The immigrant community is at the heart of God

I consider myself a child of God and where I best find inspiration is in the word of God. While I was preparing tonight I was reminded of a song by Franco de Vita. I don't know how many of you know Franco de Vita? Do you know Franco de Vita? Let's see, make a confession. How many know Franco de Vita? OK.

Franco de Vita has a song called 'Yo soy latino'. I don't know if you've heard it. The song says: 'I'm Latino, and what's wrong? I'm not from New York I only speak Spanish. “I am Latino, and what is wrong with it? Don't accuse me of being illegal." That's what the song says. 'Don't accuse me of being illegal, here is my Green Card'. He makes some rhymes with his words. That man is incredible.

But I was thinking about that song and it went like this: 'I am Latino'. And I know my brothers, that the immigrant community has many names. It has many faces, it has many faces. The immigrant community comes in cafe au lait as well as totally dark brown. The immigrant community comes with blonde hair and blue eyes as well as red hair and red faces, too. The immigrant community comes in many forms.

And you know what? The immigrant community is at the heart of God. There is no other way to see that.

When I look at the scriptures from the time of Abraham to the time of us today, God has always had business with the immigrant community. What's more, I believe that immigration has been God's plan because God himself is the one who sends people on journeys, takes them out of their countries and sends them on trips that perhaps they don't know where they are going to end up, however. , God ends them elsewhere. And they do business all the way and they have their ups, they have their downs, they scrape their knees but they harvest. They manage to do great things and all because God is the one who is moving them.

And each one of us, I say to myself: we are that community. I am an immigrant although politically and by documents I am legal being from Puerto Rico, but I am an immigrant too. And I identify with the needs of this population. And I know that God also identifies in the depths of his heart. Look what God says in First Peter, chapter 2. I'm going to read this real quick.

First Peter, chapter 2, verse 9 says: 'But you," -I am reading from a version, the new international version- "are a chosen lineage, a royal priesthood. A holy nation, a people that belongs to God – I emphasize that – so that you may proclaim the wonders of him who called you out of darkness into his admirable light. Check it out. I'm going to make connections here right now. ‘You who were not even a people before, but now you are the people of God. You who had not received mercy anymore, however, have now received it.

'My dear brothers, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims in this world to turn away from the sinful desires that fight against life, maintain such an exemplary conduct among the unbelievers that even if they are accused of doing evil, they observe the good works yourselves and glorify God on the day of salvation'. Let me pause there.

While I was thinking about this, my brothers, about this idea that we are, I tell myself that "we are" is well connected to being. Our being, our identity, what we really have inside. Those two parts cannot be disconnected. And that integral being comes with a series of benefits and responsibilities as well. The benefits I just read. The mere fact of knowing that my being is connected to the being of God already gives me that benefit that I am not just anything nor am I just any person, but that my identity is totally connected to God. My identity is totally connected to a power that goes beyond the powers of this Earth, of this world in which we live.

The mere fact that the Word tells me that I am a chosen generation, I am a new people, I am a family, I belong to a family. I have my blood family that is there in Puerto Rico, but I have a spiritual family that is much bigger and much more powerful than that family that I have there in Puerto Rico. And I am part of that family because God makes it so. The mere fact that I am part of that chosen people, a people that belongs to God. The mere fact that I belong to God is because He buys us, He takes us out, sets us apart, makes us a holy nation.

This idea of being holy -as we always say- does not mean that I walk around with a halo like that, but rather that the idea of being holy is that we are separate, we are set apart, we are something different. A cadre totally different from all the others. There is something that separates us. There is a DNA that makes us different from everyone else. And the mere fact that I am part of God's people gives me purpose. A purpose in life, a reason for being.

And that reason for being here in this text is telling me that I can announce, that I can speak of the wonders of God. And those wonders of God - when we talk about wonders of God we are not only talking about the good ones, the great, beautiful blessings that God gives us; that if we can have a house, a job, whatever- also has to do with his word of justice. From me to declare and claim justice here in the time in which we live.

