What Can We Do?

Years and years ago as a young teenager I was interested in human conditions and human rights. I even joined Amnesty International. But as the years passed my interest in anyone other than me began to fade. I entered adulthood and along came love, marriage and a baby in a baby carriage. And I began to lose intersest in others outside my own 4 walls, of both my home and my church. But last year that all changed.

I spent a week at the Dream Center in Los Angeles and it completely changed my life ... literally. As I sit here thinking back on that precious time I am so thankful to have had my eyes opened again to the world around me. Since I say that I am honest and transparent I must admit that there used to be a part of me that felt superior to the homeless, to the hungry. Isn't that terrible? But honestly, and I am thoroughly embarrassed to admit it, it's true. Or it was.

Then I spent some real time with real people in real messy situations in a real world with a real God. Can I tell you that at first I didn't want to be there? I just wanted to go home. They gave us a tour and it was nice and interesting, but I wanted to come home. But then God peeled back the scales from my eyes and I began to see hurting people who just need Jesus. I looked into the faces of hungry, addicted, truly down-trodden people. I touched them. I loved them. I talked to them. I was interested in them. And God began to open my heart to them and show me the truth about doing unto the least of these, about loving and serving the poor and oppressed and widow and orphan.

When the time came to leave it was bittersweet. I wanted to go home and see my children, but I didn't want to leave these people. I had come to love them. I had come to love the single mother just trying to keep it all together who came to our food trucks for some free food, and she was grateful no matter what it was. I had come to love the homeless teenagers we fed and talked with in Santa Monica. And I had come to truly love the homeless that live on Skid Row ... those that had truly reached rock bottom. And I had come to love the prostitute who has no idea how precious she is!

And then I came home and ever since I have been drawn to help the homeless, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow. I have a newfound passion for seeing injustice end. But what can I do? How can I help? How do I reach out from suburbia? And with a young family? And should I really care? And if so, how much?

Jesus was speaking in parables one day and he said:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Proverbs tells us that One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed (19:17). He who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But he who is gracious to the needy honors Him (14:31). He who gives to the poor will never want, But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses (28:27).

In Exodus God tells His people:

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

"If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

God also says "Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen'"(Deut. 27:19). And in Zehariah He said "and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another'"(7:10).

David said in the Psalms, "May He vindicate the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy And crush the oppressor"(72:4).

And I could go on and on and on. We have an obligation as witnesses of Jesus Christ, if we are indeed His followers, to reach out beyond our own 4 walls and into the world around us. What happened to us as a church that we no longer sense the call to lend to the needy, to seek justice for the oppressed and to take care of the widow and orphan?

We have become Americanized. Us. Followers of Jesus ... the LIGHT of the world. Americanized. We have become self-centered to the entent that it doesn't matter to us if people in China are being oppressed in order to make us things we can buy at Wal-Mart at a cheaper price. We don't care about the horrible living conditions of those precious people of Mexico who come to America to simply find a better life. Have you ever sat down with and talked to an alien in this land or do you just think that they have no business being here and should all just "go home"? Remember we were once aliens in a foreign land too. Does the sick reality of human trafficking ever cross your mind? And if it does, does it bring you to your knees? Are you aware of the abuses and atrocities taking place in Darfur?

Do these things seem at all real to you, or are they just things that pass by on the evening news and somehow don't seem too important because they are not happening in your own home? Did you know that they are happening right in your own hometown? I live in Atlanta and it is considered a hub for human trafficking. Altanta. Georgia. Hotlanta. The City Too Busy to Hate. Yet here I sit in the midst of injustice. Horrible injustice ... humans are not commodities to be bought and sold!

What can I do? First, I can pray, and pray fervently. Sunday our pastor talked about his mom and how some ladies would come over each week for prayer while he was growing up. He said he remembered hearing them many times pray fervently to break down the Soviet Union and all the injustice of communism in that land. He said that he would listen to that and think, "Sheesh. That's never gonna change ... we'll always have the Iron Curtain to deal with." And then, through tears he talked of seeing the Berlin Wall come crashing down. It's possible to see change, people! Huge change. God is big, much bigger than this world.

Second, we can take an honest look at our own lives and ask ourselves this question: What injustice am I profiting from? What injustice in the world makes my life better/easier/cheaper? And once we honestly answer those questions we can seek to make changes in our own lives.

Third, we can get involved. Write letters to leaders, join an organization, send money, visit the poor and the widow. Get your hands and feet dirty. It's OK to get involved. It's OK to love. It'll change your life.

Some resources for you:

Amnesty International
Not For Sale Campaign
International Justice Mission
Not China Made

And if you're wondering what you can do, especially having young children at home, my friend Shauna has a wonderful blog called The Family Quilt with many great ideas for you.

I'll end with my favorite quote on missions:
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd