Ex 12:49 - The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.

Ex 22:21 - Do not mistreat a foreigner or oppress him, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Ex 23:9 - Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Le 19:10 - Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

Le 19:33-34 - "'When a foreigner lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The foreigner living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Le 23:22 - When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.

Le 24:22 - You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.

Le 25:23 - The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers

Nu 15:15-16 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.’”

De 1:16-17 - And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you. Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.”

De 10:18-19-God defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

De 24:14-15- -Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or a foreigner living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

De 24:17-18 - Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

De 24:19-21 - When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.

De 26:12 - When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Then say to the Lord your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.”

De 27:19 - "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Job 29:16, 18 - [Job defended himself saying], "I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban... I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger."

Ps 94:3b,5-6,8 - How long will the wicked be jubilant?... They crush your people, Lord; they oppress your inheritance. They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless... Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?

Ps 146:9 - The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Isa 56:3 - Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely exclude me from his people."

Jer 7:5-7 - If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

Jer 22:3b - Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Eze 22:6-7 - See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood. In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Eze 22:29 - The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.

Eze 47:22-23 - You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who have settled among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the foreigner settles, there you are to give him his inheritance," declares the Sovereign LORD.

Zec 7:10 - Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'

Mal 3:5 - “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Mat 2:13-15 - …an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt…(God became flesh and illegally crossed a border at night)

Mat 2:22 - But when Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, (Holy family evaded governing authorities)

Mat 25:31-46 - …I was a stranger and you invited me in…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me….”

Mark 2:26-27 - [Jesus] entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

Luk 10:25-37 - [When Jesus was asked, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the story of a foreigner, a Samaritan.]

Rom 12:13 - Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Rom 15:7 - Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

1 Cor 12:26 - If one part suffers, every part suffers with it

Gal 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal 5:14 - For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Eph 2:12-13 - Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Eph 2:14-16 - For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

Eph 2:18-20 - For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and foreigners, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

Phil 2:3-4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Phil 3:20 - Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Col 3:11 - Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, [illegal or legal, undocumented or documented, citizen or foreigner], but Christ is all, and is in all.

Heb 13:2 - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Jam 2:8 - If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

1 Pet 2:11 - Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

1 Pet 4:9 - Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Rev 7:9 - I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

10 Reasons for Lifting the Moratorium On Online Communion Amid COVID-19

Since 2013, the United Methodist Church has placed a moratorium on online Communion. Because of COVID-19, Bishops have taken a varied approach including lifting the moratorium as well as allowing for temporary exceptions for Holy Week. Because of the variety of responses to online Communion from bishops, pastors, theologians, and congregants, COVID-19 has raised the debate over the subject to a new level. This paper shares ten reasons why United Methodists should advocate for online Holy Communion amid COVID-19. To be clear, these are not arguments for the church to become more cursory or flippant about the Sacraments, quite the opposite. I contend the Church must become more thoughtful and fervent about extending the sacraments to those who currently have no access to them. Here are ten reasons why:

First, Jesus told his disciples to, “Do this” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). Obviously, the legitimacy of online Communion is up for debate because Jesus was silent on the issue. While Jesus did not specify or require that this must be done in the physical presence of one another, Jesus was clear when he commanded his disciples, “Do this.”

Second, a moratorium on online Communion is contrary to the United Methodist ethos characterized by our open table. We United Methodists have traditionally and adamantly advocated that Holy Communion “should be open to all who respond to Christ’s love” (BOR p875). Moratoriums, or proclaiming fasts from this means of grace, do not communicate the grace and love available to all that is embodied in this Holy Meal. The moratorium on online Communion essentially closes the Table to all of those who do not have physical access to a congregation as well as those who are more than one-person removed from the physical presence of ordained or licensed clergy.

Third, John Wesley taught that the Holy Communion should be taken frequently. Wesley believed and taught about Holy Communion:

The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins by enabling us to leave them. As our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ. This is the food of our souls: this gives strength to perform our duty and leads us on to perfection. If therefore we have any regard for the plain command of Christ, if we desire the pardon of our sins, if we wish for strength to believe, to love and obey God, then we should neglect no opportunity of receiving the Lord's Supper (Sermon 101: The Duty of Constant Communion, 1787, emphasis mine).

In maintaining a moratorium on hosting the Lord’s Supper online, the Church neglects an opportunity to receive the Lord’s Supper.

Fourth, online Communion is the safest way to take it today. Many persons cannot, and others will not, physically enter into a church building or gather with what they consider an unsafe number of persons. Currently, local orders are preventing most churches from physically gathering. These restrictions are starting to be relaxed in some areas. However, in order to do no harm and keep people safe, online Communion should be an alternative to those who for safety reasons should not or will not physically congregate, particularly those who are more vulnerable if exposed to an illness.

