Tuesday, February 2, 2016

2-2-2016



Good Morning All!!   
       Psalm 72:4; “May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!”
    If you are like most people, at one point in time, you were told or you told someone, “If you can’t say something nice; don’t say anything at all!”  We would probably have to look far and wide to find a parent who hasn’t expressed this thought.  It was designed to teach children, and adults, that speaking cruel words cause pain.  There can be hurt in what you say; there can be sadness and injury when you do not take care in your speech.  We could include our actions as well; if you can’t do something nice, don’t do anything at all.  The idea that we should not hurt someone is truly ingrained into our thoughts and psyche.
    Yet we know that throughout the Scriptures; this is only half of the equation.  The truth is that it is not just what you stop yourself from saying, so that you do not cause pain.  It is also what you fail to say when those words could provide comfort, help or hope.  Throughout the Bible, God instructs us to act on behalf of and for our neighbor.  We are to defend the poor and the oppressed.  We are to care for the widows, the orphans, the needy and the downtrodden.  God calls upon us to act for his creation.  We were created to care for God’s creation.  This is an active event; it is not enough to passively sit back and “do no harm.”
    We delineate this by seeing sin in two layers; there is the sin of commission and the sin of omission.  In the sin of commission, we speak of committing some thought, word or deed that causes harm.  This is the easy one to see.  If I hit you, I hurt you.  If I say something cruel about you, I hurt you.  Even thinking the thought is a sin.  We tend to grab hold of this concept; actions cause a response.  Yet Scriptures tells us that the alternate is just as true.  Failure to act; failure to speak is a sin.  We sin if we “omit” doing the right thing.  We sin when we turn away from the pain we see, the hunger we see, the emptiness we observe.  We sin when we fail to say those words that can offer comfort or hope to the downtrodden.
    Most people are comfortable with not sinning, with not doing something that is harmful.  They can grasp this with a sense of fairness.  I don’t hurt you and you don’t hurt me.  But our faith should move us beyond a passive ignoring of our brother.  The answer to Cain’s question is “yes, you are your brother’s keeper.”  You are responsible for your neighbor and his need.  God has entrusted the care of his creation to us and this taking care of also entails building up, restoring or healing.  It is more than not hurting; it is making it whole again.
Father, I often forget to bring healing into this world.  I sit back and watch often times thinking that someone should do something.  Move my spirit to be the one to act.  Move me by your Spirit to hurt when you hurt, to cry when you cry and to bring healing to this world.  Lead me to touch one life this day.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

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