Based on a Sermon for Agape Fellowship, October 27, 2024
“Where are you from?” The question seems simple enough on the surface. Yet, my answer is never easy. It is usually dependent on the context of the question. Who is asking? Where are we? Why is he or she asking? What do they want to know?
So where am I from? I was born and grew up in Elkhart, Indiana. That’s probably the simplest answer to the question of where I’m from.
But if you are asking where my family is from, neither of my parents were born or grew up in Indiana. My mother was born in Kansas, grew up in Minnesota, and was a resident of California when she married my father. My mother’s ancestors came to North America via northern Germany, Prussia, and Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. She frequently referred to “her people” later in her life. They were usually called “Russian Mennonites.”
My father was born and grew up on a farm between Albany and Lebanon, Oregon. His ancestors came from Switzerland, southern Germany, and a province called Alsace which bounced back and forth between Germany and France. His father moved to Oregon from Iowa. In Iowa, they were called “Amish Mennonites.” By the time I came on the scene, they were mostly referred to as “Old Mennonites” to distinguish them from the “General Conference Mennonites.”
So that’s where my family is from. However, after my parents confirmed their relationship by finishing their degrees at Goshen College in Indiana, and then getting married, my father got a teaching job in nearby Elkhart. So, I was born in the city of Elkhart, in Concord Township in Elkhart County in the State of Indiana, United States of America. That makes me a citizen of the United States of America. So, if I am in another country, the United States is where I’m from.
“But where are you from today?” someone might ask. In 2016, Twila and I moved from Goshen, Indiana to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, another of the 50 states of the United States of America. If you ask the U.S. Census Bureau to be more specific about our new house, they count me as residing in a little village called Kenmar, just east of Faxon and west of Montoursville.[1]
However, if you look at the deed to our house, it refers to “that certain piece, parcel and lot of land situate in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, known as Lot No. 1 of the Plan ofHomewood Oaks-Phase 1, recorded in Lycoming County in Map Book 42 Page 437…. So, we live in Homewood Oaks, a townhouse association, and if I’m speaking to someone in the neighborhood, I might say I’m from Homewood Oaks.[2]
That deed also tells me that for the Pennsylvania government, I am a resident of Loyalsock Township in Lycoming County for their purposes of providing me public services, taxing me, and telling me where to vote.
However, if you want to get mail to me, you need to know that the United States Postal Service lists my mailing address not as Kenmar or Homewood Oaks or Loyalsock Township, but as Williamsport, PA 17701. So, I often say I’m from Williamsport.
“But where are you from?” The question persists. Digging deeper, I discover that the small parcel of land recorded in Map Book 42, Page 437, originally belonged to a much bigger territory controlled by the ancient Susquehannock tribe of Native Americans, now known as the Conestoga-Susquehannock tribe.[3] Someone might ask how I as a descendant of Europeans and born and raised in another state, can rightly “be from” and live on the land of the Susquehannock? Some even question whether the first European settlers ever legally acquired this land. What gave them the right to enter this land into Map Book 42, Page 437? If their right to the land was not legitimate, am I currently living on stolen land?
Where am I from? Where are you from?
Before we get too confused and befuddled, let’s look at this from another perspective. The church that I am a part of is located in the city of Williamsport, also on the land of the ancient Susquehannock. The church was founded by European Mennonites who came from a different part of Germany than my ancestors and settled first 100 miles south of Williamsport in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before eventually settling further north and planting this church.
In the 16th to 18th centuries, these Mennonites were hounded all over Europe by other Christians. Most Christians in Europe were quite sure these so-called Anabaptists or Mennonites were out to destroy the Christian state of Europe, although by that time had become many states, some Catholic, some Lutheran, some Reformed. In many cases, these Mennonites weren’t able to even own land in Europe. According to church records (which were also government records), they did not even exist since they weren’t baptized as babies in the State Church. Where are you from, if your existence isn’t even recorded in the public record?
These folks were overjoyed to be able to come to Pennsylvania and be given status as persons and also land they could farm and feed their families. At the same time, in their gratitude to God for the gift of land, they also affirmed the opening words of Psalm 24: 1 The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it…[4]
“The earth is the Lord’s… This is not just an isolated verse in the Psalms. Rather, it is at the heart of the Biblical perspective on who really owns the land. The spiritual ancestors of those who formed my current spiritual home said very clearly, “The earth is the Lord’s.”
Where are you from if “The earth is the Lord’s”?
