Stephen
Terry, Director
To
Love Mercy
Commentary
for the September 21, 2019 Sabbath School Lesson
"Suppose
a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to
them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their
physical needs, what good is it?"1
Corinthians 15:17, NIV
In western, first-world countries, we do not typically
see people dying of starvation on the streets. Such has not been the case in
the rest of the world. This leaves little wonder why so many from areas of
oppression and famine seek to come to those western countries. Those countries
have often plundered the food and resources from the third world, and it is
only natural that starving people would follow their food. In the 1930s, the
Ukraine, fertile bread basket of Eastern Europe was reduced to famine by the
confiscatory policies of Soviet Russia. Food was simply taken from the farmers
and sent to Russia, leaving the Ukrainians to starve. The Ukrainians called
this period "Holodomor," which means "death by starving."
The bodies of those who died from starvation became so common on the streets
that others passed by with scarcely a second glance. In a move reminiscent of
the Black Plague, farmer's horse drawn wagons were used to remove cartloads of
bodies and dispose of them. One can only imagine the horror of the families
left with nothing to eat and little option but to simply watch one another
succumb to starvation.
Some might feel, based on this and other examples like Pol
Pot in Cambodia and Mao in China, this is typical for Communism, but this is
not simply a communist problem. While Americans may not be familiar with
Holodomor, we do know of the Irish Potato Famine. Potatoes had become a
reliable staple for the Irish, making up a significant portion of the diet as
well as a source of income from selling the crops. When blight destroyed the
potato harvests, the people were facing famine. Nonetheless, the British
continued to take the grain from Ireland that could have fed the people and
sent it to Great Britain. The starving Irish, who not only had little food, but
also had lost their incomes, were forced out of their homes for failure to pay
rent. Some were able to travel to North America as indentured servants, others
simply died of exposure and starvation.
This same policy was followed in the Indian sub-continent.
For 150 years, the British continued to export crops and resources from India
to England even when the areas producing the crops were experiencing famine.
Some look upon the period of the British Raj as a magical, romantic time,
memorialized in movies like Shirley Temple's "Wee Willie Winkee." But
the truth is less pretty and is reflected in the photograph of starvation under
British rule in India that accompanies this commentary. Throughout the 19th
century, a distraught people revolted several times against British
exploitation. While many of these were local, regional revolts, the largest,
was the Sepoy Revolt of 1857 which featured widespread and bloody loss of life,
which would be echoed in our own American Civil War a few years later. The
difference between the two is those who exploited others for profit won in
India, although Britain began direct rule, ousting the corrupt British East
India Company. In America, those slaveholders who wished unfettered exploitation
of others for profit lost the war and physical slavery came to an end. However,
just as some romanticized the period of British rule over India. We have our
own people who romanticize over a fictional antebellum South with benevolent
masters caring for grateful slaves.
Obviously, the problem is not simply tied to a particular
political system. We have seen similar attitudes toward Puerto Rico and the
Bahamas on the part of the American government following devastating
hurricanes. We tend to place a value on people based on the amount of wealth
they own. Of course, when they have been wiped out by a natural disaster, whether
hurricanes or potato famines, they have little to none. Therefore if we ignore
their need, there is little they can do, and if they rise up as a result. Well,
that's what our horrendously huge military budget is for. Thankfully, although
the American government may have other priorities, many American citizens have
taken it upon themselves to do what they can to relieve suffering around the world.
This is only right as the relative wealth we enjoy is often the result of
resources that we have previously imported from those other locales. The United
States, with the highest GDP in the world,[i] sits astride the globe as
an economic behemoth. This awakens wonder at the similarities between such a
financial presence and Babylon in Revelation, chapter 18, where everyone
laments the loss of trade at Babylon's fall. Perhaps we saw a harbinger of such
judgment with the shockwave that went through the global economy when the Twin
Towers were felled by Arab terrorists using commandeered commercial airline
flights. Some may be reluctant to see the similarities between our great empire
and Babylon, yet even many of our well-known evangelists are busy accumulating
wealth they exploit from others. How can such greed not bring judgment on
behalf of justice?
As a country, we are under assault from many directions,
both within and without. We have legions of "Scammers" using social
media, smart phones and computers to draw off millions from those who are most
vulnerable to their schemes. We have foreign governments suing similar means to
influence our elections to favor their needs. We also have refugees showing up
by the tens of thousands at our borders seeking entry, drawn by the glitter of
what we have done with the wealth we have accumulated. They hope to find the
"American Dream" and escape the impoverished legacy of what
colonialism has left them. Perhaps they do not realize that if judgment does
fall on the United States, it will fall upon them also. As terrible as the
overwhelming military superiority of the United States might be, the wrath of
God toward Babylon is multiples of that. Yet, because he wants everyone to have
the opportunity to be saved from all of that, God continues to allow us free
will and time to either reject the needs of others or minster to them to be lost
to the lure of wealth and riches or saved by the love and mercy he calls us to.[ii]
Two thousand years ago, God became incarnate. He didn't
come to party with us, and he didn't come just to die on the cross. It wasn't
necessary to walk around preaching and teaching for three and a half years to
do that. He could have confronted Rome and called out Caesar as a false god and
suffered crucifixion much sooner. But he didn't for a reason. He not only
wanted us to become citizens of heaven, he wanted us to understand what that
means. In his words and actions, he starkly displayed the contrast between the
selfish anger and greed in human hearts with the love and self-sacrifice of
heaven. We do not need to be prisoners of a tit-for-tat lifestyle. We don't
have to be angry all the time. We can choose to love instead. We don't need to
live in fear and anxiety about what will become of us. What we put into the
world comes back to us. If we treat others poorly, it will surely come home to
roost. But if we love them and care for them as we should, that, too, will come
back to us. We quibble about who deserves our mercy and compassion, but God did
no such thing. While we were his enemies, he gave his life for us.[iii] In this, God sets our example;
he does not distinguish between friends and enemies when he sends his
blessings, freely sending his rain on friend and foe alike.[iv] This is the quality of
mercy, it is not "strained" based on who deserves it but rather is in
response to need.
At this point, some might ask, "If God is so
merciful, why didn't he help those in the picture above? They certainly had
need." This is the problem referred to as theodicy, or "How can a
good God allow evil?" It is important to understand that in order for
people to make a free choice to be citizens of heaven, they must also be able
to choose the opposite and become citizens of "hell." If there is
only one option, there is no longer a choice, but only robotic obedience. Those
who choose evil will selfishly, greedily and cruelly inflict untold suffering
on others. Hitler, Mao, King Leopold of Belgium are only a few who have
sacrificed the glories of eternity for a few brief decades of power on this
tainted marble, insignificantly tiny in the ether as it accompanies its sun
sailing through its galaxy and the universe. These so-called leaders are like
ants squabbling over a tiny bread crumb, totally unaware that the sole of
someone's shoe might, at any moment, end not only their struggle with each
other, but their lives as well.
There is enough wealth in the world for everyone.
Hoarding it has only increased anxiety and fear, not only for those it has been
taken from but also for those who fear they might lose it. Jesus revealed to us
the path heavenward and the apostles added to that map. We do not need to build
a tower of purloined wealth to reach to the heavens. That was tried once and
failed miserably. The golden path to heaven is paved with deeds of mercy and
compassion in response to need. This only asks of us what we would wish if the
situation were reversed. Perhaps it is time we stopped living in fear and began
living in love instead. This is God's means for dealing with evil in the world.
He created us with the power to apply mercy and compassion unconditionally. Are
we willing to choose to do so?
