From Sojourners To Stewards | Will Koreans Remember The Kindness Once Shown To Them

A Korean Messianic Call To Radical Hospitality

Meta Description: Feeling outrage over homeless encampments in Koreatown? Discover the powerful biblical model from Torah and the Gospels on how to respond with compassion, not contempt. Learn how our history as sojourners commands us to love our neighbor.

H1: When Our Walls Go Up: A Messianic Jewish Reflection on Koreatown, Homelessness, and the Torah of Hospitality

Quick Summary:

· The Problem: A growing homeless encampment in Koreatown is causing outrage and fear within the Korean-American community.

· The Irony: Many Koreans came to America as sojourners and were shown incredible hospitality, allowed to build thriving communities.

· The Biblical Mandate: Torah and the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus) are overwhelmingly clear: we must not harden our hearts to the poor and the stranger.

· The Heart Change: This isn't just a social issue; it's a spiritual one. It's about moving from a mindset of fear and disdain to one of compassion and stewardship.

· The Call to Action: We are called to be a light, to remember our own history, and to extend the same kindness we received to the "least of these" in our midst.

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The news report hits close to home. Makes the blood pressure rise.

Tents. Makeshift structures. A sprawling encampment in the heart of a community we built with our own hands.

Koreatown.

For many in our community, the reaction is visceral. Outrage. Fear. A deep sense of violation. "This is our home. Our safe place. Our piece of America."

These feelings are real. They are valid.

But as people of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—as followers of the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua—we are called to pause. To look deeper. To view this crisis not just through the eyes of cultural ownership, but through the lens of eternal Torah and radical grace.

We must ask a painful, prophetic question:

Are we building walls of disdain where we were once welcomed with open arms?

Remember the Soul of the Sojourner

Close your eyes. Remember the stories.

Our parents. Our grandparents. Ourselves.

Leaving the familiar soil of Asia. Crossing an ocean to a continent of unknown language, unknown customs, unknown faces.

We were the outsiders. The sojourners.

And yet, we were met with a profound gift: hospitality. The native-born Americans allowed us space. They granted us the incredible kindness of building community. Of establishing roots. Of creating a "Koreatown" as a testament to both our heritage and our new home.

This was not a small thing. It was the very hand of God, moving through human kindness.

Torah commands us to never forget this feeling of being the "other."

"You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23:9)

The command is rooted in memory. Because you know what it feels like. Your history is your teacher. Your past vulnerability is meant to fuel present compassion.

How quickly the memory fades. How quickly the protected can become the protectors of their own comfort, forgetting the fragility of the safety they were once granted.

The Torah's Unmistakable Command on the Poor

This is not a peripheral issue in Scripture. It is central to the character of God and the identity of His people.

God’s heart is irrevocably bent toward the poor, the marginalized, and the destitute.

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor… you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

The text anticipates the internal struggle. "Do not harden your heart." It knows our first instinct is self-preservation. Fear. It knows we want to "shut our hand."

But the divine command is to do the opposite: "Open your hand."

This isn't a suggestion. It's a core tenet of a righteous life. The Proverbs are littered with this truth:

“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” (Proverbs 14:31)

To look down on the poor is not just a social misstep. It is an insult to the God who made them in His image. Our treatment of the least powerful is a direct reflection of our honor for the Most Powerful.

Yeshua's Radical Gospel of the "Least of These"

As Messianic believers, we see the perfect fulfillment of Torah's heart in Yeshua. His teachings take the command to love and make it blisteringly personal and practical.

He didn't just talk about the poor. He lived among them. He was known as their friend.

When asked about the greatest commandment, He fused love for God with love for neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). And He defined "neighbor" in the most inconvenient way possible.

Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? (Luke 10:25-37). The religious leaders passed by the wounded, destitute man on the road. It was the cultural outsider—the Samaritan—who showed mercy.

Yeshua's conclusion? “You go, and do likewise.”

He calls us to action. To inconvenient, costly, cross-cultural compassion.

But His most sobering words on this subject are found in Matthew 25. He speaks of the final judgment, separating the sheep from the goats. The criteria?

Not doctrinal purity. Not religious attendance.

But practical, tangible love for the hurting.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

The righteous are shocked. "Lord, when did we see you like this?"

And the King answers with words that should shake us to our core:

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

When we serve the homeless, the addict, the mentally ill person on our street—we are serving Messiah Himself. When we look away in disdain, we are turning our back on Him.

From Outrage to Outreach: A Messianic Response

So what do we do? The encampment is a complex problem. It involves mental health, addiction, and public safety. Acknowledging the complexity is right.

But our initial posture as a community of faith must not be contempt. It must be compassion.

Here is a path forward, rooted in biblical wisdom:

· Check Your Heart First: Before you form a opinion, pray. Ask God to break your heart for what breaks His. Ask Him to remind you of your family’s sojourner story. Repent of any spirit of superiority or fear.

· See the Person, Not the Problem: Homelessness is dehumanizing. Make a conscious effort to see the image of God in every person, no matter how obscured by addiction or poverty. Smile. Make eye contact. Offer a warm meal. This simple act acknowledges their humanity.

· Support Local Ministries: Koreatown has brave organizations and Messianic ministries doing the hard work of service. Donate. Volunteer. Partner with them. We don't have to have all the answers, but we can support those who are on the front lines with wisdom and love.

· Advocate for Wise Solutions: Compassion and wisdom are not opposites. We can advocate for city services that provide real shelter, mental health care, and addiction recovery while also advocating for the cleanliness and safety of our neighborhood. This is a both/and, not an either/or.

· Remember the Land is Hashem's: We are stewards, not ultimate owners.

  “The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1)

This land we call Koreatown? It belongs to God. We are temporary stewards. How does He want us to manage His property? Surely with justice, mercy, and humility.

The Ultimate Example: The Hospitality of God

We were all spiritual sojourners. We were all destitute and homeless in our sin.

Yet, God did not look on us with disdain.

In His ultimate hospitality, He made a way for us to come home. He sent His Son, Yeshua, to welcome us into His kingdom.

He allowed us—foreigners and strangers—to build a community in His eternal land.

We, who have received this immeasurable kindness, are now called to extend it.

Let the story of Koreatown not be one of a community that climbed the ladder of success and then pulled it up behind them. Let it be a story of a people who remember.

Who remember the kindness shown to them.

Who remember the commands of their God.

Who see the face of Yeshua in the eyes of the broken.

Let us be known not for our outrage, but for our open hands.

Let us be known for our radical, Messianic hospitality.

Inspired By:

https://abc7.com/post/koreatown-residents-outraged-sprawling-homeless-encampment-makeshift-sports-court-bbq-pit/17794470/