In the end, we human beings do not own the land. We are caretakers or stewards, managers of God’s creation and God’s land. That makes all the difference on where we are from. It makes all the difference in how we care for the land and the whole earth. And it makes all the difference in how we view other folks who would also like to benefit from the economic success that the Lord’s earth has given us.
The opening pages of the Bible tell the story of a people called Israelites who were landless, wandering all over the ancient Mideast looking for a way to support their families. Eventually, they reached Egypt and became slaves to the landowners there. In Egypt, they had food but were at the mercy of those who controlled the land of Egypt, the Egyptians. God saw their plight and we have that great story of how they were brought out of Egypt and how they set out through the wilderness on a pilgrimage to a “Promised Land.”
A high point in this Exodus story comes as they stand at the foot of Mt. Sinai eagerly awaiting entrance into their own land. Yet God had a much more important message to tell them to put everything they experienced into perspective. In Exodus 19, just before Moses goes up the mountain to receive the Law, the foundation documents of their life together, God says this to Israel: (Exodus 19:4-6 NRSVue)
4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.”
Looking at God’s message more closely, we notice the “if” statement: if you obey my voice and keep my covenant…you shall be my people. We notice that there is no blanket promise that they would be landowners or that their nation would be built on a piece of land. We notice in this statement nothing that says, “I will give you a particular piece of property that will be yours forever and ever.” Instead, there is the reminder: …the whole earth is mine… And there is a promised result if they obey and keep the covenant: 6…but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. They will be a holy nation, in other words, a people set apart to show God’s way to all the peoples and nations. They as a people will be like a priest who represents God to the rest of the peoples and represents the other nations to God.
Later, on the journey to this promised land on which they will live out this covenant and holy calling, we find these words in Leviticus 25: 18 You shall observe my statutes and faithfully keep my ordinances, so that you may live on the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely. A few verses later, God says, 23 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. 24 Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land. (Leviticus 25?18-24)
In other words, God tells Israel they are not to act like the ultimate owners of the land who can buy and sell to make a profit for themselves. Instead, the land is a gift to all of the people. The occupiers of the land are aliens and tenants. When people become poor, God says, you shall provide for the redemption of the land, in other words assuring that the land continues to support all of the people, rich and poor alike. The verses that follow in Leviticus 25 tell how that is supposed to happen in that particular agricultural society. It includes concepts of sabbaticals for workers and the land. It includes a Jubilee every 50 years. Israel had a very hard time implementing these instructions; in fact, there is no evidence they ever did. Yet that is the vision God set before them.
The main point is this: God says, “the land is mine; you are the tenants. I give you privileges on the land for the good of all of the people. I do not give individual title to a class of people who proclaim themselves ‘landowners.’ Indeed, “…the whole earth is mine… says the Lord.”
This principle that “The earth is the Lord’s” is also the basis for how Israel is to treat foreigners in their midst.
33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33–34 NRSVue)
In other words, says God, I’m the owner of the land and here my terms for you to be tenants. You shall include even the alien in your economic plan. “I love the alien; you shall love the alien…”
This attitude toward outsiders and aliens is reinforced throughout the Old Testament, based on the principle that “The earth is the Lord’s…”
One commentator even makes it a point to note that “In most instances…, the land referred to is the land promised to and occupied by Israel. Only exceptionally, however, is it called the ‘land of Israel.’
“On the contrary, throughout Israel’s long association with the “promised land” or the “holy land”, Israel kept alive the memory that it had originally been the ‘land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.’”[5]
Before Israel enters the land, Moses goes to great lengths to say to Israel: 17 Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. 19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 8:17–20 NRSVue)
Therefore, God’s people get the economic benefits represented by land only as long as they keep the covenant. That covenant includes sharing those benefits with others. Otherwise, if they (or we!) become the rich who pretend to be the landowners, God will once again take the side of the poor and upend the economic system of the rich.
Throughout the Old Testament, the spiritual life of the people to whom God has entrusted the land is only as good as their ability to incorporate those who are currently not enjoying the fruit of the land. Most often this is expressed as widows, orphans, and aliens.
- Widows because in that society, a woman who lost her husband couldn’t own land on her own and thus had very little way to care for herself.
- Orphans because they were still dependent children and had no father to work and economically support them.
- And aliens or strangers because they did not otherwise have any legal status in Israelite society and thus were not able to acquire land.
A key passage that illustrates this point is Deuteronomy 24:17–22 (NRSVue)
17 “You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
And even more specific instructions for that day: 19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. 20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.
21 “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. 22 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.
