by Kaysi Hastings
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| image by Steph P |
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Isaiah 11:1-5
Over the past few weeks I've seen some movies (The Butler, The Book Thief, 42) that address periods of history during which specific races of people were oppressed by others. Every time I watch a movie dealing with this theme, I am dumbfounded that mankind has ever seen a day when one particular group of people widely believed themselves to be superior to another and thus believed themselves to be justified in treating those people as inferior or even attempting to eradicate them. The fact that these particular movies portrayed events that played out less than a century ago blows my mind.
In the book of Exodus we read of God's own people experiencing and being delivered from their own horrific period of injustice and oppression. Though Israel was quick to forget the blessing of their deliverance once they were out of Egypt, how great their hope must have been initially when they realized God had seen them and heard their cries! And yet as we fast forward to the New Testament, we see the religious leaders of this very group eventually becoming producers of their own brand of oppression, burdening their people with strict rules and regulations while neglecting matters of justice and mercy (see Matthew 23). How could people with a heritage marked by such grace and mercy forget what they'd been freely given by a loving God and use their power and position to place impossible expectations on the people they should have been lovingly leading?
As Christians we, too, have been delivered from the oppressive rule of our unseen enemy. While we were still slaves to sin, Christ died for us and made it possible for our relationship with God to be restored (Romans 5:8-11). We have been set free! And yet how often do we who have been given such a merciful gift forget where we have been in the past and place weighty expectations on the people around us? Just as the arrival of Christ must have brought hope to the people of His time who were being burdened by the religious leaders, our presence in the lives of those God has put in our paths can also be a conduit of hope as we determine not to judge by what our eyes see or our ears hear but instead choose to embrace the Spirit of wisdom and understanding that would lead us to remember where we've been and to, in response, stand with the poor and the meek, freely offering them the same mercy we've received.
Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.
Who in my life, whether groups of people or individuals, do I make judgments about that cause me to see them as inferior to me? What might Jesus see when He looks at these people, considering the fact He knows every experience, good or bad, that has played a part in shaping each one? How can I look beyond what I see or hear from or about the people I tend to look down upon that might lead me to bring hope, rather than heaviness, to such people?
Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.
Father, thank You for blessing us with the opportunity to be citizens of a Kingdom where we are not judged by our appearance or how well we measure up but by our acceptance of our King's mercy. Help us to remember it isn't what we've done but what Christ did that made it possible for us to be a part of this Kingdom. May the grace we've been freely given inspire us to give grace freely to others, that they, too, may be drawn to the freedom you offer.
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