Our hearts are breaking. Our world is out of control. Darkness crowds us and nothing feels secure. The air is heavy and oppressive and, at least where I live, even the sky is crying. Drizzling and chilly, heavy with low hanging clouds and fog. We need hope.
Isaiah chapter 9 predicted hope in another time and place where darkness reigned. He said, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shone."
Isaiah prophesied to a world out of control. A world oppressed with violence and bloodshed. Innocent people, women and children murdered in cold blood. A land that was desolate and devoured by war.
Jesus was born in a world that did not look any different. A world where the boots of the Roman Empire trampled its citizens into the ground. Where children were sold to pay debts, people were starving, and the house of the Lord was defiled. Into this, our Savior laid his head in a feed trough. Into this, he was pursued by one of the cruelest kings the world had ever known. Hundreds of baby boys were murdered in the search for the "newborn king" - hundreds of mothers wailed and clutched their dripping breasts as their babies were slaughtered. Mothers like you and like me.
Our world doesn't look any different than it did 2,000 years ago. Not really. Those of us in America have just lived lives of prosperity and peace for so long. For far too long it has been easy to ignore what is going on all over the world. Today I was accused of not caring about the carnage in the rest of the world because I changed my FB profile picture to show that I am praying for France. It hurt my feelings - I won't lie, but that's ok - I am over it. In fact, it was actually a good example of the issues we are facing. We are constantly "offended" in our country about the "thing" of the week - or day. We are offended about whether or not a company or store says "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" and meanwhile someone just got their head chopped off and 20,000 children starved too death today. We are offended about FB profiles, as if somehow that diminishes or enhances a world issue in any way. Folks, talk is CHEAP. FB is a poor substitute for ACTION. I won't try to justify it - I changed my profile picture because the option popped up and though I contain literally NO tech skills, I could do it - so I did. Maybe I should not have. It was certainly never meant to reflect my entire heart on any world issue. It apparently made some people think that I was not aware of the attacks in Lebanon. Or the constant threats that Israel faces. Or that somehow I did not know that there are sex trafficking victims being held against their will in cages in apartment buildings in YOUR city, and mine - and all over the world. Little five year olds sobbing as they are used for sex night after night after night. Little girls who should be playing with dolls and boys who should be building Legos, now completely scarred for life by EVIL. Evil that most of us can't comprehend and are way too eager to ignore. Somehow my FB picture made some think that I am unaware of the 163,000,000 orphans all over the world who right now are sitting in despair - many cold, hungry and in physical danger. Not knowing if anyone will ever come for them. Forgotten and abandoned. Friends, I can assure you that I am much more aware than I care to be. Because you know what, ignoring issues clearly doesn't make them go away, but apparently some people sleep a whole lot better at night than I do. For now, anyway. Until the wolf knocks on our door. Or until God reaches down and shakes you to the very core over the issues that He cares about. You know, the real issues - not the "made up offenses."
So, what do we do when the world goes crazy? I certainly don't have all the answers - I have done little else besides pray and ponder about that very thing for a very long time now. I know that God is in control, I know that Jesus is going to return and make all things new, and I know that my job in the meantime is to trust Him and do the things He planned in advance for me to do. What are those things? Well, in Matthew 25 when Jesus was describing the final judgement He described the "sheep" and the "goats" or the righteous and the unrighteous. To the righteous He said, "Come you who are blessed by my Father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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 welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me. Truly as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me." Friends, only true LOVE can drive out darkness. Only true heart change makes any lasting difference at all.
So, for me personally - I am going to spend whatever time I have left on this earth - and clearly, none of us know how long that is - but, I am going to spend it doing the things that apparently it ALL comes down to. This is what Jesus said at the FINAL judgement. When all was said and done - this is what was left. Feed, clothe, welcome, visit, offer a cup of cold water, care for the LEAST of these.
Friends, I can do that. And so can you. And if we all do - then one by one we change the world. There is so much work yet to do. We love, we care, we become the hands and feet of God. He did not say we do these things if we want to, or if it is "safe" or if they believe what we believe. He did not say that the "least of these" are our brothers and sisters in Christ, or that they will be grateful and tell us how nice- we are, or that they will even care that we visited them in prison or the hospital or that we welcomed them in. He did not say that we would hear any words of thanks from the person we are ministering to.
What He did say we will hear is this - from HIM, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." At the end of it all, that and that alone - is ALL I am interested in hearing.
So, even as our hearts break, may we all look forward to a day when all will be made new and there will be no more tears and no more pain. A day when forever begins. Oh, what a glorious moment that will be!
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