The blessing of God for the community comes to the extent that they remember those at a disadvantage. That means anyone without land. It includes aliens.
Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 25. God judges all the nations by this same standard of how they treat the landless, those without economic advantage:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory…. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…,34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 24:31-40)
So where does that leave us today? In the final analysis, “Where are you from?”
Are you rich landowners or poor tenants? As middle class North Americans, some of us have an advantage because we own a farm or are heirs of the land of our parents or grandparents. Some of us have earned good income because we had the advantages of good schools built on the property taxes from the land. We are from one school district instead of another. Some of us have struggled because we came into life or came into school with distinct disadvantages. We are from the wrong side of town or from a broken family or have some disabilities. Many of us are somewhere in between. We don’t think of ourselves as rich landowners, but neither do we want to be known as poor tenants.
But the question that Jesus asks is “Where are you from?” In other words “With whom do we identify?” The powers of this world want to define us.
- Am I from Williamsport, seen as a city with a group of people, some rich but more poor, and often seen as coming from other parts of Pennsylvania?
- Or am I from Loyalsock Township, viewed as a more afflluent suburb or a rural area removed from the diversity of the city?
- Am I from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, identifying solely with Englishman William Penn and his heirs?
- Or am I from the ancient territory of the Susquehannock tribe, identifying with those who occupied the land for centuries before the white folks came?
- Finally, am I a citizen of the United States of America with all of the perks and privileges of a world superpower?
- Or do I identify as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven which can often be subversive of American Nationalism?
Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is prepared for those who identify with the poor and sick, the stranger and the prisoner. The Kingdom of Heaven is prepared for those who actively work to share the land and the wealth from it with those who do not have enough.
Jesus identifies with the stranger or alien who comes into our community asking simply for the opportunity to share the abundance that God has given us. The question is, “Do we identify with Jesus?”
In recent months and years, immigrants and would-be immigrants have been in the news.
The politicians of the nations ask, “Where are you from?” and then they make their judgments on whether “they” should be here in “our” communities. So often, the decision comes down to race. Those of us from European descent want to keep our power and privilege as white folks. The newer folks coming in often don’t look like us or act like us or even believe like us. Thus, those of us who have been here for a longer time react in fear that those coming in will take what we have, will take over the institutions of power, and will take away our power to horde our economic benefits for ourselves. As a result, we say, “I am from here; you other people should go back to where you came from.”
Sadly, we forget that in the final analysis, we are not from here. We enjoy the blessings that we do because the powers of this world took over the land and then created laws that enabled us to buy and sell and prosper. I dare say that none of us in this part of Pennsylvania can even identify a Susquehannock person. I can’t. Yet, based on the eviction of the Susquehannock people, we often have the audacity to claim the right that God forbade Israel, to sell the land in perpetuity. The Susquehannock have more right to say, “I am from here” than any of us.
In the final analysis, we occupy the land and enjoy its economic benefits only by the grace of God, the owner of the land. Our ultimate citizenship is in the Kingdom of God or the Reign of God, the people of God proclaimed by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We become and remain that people not by proclaiming that we are God’s chosen by virtue of birth or race, or culture. Neither are we God’s people by acquiring and claiming rights to live on the land. We are God’s people by keeping the covenant.
It is that covenant proclaimed by Moses and amplified and fully defined by the person of Jesus which seeks the good of all people no matter where we come from. It is a covenant not based on grasping or acquiring more land and money and goods, but rather by sharing what we have, especially with the poor and the aliens.
So it is good for us to stop and think about the question, “Where are you from?” And if we do claim to be from a particular place, we should treat all the people in that space, even those we think of as strangers and aliens, the same as we want to be treated, as citizens, with all of rights and privileges, all of the respect and compassion, that we would treat a family member. Above all else, we can say, “I am from the Kingdom of God.” Then we can act like it by treating others as citizens of the Kingdom as well.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenmar,_Pennsylvania#
[2] https://www.homewoodoaks.org/
[3] Although the tribe is generally considered extinct (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susquehannock) modern descendants of the tribe are working to re-establish their identity (https://www.conestogasusquehannocktribe.com/).
[4] This history is chronicled in Ruth, J. L. (2001). The Earth Is the Lord’s: A Narrative History of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference (Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History). United States: Herald Press. See also https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Earth_is_the_Lord_s/0mEmAQAAIAAJ?hl=en.
[5] Waldemar Janzen and Roger S. Boraas, “Land,” ed. Mark Allan Powell, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (Revised and Updated) (New York: HarperCollins, 2011), 538.