Through efforts like Alpha does, through moves that we can make as churches when we reach out to someone in need. We are declaring the justice of God, for that person as well. That is what it means to 'announce the wonders of God'. But just as we enjoy those benefits or in political terms rights, we also have responsibilities. And God marks some very clear responsibilities here. And I believe that when we stay true to those responsibilities, the blessings we enjoy are much more abundant.

But some of those responsibilities - as this passage is saying here - look at verse 11 I am reading: 'Brothers, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims in this world, to turn away from the sinful desires that fight against life'. If I were to read that phrase in another way, what it is saying is that we can live worthy of the one who has separated us.

That when we face the injustices of the world in which we live... see if I really ask you when we face injustice, what comes out of us? What is our first reaction?

Our first reaction is to cut off the other person's head. That is our human reaction. It's like… And already eliminated. That is our human reaction. I am like that, in case, there are times that I make jokes here with people. Today I am calm. Today I am here. Other nights I'm there. But I'm going to stay here. But that is our human reaction. It's like nothing, the bad thing about us when we face injustice, like it bursts and wants to respond in the same way.

But God is telling us not to do that. That when we find ourselves in the face of these injustices, "Look, hold on, resist." Do you remember what I said a Wednesday ago? Which was – I'm not going to do it again – but it was to endure like this, resist until God is the one who does justice for us.

Do you know why, my brothers? Right here he gives us the answer. That we can live - look how he says - 'that we can conduct ourselves well among those people who do us justice. Because if we behave in this way, even if they speak badly against you - look at what he says - they will see the good that you do.

If we manage to behave in the way that God expects of us. Look, the people outside are going to be saying 'You are an illegal, you are a criminal, you are not worth it, you are a freeloader, you are a parasite,' and God knows how many other things they can tell us!

But if we stand firm in the truth that God identifies us, look, those comments –as I say in good Puerto Rican- "bathe in oil and dress in lettuce" because those comments collide and completely slip. Because we know where we stand and nothing and no one gets us out of there. And at that moment when you stand firm, even though it hurts at the moment, look, I know it hurts. What I am saying is not easy. Enduring these injustices is not easy. I know it hurts, I know it bothers you and you want to do something about it.

I am not saying 'No!' that one stands idly by. But when one manages to wait for God to operate in his justice, look, things work in a totally different way. Those people who opened their mouths against you are going to have to put their tongues in the case. They are easily going to have to do it that way because God is the one who is going to shame those who speak against his children, his chosen ones. Or have we forgotten what the Word says? And I'm going to end this. A very simple text, which we all know.

When we are God's people, what does the Apostle Paul remind us of in First Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 26? When he says: 'Brothers, look at this. When you were called, none of you were wise according to the flesh. In other words, none of you were wise by the concepts of the world in which you live. 'And many of you were neither powerful nor wealthy. But the foolishness of the world, God chose to shame the wise and the weak in the world, God chose to shame to shame the strong and the vile of the world and what was despised by others, that was what God chose to shame what is not and to undo what is'.

We live in a great mystery. Maybe in daily life we don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. Wow! You can plan but you don't know what tomorrow will say. I don't know how the papers are going to be resolved, I know a lot of people here, who look –glory to God- their papers have been organized and for the glory of God I say so. But when they were on that trajectory, in that process I remember, I saw it in their faces. Their faces told me like 'I don't know how this is going to happen. I don't know when, I don't know how, I don't know where. And I saw in their faces, there were times when their faces told me 'I'm going back, I'm staying, do I risk it or not'. And I suffered from that.

More, however, God has taken it upon himself to do justice to each of those people. Some have already gone ahead, others are still waiting. There are some who who knows if they are just beginning and who knows if there are others who are still hidden in the shadows because they don't even dare to say 'and'. More, however, God has his eyes on each one of them. Because those who are considered as -another political term- minority, look, do you know what God says? What does 'minority' mean? Go ahead. Let them call you a minority.

