Syria, most of us know very little about their uncivil civil war or the political policies and reasons for its existence. You may have heard about the millions of people fleeing the country. In 2011, when the conflict started, there were 100,000 refugees. That number has grown exponentially to 3.8 million that have fled the country and 7.2 million that moved to other parts of the country internally. It is estimated that it will reach well over 4 million by the end of the year. They are all running for their lives from the atrocities of war that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives of both civilians and militants. We see the pictures that are coming out of this country. People are scared, crying, dying and holding lifeless bodies of loved ones. Some Syrians have said that just doing day-to-day things is a matter of life and death in their own neighborhoods. Hope is lost. That is why millions of people are seeking refuge.
We know nothing about what it means to be a refugee. We can imagine and sympathize and hurt for those in that situation, but we pray that we will never know. Some of the early church knew what it meant to seek refuge. Christ foretold of the destruction of Jerusalem, “then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days” (Matt. 24:16-19)! Peter writes a letter and addressed it to “those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen” (1 Pet. 1:1). James also addressed his letter to the “dispersed abroad” (Jam. 1:1). It was something that the early church and those that taught had to do to survive (Acts 14:4-7).
This element in the life of the early church was used in the Hebrew letter, “… we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us…” (v. 6:18b-20a). Again in chapter 11, “…having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth… they are seeking a country of their own… they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (v. 13-16).
You and I are resident aliens who seek refuge from the present evil in God and His heavenly city. Remember that the danger is real, and it is life and death. We have a hope that the fears of this world, or even death, can’t take from us.