Fifth, United Methodists have a heritage of seeking to make the means of grace available through unconventional ways. The most obvious of Methodist ecclesiastical adaptations is granting licensed local pastors’ sacramental authority. This too was initially controversial, but we Methodists side with seeking to extend sacraments to those who have little to no access to them. Now is a time to embrace and live into that heritage.

Sixth, online Communion can be very meaningful and sacred. I have read arguments that online Communion cheapens it, takes away its sacredness, is an empty ritual, is less holy, and is irreverent, illegitimate, indifferent, and trivial. Clearly, any Communion service in any setting or context, including online Communion, has the potential to be cheapened, irreligious, or irreverent. However, Online Communion also has the potential to be as holy, as scared, and as reverent as any Communion service in any setting or context. Just as field preaching did not cheapen preaching and as worship outside of ornate buildings does not make it any less reverent, online Communion can and should be holy.

Seventh, online worship services allow space for full Communion liturgies. In contrast to “drive-thru Communion” or even the extended table (although I am a big fan of the laity taking communion to the homebound), an online Communion service has the ability for participants to engage the full Communion liturgy with an online congregation/community and with ordained or licensed clergy presiding. I have heard and read false assumptions that online communion services are necessarily perfunctory, as if communal confession, reconciliation, thanksgiving, and the sending forth are not integral to an online Communion service.

Eighth, the 2013 formation of the United Methodist moratorium on online Communion did not take into account adequately those who have no access to a congregation or clergy. While I was not a part of the 2013 conversations that led to the UMC’s moratorium on online Communion, my guess is that very few if any voices in those conversations ever spent years in an area of the world or in an extended season where Holy Communion was unavailable to them. From 1996-1998, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the rural Western lowlands of Ecuador. The only church in the area had prohibitions against serving me since I was not a member of their denomination. Therefore, I know what it is like to not have access to Holy Communion for an extended period of time. Now, on account of COVID-19, lack of access to the Lord’s Supper is becoming almost a universal experience, which brings me to the ninth reason.

Ninth, the Church should take serious sacramental deprivation. I remember being so desperate for the Lord’s Supper in Ecuador that I bought some bread and travelled over an hour to purchase a bottle of grape juice to have my own, lonely communion service in my hut. While I do not condone solitary Communion, my desperation demonstrates the reality of sacramental deprivation that I and others experience. In times of crisis, many believers experience desperation for the communion and connection with Christ and with the gathered community that the Lord’s Supper embodies. Now is not the time to deny hungry souls this manna.

Tenth, finding the practice to be strange is not a theological reason to prohibit it. I am confident that most who promoted the 2013 moratorium on online Communion and support its moratorium today have little experience with it and thus find online Communion to be strange or indecent, much like John Wesley initially found field preaching: 

I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields ... having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church (Journal of John Wesley, March 29, 1739).

   

Today, too many pastors, theologians, and bishops can scarce reconcile themselves to this strange way of offering Communion on account of their personal hang-ups, perceptions, or preferences. Therefore, the moratorium is being upheld in many areas and in a variety of ways by persons who have little experience with it.

While I am not seeking to equate preaching with the Sacraments, John Wesley was able to move past his personal hang-ups, perceptions, and preferences against field preaching only after he fully engaged and experienced it. He later wrote about the practice:

Being thus excluded from the churches and not daring to be silent, it remained only to preach in the open-air; which I did at first, not out of choice, but necessity; but I have since seen abundant reason to adore the wise providence of God therein, making a way for myriads of people who never troubled arty church, nor were likely to do so, to hear that word which they soon found to be the power of God unto salvation (A Short History of the People Called Methodists, emphasis mine).

Amid this extraordinary COVID-19 season, almost the entire Church is now excluded from her buildings. Technology has provided a way for the Church to reach and provide Sacraments not only for her congregants, but “for myriads of people who never troubled arty church” as well as those who are encountering Christ and Christian community online.

Wesley believed the Eucharist is “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God” (Sermon 26: Upon the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount). This grand channel is needed in the world during this time. Therefore, United Methodists should advocate for lifting the moratorium on online Communion for this extraordinary season, and perhaps beyond this season, “not out of choice, but necessity.”

Rev. Owen K Ross, DMin, is the Director of The Center for Church Development of The North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church and previously served for fifteen years as the founding pastor of La Fundición de Cristo/Christ's Foundry United Methodist Mission.