5-8-2023

Good Morning All,

       Zechariah 7:10; “do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 

    It is the question which man has asked since the time when Cain killed Abel.  It comes in various forms, but it is the same question.  Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The lawyer who questioned Jesus wondered, “Who is my neighbor?”  What do I owe my neighbor?  How am I supposed to treat others?  What are the expectations and demands?

    God’s law requires us to treat others, all others, well.  We are never ever to treat them with disdain or ill will.  We are to love one another, and this is how we are to display it.  God introduces this to the Israelites on Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments.  With the commandments, God gives us to levels of action.  The first is the vertical relationship we have with God.  This is a liturgical or worshipful relationship we have with God.  We owe to God our total and complete praise, thanksgiving, honor, reverence; we owe him our love.

    The second level of relationships we have is on a horizontal level which we share with other people.  Here God tells us to live an ethical relationship with our neighbor.  This involves what we should not do to our fellow man, but it also includes what we should do for our fellow man.  God reminds the children of Israel that they were once the suppressed, oppressed people.  God chose them to be his people.  Through them, God will bless the nations of the world.

    This now applies to us as God’s chosen children.  He tells us that we are not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner (alien) the poor or anyone else.  We are to love them.  We too, were once oppressed, not by men but by the devil and our sinful nature.  We too, were once enslaved and we are to remember this and not enslave others.  We are to be God’s freeing agents.  We are to free men from the enslavement by the devil.  We do this by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to them but our commitment to our neighbor does not stop there.  We are to aid, comfort, defend and protect those who are unable to do so themselves.  This is the message from many of Jesus’ parables.

    The parable of the Good Samaritan, the unforgiving servant, the rich man and Lazarus, the rich farmer all play to this theme.  We are to take care of our neighbor.  So, as we look at this theme, we can see the answer to these questions: am I my brother’s keeper? Yes.  Who is my neighbor? Anyone in need.  The color of their skin, their gender, their socio-economic status, their wealth, or power, none of these are to be factors in who we help.  We are to come to the aid of any who needs it. 

    This can be a daunting task, but it is one which God calls us to, which God will enable us to do and to which the world needs so desperately.  Follow God’s will to treat others ethically and with his love; just as he treats you with mercy that we do not deserve.

Gracious Father, your wondrous mercy flows over us like a river.  Grant us the strength and wisdom to love those whom you have placed into our lives and who are in need of the mercy we show because of your Spirit and will.  Bless those who obey your will through your love and grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret