Title Think of the Abused
Think of the abused
Text: Hebrews 13:3
“Consider the prisoner, as you also are in prison; and, since you have the body, consider the oppressed
According to UNICEF, in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, many children wander the streets. Children beg and join gangs and become pickpockets. Thousands of children die on the streets every year because children wandering through the streets cannot receive any protection, but helping them are scarce. Because there are too many poor children. Cambodian children shout a dollar when they see a tourist. Children are learning to beg from the world.
In addition, Afghanistan is a poor country with an average life expectancy of 44 years and 53% of the population having difficulty accessing food. A country where only 3% of women can read and a woman dies from pregnancy disease every 30 minutes. Even after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, women are still unable to work and it is difficult to even attend school. In particular, it is said that women living in rural areas are hardly treated as human beings. It is very common to be sold into household debt to become an old man's second wife. And Afghanistan exports three-quarters of the world's opium. The harm caused by opium is indescribable. Even now, in Africa, Southeast Asia, and North Korea, there are so many people who are abused, suffering from poverty, disease and poor conditions. Is there any way to give hope for the future to these poor and the abused?
Let's do our best to spread the gospel to these people and expand the kingdom of God and His righteousness. The kingdom of God is a kingdom that abounds in righteousness, peace, and joy. The purpose of Jesus' coming to this earth is to forgive and save our sins, while at the same time to bring freedom and equality to the oppressed and captives of the world, to heal the brokenhearted, to comfort the sad and to bring joy and hope to the suffering. Is it not for giving? (Isaiah 61:1-3)
“He who despises his neighbor commits a sin, and blessed is he who has compassion on the needy” (Proverbs 14:21).
“He who oppresses the poor despises his Maker, and he who has compassion on the needy honors the Lord” (Proverbs 14:31).
In December, I think about today's topic in two ways. One of them is that the 10th is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from a human rights perspective, and the other is that the 25th is Christmas, so it is related to the meaning of the Savior's Incarnation.
Above all, the Christian must identify himself with the position of the abused. This means that we have to stand in the position of comradeship. It is the same as when Jesus always identified himself with the little ones and said that whatever you did to them, you did to him.
Christians must also recognize the suffering of the abused as their own. I have the same body as them, and because I am treated the same, I should think that I suffer the same. Because all human beings are born with the same dignity and rights when they are born, there should never be a situation in which human beings are abused by humans while infringing upon the fundamental human rights granted by God.
“The abused” refers to the weak. The strong are never abused by the weak. It is a world where the older brother Cain kills the younger brother Abel, always following the logic of ‘survival of the fittest, the weak and the weak’. If society, laws, and institutions do not protect the weak, the world we live in is a world of the strong and the weak become slaves to the strong, and human rights will be trampled upon and subjected to all kinds of abuse.
When we think of those who are being abused on this earth, we need to take steps to ensure that those who are weaker than us are not socially, legally, and institutionally unprotected and unfairly treated.
“Learn to do good, seek justice, help the oppressed, plead for the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).
“The abused person” refers to a person who is currently in trouble. It refers to a person who is faced with various limitations and difficulties. When a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, he met a robber, and the robbers stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and left him completely dead. Yet a priest passed by and saw him and ran away, and so did a Levite. But when a certain Samaritan saw him, he took pity on him, poured oil and wine on his wounds, bound him up, gave him first aid, put him on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The man who was killed by a robber here was the abused one who fell into trouble.
When we think of those who are abused on this earth, it means that we should show warm compassion to our neighbors who are facing crises and difficulties rather than being cold.
“Abused person” refers to a person who is being unfairly treated. This means that no matter how much you appeal, it doesn't work and you lose money. In fact, we do not know how many people in the world are grievous and unfair. From unjust imprisonment to even death sentences.
At this time, we should be the ones who relieve their injustice and vindicate their grievances. This is thinking of the oppressed. Rather, if we take the side of the strong and neglect or ignore their unfair treatment, even we become accomplices in making them unfair.
“The abused one” means the one who suffers. In fact, the earth is filled with the cry of the suffering. There are those who suffer from illness. There are also those who suffer from material things. Many people suffer from poverty because they have nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nothing to wear and nothing to use. And there are many who suffer for human rights. You can think of things like being unreasonably politically persecuted and being tortured through physical acts while being held in bondage.
We must help those who suffer on this earth, whether in sickness, in prison, or in material suffering. As a person of the same body, you should think about how inconvenient, shameful, and painful it must be. In fact, if you pinch your own flesh, you should know that it hurts even if you pinch someone else's.
We should know what the lesson is from the abuse of slaves by white people in works like Uncle Toms Cabin and Roots. Their slavery is nothing more than self-rationalization stemming from the distortion and transformation of the Christian gospel. The true Christian gospel belongs to the little ones and teaches us to look after the oppressed. Therefore, you should not try to remove it from the Christian gospel. We must recognize that the Christian gospel is to keep the pain of the abused as our own.
Blessed is he who counsels the poor. In the day of calamity, God delivers me. But the one who does not hear the cry of the oppressed and the poor will not hear his cry either.
“But we have entrusted ourselves to the consideration of the poor, which I also strive to do” (Galatians 2:10).
The Bible teaches us to think of those who are imprisoned from the standpoint of those who are imprisoned, to look at our abused neighbors with an abusive heart, and to think of our neighbors who are suffering with the heart of suffering.
* Prayer: Merciful Heavenly Father, in the world we live in today, there are many who are abused, suffering from poverty and disease. I pray for them. Give us the power and heart to help them, and spread the gospel to them as soon as possible so that the kingdom of God will be expanded and the righteousness of the kingdom of God may be fulfilled, and in all things, God's great and profound will come to this earth. Let us live today, loving the Lord and our neighbors. Please treat the marginalized and the needy with an attitude of service and giving like you. I pray in the name of the loving Jesus. Amen