Unity
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered. [proverb 21:13]
It is a constant struggle for me to remove the earplugs of my comfort in order to hear those who challenge my opulence by their mere presence. And, for me, the most troubling issue is I do care, but every day I realize new ways I am wasteful and addicted to superfluous living arrangements. The end of the road where I am fully engaged in the revolutionary Kingdom, holding nothing dear that relegates another to poverty, is so starkly alien to all I know that I tremble at its suggestion. Yet, I cannot seem to dismiss it.
Rich and poor have this in common:
The LORD is the Maker of them all. [proverb 22:2]
I cannot dismiss it, because that person is intimately known by the Same who loves me. And he is without, not because there is too little to share, but because I refuse to share. I refuse to share, because I refuse to see and hear. And for all my richness, I have lost the ear of the Almighty. I have something to learn; I must open my ear to the voice of the poor.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.�
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.� [Luke 4:17-21]
We are Christ’s body, the manifestation of his grace. May the fear of suffering never muffle the cries of the oppressed to which we are called. Love is the desire for unity. Compassion is unity in suffering. We will not hear the poor from the heights of our possessions.
[originally posted at jakemalloy]
