among the native-born during these uncertain times, immigrants are being criminalized and dehumanized for political purposes.
Meanwhile, we may not have noticed that the world is on fire. Climate change does not operate in a vacuum; nor do crop failure, civil unrest, stalling economies, toxic politics and war. It’s all connected, resulting in the displacement of millions worldwide
We seem to forget that people have always been on the move, including our forebears and perhaps even us. But now, the volume of the displaced continues to grow, with more and more people desperate for security, shelter and full stomachs.
And never have so many of CBF’s Global Missions field personnel been engaged in ministries related to global migration; right when migration has become a political dirty word. But as people of the Word, we cannot ignore the Biblical mandate to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and feed His sheep.
Our CBF-related ministry, Cultivate Abundance, is engaged in the Immokalee farmworker community of southwest Florida where there is no CBF congregation within 90 miles. Immokalee isn’t tiny. This non-incorporated community has a population of roughly 26,000, largely comprised of people with roots in Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti.
Immokalee is where most of America’s wintertime tomatoes, and other commercial produce, are grown. Despite approximately 16 million pounds of food being grown and shipped from Immokalee each day, much of the community has been classified as a food desert; neighborhoods where quality, affordable food is difficult to access.
Our mission is to honor these hardworking, food insecure, migrant neighbors by growing, collecting and sharing nutritious food of cultural preference.
Largely due to local political hostility as well as indifference towards migrants, compared to other regions in the U.S., our ministry receives very limited financial support from within the three largest southwest Florida counties. However, we thank God for Misión Peniel, our dearest partner in ministry as well as scores of local volunteers and home gardeners, churches, institutions and nonprofits as well as a couple of small farms that contribute their time and surplus of fruit, vegetables and herbs to nourish and bless our food-insecure neighbors.
If it wasn’t for the generosity of distant CBF churches who give faithfully to the Offering for Global Missions, I would not be able to engage in and around Immokalee; nor would dozens of my colleagues serving in numerous locations around the world. Neither would the efforts of Cultivate Abundance continue without support from individuals, congregations, and agencies linked to CBF.
Immokalee isn’t the only community with migrant workers engaged in vital services. Practically every locale, where a CBF church is present, is being enriched through the diversity and skillsets of those who harvest, process and prepare our food, construct our homes, care for our sick and elderly, and keep our industries going, often with minimal compensation.
Overwhelmingly, they are hardworking, law-abiding and good neighbors. They deserve the prophetic love and support of local CBF congregations.
Whether engaging with migrant communities near or far, we aren’t called to be their saviors or patrons. We are called to be their allies, modeling the mandate that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah.
That will come with risk. But it’s our calling.