“Help Us!”

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Acts 16:9)

The citizens of Macedonia were calling out for help. They had done all they could do. And now they were calling out saying, “We could benefit from your assistance. We have need of thy help, as much as any people. Now please don’t just PRAY for me. We need you to Come Over to Macedonia and HELP US.”

We must follow the example of Jesus. Ellen G. White, a 19th century Christian author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, says in The Ministry of Healing, “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’”

When I read the Bible, God describes himself again and again in Scripture as God of the poor… Friend of the weak... Father of the Fatherless… Defender of the widows… Judge of the oppressed… Protector of aliens.

If this is the kind of God we worship, then this is the kind of people we should be. It is time that we truly imitate God.

The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed, comes to their defense, He gives food to the hungry, He sets the prisoner free, He lifts those who are bowed down, He watches over the alien, He sustains the fatherless and widows. (Psalm 146:7-9)

Now is the time, for there is no time to waste. There are too many problems in the world, too many people who have not heard the good news. Too many issues and needs that deserve God’s comfort acted out through his people, through his beloved children who trust in his grace and power.

Don’t you hear them crying... “Help us!!!”

Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard?

We cannot allow those who are crying out “help us” to wallow in the valley of despair.

Yes I know most of you have made it. Yes I know most of you have overcome.

But we cannot become satisfied as long a one child goes to bed hungry. We cannot be satisfied as long as our people continue to be incarcerated disproportionately. We cannot be satisfied as long as elected officials try to pass laws that keep citizens of these United States from exercising their right to vote. We cannot be satisfied as long as there are individuals who think they have nothing for which to vote. We cannot be satisfied as long as there are individuals in these United States who don’t have basic medical coverage. We cannot be satisfied as long as our children and babies are being murdered, denying them the basic right to live, play, grow, go to college and fulfill dreams. We cannot be satisfied as long as the economic sanctions of a New Jim Crow creates ghettos. We cannot be satisfied as long as there is disproportionate, racist and biased sentencing of poor people of color. We cannot be satisfied as long as there is a system which nurtures a culture of violence and crime and cultivates poverty and classism.

No, no I am not satisfied, and I will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. When we talk about justice we are talking about human rights. Those less fortunate than us are still humans beings with human rights. It is not just sympathy that the poor need (or only prayer and a pat on the back), it is justice as well. God requires both charity and justice, and justice can often be achieved only through the mechanism of government.

The view that nations, as well as individuals, will be judged by the way they treat the weakest and most vulnerable among them is deeply embedded in the witness of prophets such as Isaiah, who said: “How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws, and those who write laws that make life hard for people. They are not fair to the poor, and they rob MY people of their rights. They allow people to steal from widows and to take from orphans what really belongs to them.” (Isaiah 10:1-2) Additionally, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” (Proverbs 29:7)

We must speak up for the least of these. “Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. Speak up, and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and of the needy.” (Proverbs 31:8 )

The poor are powerless and voiceless. Therefore, we must speak up for the voiceless and defend the powerless! The worst plight of the poor is not so much an inability to survive, but they lack the ability themselves to change their situation. Consequently, it is the duty of those who are neither poor nor powerless to speak up for those who are.

Jesus declares, “Just as you did it [or did not do] to one of the least of these, you did it [or did not do it] to Me.” (Matthew 25:45)

Pastor Jerome M. Hurst is Pastor of Southeast Seventh-day Adventist Church, Cleveland, OH