Isaiah 58:9b-11a
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry,
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always.”
These verses from Isaiah 58 are quoted often in conversations about justice in church settings. Even more commonly quoted are verses six to nine. A yoke is a wooden frame fastened to the necks of two animals and connected to a cart which they must pull. Here God tells us to get rid of the ‘yoke of oppression’ – human beings are not meant to be enslaved and subject to cruelty by one another and treated as less than human. People should not gain good things by trampling on other people; the many should not be exploited for the benefit of a few.
This isn’t to say that people shouldn’t work – that was part of God’s plan from the beginning, that humankind would have the responsibility to rule over the earth.
These verses call us also to ‘satisfy the needs of the oppressed.’ Sisters and brothers, it is not enough that we merely avoid actively oppressing anyone. We need to help the oppressed, to side with them, to advocate for them and build communities and livelihoods with them so that they may stand freely in the dignity they deserve for bearing the image of God.
What did Isaiah mean when he wrote all of this? I’m no biblical scholar. However I do believe that the prophets did not speak about their own thoughts, but were directed by God (2 Peter 1:20-21). These words reveal God’s character. The Lord desires for people to treat each other equally, kindly, justly, and with compassion. This is as true today as it was when Isaiah recorded it.
“One of my friends has a shirt marked with the words of late Catholic bishop Dom Helder Camara: ‘When I fed the hungry, they called me a saint. When I asked why people are hungry, they called me a communist.’ . . .
People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.”
― Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical
It’s unpopular and maybe, for the most part, unheard of to join in the experience of the oppressed. It’s easy enough to voice support for causes we believe in – but to risk our lives or lifestyles for them? When we have the option to opt out of it? When an issue doesn’t affect us directly, it becomes much easier to be spectators, to cheer and send our well-wishes to those in the ring. That seems to be the most common avenue to take, at least, it does in my limited mostly white-suburban life experience. Nevertheless, there are selfless people and saints who choose to join the poor and oppressed rather than watch from the sides. A guy from Galilee comes to mind.
Yet, in the Canadian and United States churches it seems that the Christians who hotly pursue justice are in the minority, and depending on one’s own perspective, they’re viewed either as exalted heroes or reckless radicals. Most people, with Christians being no exception, just want normal lives with financial stability, a happy family, and their white picket fences. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but in such a depraved world as ours, I don’t think Christians have any right to be comfortable. Nor should we try to be. Our Father’s heart is breaking every day, and Christ’s as well, to whose image we’re supposed to be conforming. Why would we want to work against that by seeking our own comfort?
Sisters and brothers, what call has God placed on you? On your life or on this year, or even this very minute?
I read about a couple who invited a homeless man to live with them. This is the grace of Christ in action. And no, they didn’t do it foolishly – they had known the man for a while, and got background checks on him through people who knew him from his pastor and their mutual connections at the organization through which they’d met.
What would you say if I suggested that you move to a developing country to live as the people there live and to preach the good news? Or something less extreme – that you befriend your local homeless people, and maybe spend a night out with them. You could host or sponsor a refugee family. Does this sound extreme to you, or normal? Exciting? Dangerous? Insane, perhaps?
Yet everyday, I know there are people out there doing these things, representing Christ to the world. Thank God for Christians who believe in justice, in the equal dignity of all of God’s image-bearers. I see very little controversy regarding actions such as these, although they tend to be either dismissed quickly or applauded from afar. Very, very far.
Sisters, brothers, examine your hearts, please. See if God is encouraging you to stretch yourself, to test the limits of conventional wisdom so that you may better display the grace and power of the Lord. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:25). I believe that if we risk ourselves for the causes of justice and mercy, we will change the world.