When my daughter was in high school, she was scheduled through our church youth group to go to Birmingham to work at a soup kitchen to help feed the homeless for a day as a mission project. She was very nervous and apprehensive. Being raised in rural Alabama, she had only seen the homeless at a distance or on TV. She asked me if she should go. I told her the homeless were “just folks” created by God and in need Jesus, just like you and me. They have the same feelings and put on their clothes, just like we do. The only difference is they have lost their way and need a kind hand and heart to help them.
” I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther King
Have you ever noticed that there is always a people that are on the list to be undesirable? I was three years old when this speech was given in Washington DC. Martin Luther King stood up for a movement against a nation that had allowed an attitude of injustice against a whole race of individuals. I remember hearing some of the slang from people that detested the movement that Dr. King stood for. I remember singing in church:
” Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world,
Red and yellow, black and white,
they are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world”.
I remember thinking maybe God stops loving them when they grow up and are no longer little children yet, John 3:16 states God loved the whole world. I heard stories from older generations that fought in WWII using slang for the Germans or the Japanese. Then, also from the Korean and Vietnam wars I heard more slang. I have heard different slang used for all races of people. I have noticed people from different era’s speak of hate for different countries, races or nationalities; for whatever reason.
Mark 2:2
So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
In the story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man, Jesus is in a building of standing room only. The story tells of a paralyzed man that needed healing. His friends were so intent on getting him to Jesus that they take him up on the roof, create a hole and lower him down. The story only refers to the man as “the paralyzed man or the paralytic” then when the man is lowered, as he gets close, Jesus calls him “son”.
Matthew 19:19
…‘love your neighbor as yourself. ’
Whether we would like to admit it or not, we live in a divided world. Religiously, we are divided by denominations and beliefs. Socially, we are divided by wealth or lack of. Politically, we are divided by age, skin color, gender, ideas and political party. Growing up in the era of the Cold War, I was lead to believe that the people on the other side of the “iron curtain” hated the people on this side. But, then in 1989 when the Berlin wall fell, nothing happened except the unification of Germany. So, for years the wall was there separating both worlds for…what purpose? When we maintain the “us and them” mentality and consider other groups or denominations as “not like us” or unworthy, stupid, or lower class, then it separates us from our purpose.
Matthew 25:37
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? ’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. ’
I think if the adversary can divide us through the guise of religious denominations, and use political and world leaders to do similar, then we are being torn apart and pitted against each other for a reason.
First they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller
In order to look through God’s eyes, we have to look at people as individuals. Not black or white, red or yellow, union or non-union, but people. When we get to know them as individuals, we find out they have the same needs as us: love, family, security and a place to call home. I think when everything is said and done, we are all created by God for a purpose. Our nationality, race and ethnic group is our badge of honor that is an important part of who we are. We should not allow anyone to tell us we are less than another group, nor should we allow anyone to tell us we are better.
“Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us”.
Golda Meir
We define people by what we call them. If we can dehumanize them, it makes us feel better about hating them or not treating them like God would want us to. The paralyzed man was defined by what his friends and the crowd called him. Jesus did not define him by his affliction, He defined him by his purpose, He called him “son”. When my daughter returned from her mission trip, I asked her how it went. She responded “You were right. They are ‘just folks’ like you and me”.