A few weeks ago I came across a passage from Isaiah. Isaiah is quite a long book and I’m not sure I’ve actually read all of it, and if I have I definitely haven’t remembered all of it. So this passage was new to me, but also painted a picture that I liked.
“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.
Isaiah 58: 9b – 10
It’s like a description of what a Christian should be in one sentence. It’s also very counter-cultural (at least, in my opinion). It seems there are always people trying to take advantage of others, where injustice reigns, were the strong pick on the weak. The news is full of stories of this on a global scale with wars and dictators and on a more local scale with things like domestic abuse or bullying. What would it look like if there was no more oppression? How much lighter would the world be?
One thing I’ve noticed listening to stories of work places and adding my own experience is the blame culture and the amount of gossip. So often we can look to point the finger at who was at fault in order to berate them, or we can sit and spread rumours that aren’t really any of our business. Sometimes that’s the culture around us and it is so easy to join in. But what if we didn’t try and point the finger? What if, instead, we just looked for a way so it didn’t happen again? And what if, instead of gossiping g and spreading nasty rumours, we spoke positive things and spread stories of achievements, or at least didn’t join in?
Walking around the town centre I see people on the street begging for money or food. They don’t have enough and don’t necessarily have a way to get enough because they are trapped in a system. I’ve worked for a food bank in the past and most of the people who come just struck a bad patch. A couple of expensive bills, a nasty break up, a sudden job loss… it could happen to anyone. And suddenly there is a choice between heating and food, or between feeding themselves or feeding their kids. Most of them aren’t being irresponsible with money, they’re job just doesn’t pay enough to keep up with the rising prices and everyday needs.
But what if we were different? What if we shared what we had? Lots of people donate to food banks, and the homeless after seem to have at least a hot drink which has been given to them by a passer by.
One of the best illustrations I know of spreading faith is using a candle. If you light a candle in a dark room, it will give a bit of light. If a second candle lit from the first, the first candle doesn’t diminish. Instead there is now twice as much light. And you can add a third and a fourth, and the first candle will still be burning just as brightly and the darkness doesn’t seem so dark any more.
So what if we behaved differently? What if we tried to do what that verse in Isaiah said? We can’t change the whole world on our own. But if we can inspire one or two other people, and they can inspire some people in turn, suddenly we can make a difference. We can stop the gossiping work place, we can shift a blame culture. We can feed the hungry and help those on the streets feel seen. We can make a small difference and they will all add up and one day the world will be so full of light that ‘midnight will seem like noon’. Wishful thinking? Or hope in what could be?
The Reason for my Hope Blog 