Our faith is calling us to reach out and help those in need

It's a shame all the people who hate immigrants, but consider themselves good people, don't believe this too. DP

By THE REV. DENISE L. STRINGER, pastor of Emmaus United Methodist Church in Albany

timesunion.com: On Sunday morning, many of us will wave palm branches to re-enact Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We will recall the image of Jesus riding a farm animal into the city. We will identify with the crowds who heralded Jesus as a victorious savior. Many of us will recognize Jesus as a nonviolent reformer.

This first-century rabbi spent his public life working among those for whom no one else cared. He kept company with people of questionable backgrounds. His followers called him Messiah and king. Others judged him a nuisance at best and a public enemy at worst. Religious leaders wanted to be like him but could not be. So they undermined his work and had him killed.

Today, people in the United States share a vision like that of Jesus. We use our advantaged status to love and serve the world's outcasts, including those who escaped oppression in their native lands. We build avenues of mercy for newcomers who don't know English well and find it hard to adapt to a new culture.

Ordinary Americans are quietly working as modern-day prophets, teachers and healers for the strangers in our midst. We communicate with the common vocabulary of a smile, pantomime, honesty and faith. People respond to caring with openness and gratitude. They take another step on the road from trauma toward healing. They move from exclusion and suspicion toward assimilation and good citizenship.

Their courage and endurance inspire us. We discover new power for innovation and investment. Collaborating on hospitality and celebrating a new way of blessing the poor have the potential to revitalize our communities. With a little community organizing and a lot of faith, our neighborhoods can be welcoming places that offer literacy instruction, multilingual social and psychological services, accessible child care and health care, decent housing, job training and multicultural worship. But no single organization can address all the needs of our new neighbors from Burma, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Cameroon, Burundi, Ghana and other places too numerous to name. Failure to provide for people's needs demands peaceful protest. We must challenge public systems and private attitudes that encourage prejudice and discourage assimilation.

The image of Jesus entering the city calls out to faithful people, begging us to trade self-interested lifestyles for compassionate service and effective protest. This Holy Week calls us to claim the promise of Jesus, "The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you." This year, may our hosannas yield to visionary collaboration on behalf of the people Jesus came to liberate and heal.
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