For the record, I'm not going against the campaign. I am monitoring my rhetoric well. But in God's language, 'minority' means majority. That's what I just read: minority means majority. Weakness means strength, poverty means wealth. What seems weak, what can be seen as something weak, that is what God uses and makes it strong to do something totally great and powerful, my brothers. Each of us here are witnesses to that. Each of you as an agency have experienced this at different stages of your lives. And look, they are going to continue living it. There are times when you have new initiatives and there are times when you launch them and move people here and there, in California, in Texas and wherever. And wow, let's go! And suddenly a Congressman comes over there who doesn't even know where his nose is and [pam] knocked it all over and it's like ah!

But look, what does one do? Gear back up, brush it off. We are going to continue, we search again, we look for people, we call here and there. And look above all things, we recognize that we have a God who is the one who gives us the wisdom to know how to move all those waters.

So, my brothers, tonight, I want you to think about this: tonight I am sure that we are making a very strong and firm statement before God. The we can recognize this: what we are. What we are in the eyes of God contradicts what we are in the eyes of today's world.

If there is one thing that is taught here in this church, it is that we learn to see our lives through God's lens and not the lens of the world in which we live. Because God's glasses say something totally different about us that does not compare at all with what this world can say today.

Once again, I am not ignoring the difficulty that can be experienced. But there is a word from God himself that says 'Enough of my grace. Because my power is perfected when you feel weakest. When you believe that there is no hope, that there is no alternative, when you do not see a light at the end of the tunnel, God becomes that light. God is the one who is in charge of raising us up, God is the one who is in charge of equipping us, God is the one who is in charge, my brothers, of being able to choose a woman who perhaps all she had is a fourth grade of education and suddenly the nothing that woman finished with a master's degree and now she is a professional, she is a professional, she has a family, she has a house. Your life is in order.

That is something only God can do. A man, who perhaps came here carrying his wife in one arm and his four children in the other and that every step he took, perhaps, that man said "I don't know how I'm going to do this." More, however, is now the owner of a company. Their children have managed to graduate, they are working, they are professionals. They suffered, they cried, they shed blood, but nevertheless, God honored every drop of sweat, tear, and blood that that family shed. Because God has power to do that. What we are is founded on God and is not founded on what man says.

Let us always live in the light of that truth. We are a people of God, my brothers, we are nothing else. So I invite you, my brothers, let's get up, let's pray. We will close tonight.

Thanks God. Lord Jesus, once again, we declare that we are your people, Lord. And we thank you for tonight. Thank you. Thanks a thousand. Our heart is grateful, Lord, for what you do, for what you live, for what you manifest for each of your children. Those of us who are the most despised, Lord, are the ones that You pay the most attention to.

Father, we know that there is a lot of ground to conquer, there is a lot of ground, there is a long way to go. More, however, Father tonight we say that we take each step trusting in You That when it seems that we don't know where our next sole of foot is going to land, You take care of putting something there, where we can step firmly and move on .

Lord we bless once again the agencies represented here: Alpha, Nella and Centro present, Lord. All of these agencies nationwide that are working hard and hard for the immigrant community here in the United States. We bless you. We bless our political leaders, our Congressmen, Senators, the President. We declare that You reveal yourself to their lives, Lord. May You soften their hearts so that they can pay attention to the voices of these people who can make a difference here in this nation.

And Lord, above all things, we ask that Your Church - with a capital 'i' - around this entire nation may rise up and recognize the call that You have on this immigrant population, Lord. That You bring them here with a purpose and that purpose is not to curse the land, but to bless the land that You Yourself have consecrated, Lord. What You yourself have separated for Your Glory and Your honor.

I bless my brothers tonight, Lord. May the words on which we have reflected today, Lord, remain in their hearts and inspire their courage, hope, affirm them, Lord, in Your plans, Your promises and that tomorrow, if You allow it, we can get up with new eyes, with new encouragement, with new impetus, my God to lay hands on life in your name, Jesus.

We give glory and honor only to You because You make it possible. What for us seems impossible, for You everything is possible, Lord. So we thank you in the name of your son Jesus.

Amen and amen. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thanks God. Brothers God bless you.