If there’s one thing we can know
with assurance, and rest upon, it is the judgment of the wicked; the powerful
in this life who betray the trust of the vulnerable will be on the receiving
end of Power in eternity. Life will seem irrefutably short to these, and our
prayer is that the vulnerable who’ve been betrayed might know some of the
Justice that has taken place. So much better then that a semblance of justice
might occur before eternity.
We all know of many situations and
stories of such betrayal; where persons knowingly or unknowingly placed
themselves at the whim of those positioned to either bless or curse them; and
cursed them they did.
Stories of abuse, neglect, deprivation
and destruction stain the litany of history. These stories we connect with and
they anger us. We choose either reprisal or advocacy, for apathy just doesn’t
fit our consciences.
Advocacy Is The Only Way
So, there we land, in a two-horse
race to make a decision about how we will respond to thoughts of sweeping
injustice. We have reprisal or advocacy.
Many go the way of reprisal. ‘An
eye for an eye’, they say—citing some biblical imperative, reflecting the Law.
Little do they know or care that they are useless to the vulnerable betrayed in
seeking reprisal. Even less useful are they to themselves, for they get bitter
and twisted. Their best favour is sought in seeking knowledge regarding ‘the
why’ of their anger. What of their past is unreconciled or irreconcilable? Why
are they so vehement of the abuser or neglecter that they cut off their ability
to act for the vulnerable?
In a moment of reason they might
look upon the Advocate. The Spirit of God is the perfect model—the Incarnate
Son, Jesus, worked tirelessly for the vulnerable and never let reprisal shift his
focus from the real goal.
Jesus teaches us advocacy as the
only positively cogent form of response. With our anger checked by the love of
God, which is enrolled at our acceptance of our offence before God regarding
our sin, which has been forgiven, we have control over the further disposal of
our emotions regarding fighting for others.
***
Advocacy is the only good way to
fight for the vulnerable. Reprisal, in any form, works not for the vulnerable, but
against them, and even against us as well. The Lord says, ‘Vengeance is mine’.
Let it be that way.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
Advocacy must start with prayer, right?
ReplyDeletePrayer will guide advocacy, no doubt. It will help in these situations in other ways, too.
ReplyDelete