A few years ago my wife and I traveled to a number of countries. Our daughter and her family lived and worked at that time in the Himalayan foothills. Part of our travels included several weeks in the Indian subcontinent.
There we visited with Tibetan Buddhists living in Dharamsala, the home in exile of the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans long to return to their homeland across the border with China. We also visited Amritsar to see the Golden Temple of the Sikh religion. Many Sikhs long to have their own country in the troubled Punjab region, on the Indian border with Pakistan. Today we are even more aware of refugees (from Palestine, Syria, Iran, and many African countries).
How should we think about our own land? Of course, we should be grateful for our blessings and live as responsible citizens. But there are some important biblical truths that we should also think deeply about. They should shape our attitudes and conduct.
First, we should have compassion for displaced people and have a heart of hospitality — even protective hospitality. Nearly all of us, or at least our forefathers, were once immigrants.
Second, we should never see our earthly country or homeland as an ultimate home. As the Scriptures teach, we look for a city whose builder and maker is God. Our ultimate dwelling will be shared with all the redeemed in the new heavens and the new earth.
And third, the biblical motif of exile actually begins in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve are sent away. The theme of Exile and Return then permeates the Bible. This is true for Israel in the OT and the Church in the NT.
But the Bible also points forward to a time when all will return to their Garden Home. There we will live together in God's presence and eat of the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.
May the Lord help us to think wisely about the land we call home, and to care for the people who do not have one -- always pointing to Christ and the way to final and complete rest in our Promised Land.
