Yesterday, we all learned about a 5-year-old boy – Liam Conejo Ramos – who was placed in detention. He is the fourth child in Minneapolis this has happened to, and here is what the school district said (according to AP News), about the situation. “School officials said the agents wouldn’t leave Liam with another adult who lives at the home or an official from the school district. But on Thursday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an online post that the father asked for the child to stay with him and that they are together at an immigration lockup in Dilley, Texas.” This nation, who so many people believe is a Christian nation, is locking up children who are American citizens. I wonder what Jesus would say about this?
Actually, I know exactly what Jesus would say. In Luke 17:2, Jesus said, “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” In other words – it would be better for you to die than mess with children! You know what else He said? In Matthew 18 He said, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” The next verse repeats Luke 17:2. Jesus had an affinity for children, a respect that may have been unusual for His time. We can understand – after all, King Herod tried to murder Him when He was a toddler. That kind of viciousness sticks with you. We are being led by the new King Herod.
This is who we are now, I guess. Not all of us – many of us still care about rights and protecting children from harm. The problem is that those in charge now do not. And yes – we have been locking up immigrant families for a long time, and that includes children. But now, as we see daily, some of those locked up people are US citizens. 5-year-old Liam is a citizen, and the status of the rest of his family is unclear. And even though this president wants to end Constitutional protections for people born here who aren’t white, it is still the law. I have always maintained that we are not and have never been a Christian nation, but I always hoped that we were, at least, kind of good. We aren’t. As long as we are arresting babies, we cannot define ourselves as anything but bad.
Prayer – Holy God, do not forgive those who hurt children – unless they repent. Amen.