As a kid, I was obsessed with anything to do with “outer space.” I’m showing my age here, but crowded together with all my primary school friends around a tiny black-and-white TV set, I was one of those privileged to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon, so imagine my surprise when a mate told me that the Bible mentions aliens, and what’s more, it went so far as to say that they are living and walking among us.
This was BIG news. There were aliens here on earth!!!! Needless to say, I grabbed the nearest Bible and started trying to find the so-called “alien” texts. My friend was right. I found at least 60 references to aliens splashed across the Old and New Testaments of Scripture, and what’s more I was specifically commanded by God to “offer hospitality” to these other-worldly visitors. How COOL was that! I couldn’t wait to tell my parents that they were to open their doors to all manner of Martians, Venusians and other little green men, be they “lost in space” or on some “star trek” of their own. Wherever they were from, it was my responsibility to make them feel welcome on
my planet.
Words can’t describe my disappointment when my parents let me in on the secret —when the Bible talks about aliens, it is not referring to “other-worldly” visitors, but simply strangers, foreigners or guests in our country. Major downer!
Still, it got me thinking . . . and in some ways I’ve been thinking about the “alien” question ever since, especially in an age of “boat-people,” controversial immigration policies, and inhumane detention centres. Regardless of where they came from, the Bible was clear: as followers of Christ, we had—no, make that have—a responsibility to all these “others” to make them feel welcome and care for their needs. Time and time again, prophet after prophet talked about four groups of people—widows, orphans, the poor and the aliens (there’s that word again) within our gates. Starting with Moses in Deuteronomy (14:28) and the terms of the original covenant God made with Israel, to Job (29:12) and King David (Ps 146:9), Isaiah (1:17), Jeremiah (22:3), Zechariah (7:10) and Malachi (3:5) and every prophet in between, not to mention James (1:27), John (1 Jn 3:17-18) and especially Jesus (Matthew 25:40), the meaning was inescapable when defining our responsibilities to others. The little-known prophet Micah (6:8) put it perhaps most clearly of all:
The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands:
“See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”
(CEV).
Tony Knight lives in Melbourne, Victoria, and is the Resource Centre Manager at the Australian Union Conference.
