One Tough Calling

Last week was one of stories of cruelty shocking to the extreme.  We learned that a man kept three young women locked in his Cleveland home for 10 years to serve his twisted desires. Then, on 60 Minutes, the report of sexual slavery visited on young Syrian girls who are refugees of the civil war came to light.  (Read the story)  Girls as young as 13 are sold into ‘temporary’ marriages for a few hundred dollars, where they are used for pleasure.  The arrangement allows men to get around rape laws!  Many are left pregnant, all are disgraced and, most likely, unmarriageable for the rest of their lives.

Christian, we must never forget that God hates oppression and abuse of power.  The prophet Amos was stirred by the Spirit to preach of His judgment. "I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed." (Amos 2:6-7, NIV)  You may be wondering why this is an issue for our attention today.  Because, we must not be exploiters and we must work to stop it. “But, what can I do,” you ask?

First of all, we are a part of the most powerful society on the earth today.  Many things are being done in the name of the American people that are exploitative of poorer nations both economically and politically.  God’s people must pray for insight! We must ask God to make us aware of the deceptions we are sold from both the Left and Right. And, we must raise our voices against policies that oppress weaker nations. Then, too, we must accept some responsibility.  For example, we need to consciously understand that choices like shopping at big discount stores for cheap products supports industries that exploit the poor, paying people pennies a day for their labor.  Remember the building that collapsed in Bangladesh a couple of weeks ago killing 1127 people?  People working in those unsafe conditions were making clothing sold in America. We need to bear some responsibility for that tragedy by realizing our demand for cheap goods hurts the powerless on the other side of the world.

Closer to home, we must ask God to cause us to love the poor, the weak, the broken.  That can be one tough calling! When Joe Dysfunction drifts into our life, he drags his habits and his drama along. He can make a mess of our tidy life and our natural response?  Ignore him, marginalize him, push him away.  We can look at those who are without resources and see plenty of valid reasons that they are in the state they’re in.  She has multiple children by several different partners.  He is irresponsible and loses one job after another. Pills, booze, and sex are consumed in prodigious quantities and grow a harvest of poverty and suffering.  We can, and often do, stand aside and like the Pharisees of old, heap guilt and blame on those trapped by sin.  Jesus asks us to get involved, to become light in dark places, to lead them to life.  I’m am not so naïve that I think that is a simple task.

A young pastor I know recently invited a teen whose life has been marked by all kinds of dysfunction into his home.  In about 2 weeks this pastor saw things broken, realized that his ‘guest’ felt entitled to abuse the hospitality he was shown, and experienced the disruption of his life.  As the pastor shared his experience with me, I made a comment not intended to be snide or critical, but simply an observation:  “It gives you the opportunity to be like Jesus every day, doesn’t it?”  We celebrate love as being so rewarding, so pretty and nice. In reality, it is gritty, tough, demanding, and often – thankless.  Love got Jesus killed!  (Yes, I know He gave His life, but it was for love’s sake.)

It’s a hard word today. Don’t be too quick to walk away from it, to dismiss it.  Ponder this call from the Word.

"How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously."
(Micah 6:6-8, The Message)

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8, NIV)

_______________________

Take My Life

Take my life and let it be,

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Here am I all of me

Take my life it's all for Thee

Take my will and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart it is Thine own

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love my Lord I pour

At Your feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be

Ever only all for Thee.

Chris Tomlin | Frances Ridley Havergal | Henri Abraham Cesar Malan | Louie Giglio

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