God made some cities special

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Cities of refuge really grabbed my attention. Among all the details of how God’s promised land of interdependent families would look, this seemed by far the most interesting!

I’ve tried to imagine what life would have been like there. Every incoming refugee would have a pretty intense story to share, regretting their own actions, mourning the loss of someone they may have loved, while needing to uproot from their home for fear of being killed themselves. They would have lost so much of their sense of selves. How would they get on in a radically different place, in a city where others faced the same challenges?

Would there have been a noticeably different atmosphere in their local Starbucks/equivalent? Would any gathering of people have seemed normal to an outsider or fresh arrival? How would people have got on? Or would they mainly have kept to themselves? In a society so dependent on good relationships, how would someone who had to flee there and find a way to make a living get by, let alone lead a fulfilling life?

Movie ideas welcome. (Really, aren’t there any movies about this already?) It strikes me as amazing that God’s kingdom planning extended to rescuing and redeeming people in extremely difficult situations like this. And it also amazes me that we live in a kind of sanctuary city ourselves, not for people who have necessarily done anything wrong, but whose lives and families had to be uprooted for fear of death at home.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God is relational, and his kingdom provision extends to people who have been displaced from their normal relationships. The practical side of this was a reminder of how “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it” (Psalm 24) and that his kingdom must reflect his values. I’m reminded of Psalm 68:6 – “God sets the lonely in families…”

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I feel privileged to live in a city which is a sanctuary for refugees. Some of the families we know in our school community have extremely hard working and capable kids who have learned at least two languages by age 5. I want to get to know some of the families a lot better than we do now. Faith conversations would be nice too, but I mainly want to share how much hope I have for them, put it into practice as a governor, and explore deeper if they become interested in the reasons for that hope.

Who am I going to share this with?

Others at our school who are looking out for the needs of refugee and other immigrant families, and especially those who might want to join in prayer for them.