By Pastor Chris Hagen
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall not hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free [help it rise under burden]. Exodus 23:5
I don’t know anyone personally who has a donkey. And I don’t have any real enemies, should they even have a donkey. Yet this command from the Lord given while the people of Israel were still being formed in the wilderness has implications for us now. The command is about assisting others, even if they are enemies.
Former enemies have faded in this isolation. It is now easy to see how enemies are really a human construct and not natural phenomena. The pandemic has slowed socializing and economy, and has turned attention from the harsh and hateful words of six months ago. Enemies have faded in face of an unseen disease.
However, instead of enemies, read this command as speaking about those we fear because of infection. The command is to assist one’s enemy’s household and family even while at enmity, that there is ethical imperative to care even while opposing. That in this time of fear of infection, there is ethical imperative to act on caring for the stranger in the store, across the street, in another continent.
This is higher-function behavior. It is, instead of self-interest, looking out for one another, particularly the other we don’t know or prefer not to know.
We will come out of isolation in a couple of months. We will look back on this experience and try to make sense of it. We will look back, and to the degree we are brave, examine our own character under stress. We will return to public but will be different. These days reveal our faith and our spiritual character.
God’s Spirit is clearly moving in this time of stress and anxiety. It is one thing to watch out for family; it is another to watch out also for those I don’t know. Respectful social distancing, purchasing only what one needs, resisting hoarding, smiling and looking in each other’s eyes even with a mask, checking in on one another, doing tasks another can’t, practicing patience, being gracious, being generous, are some ways the Spirit of God moves among us. Faith is the degree we participate in these movements of the Spirit.
In the long run, our mental health, our spiritual strength and our worldview depends on getting past ourselves and attending to others. Praying for others, praying specific, particular petitions for others is one act that will give us strength to endure this isolation. Taking care of each other is another.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat … Proverbs 25:21
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall not hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free [help it rise under burden]. Exodus 23:5
I don’t know anyone personally who has a donkey. And I don’t have any real enemies, should they even have a donkey. Yet this command from the Lord given while the people of Israel were still being formed in the wilderness has implications for us now. The command is about assisting others, even if they are enemies.
Former enemies have faded in this isolation. It is now easy to see how enemies are really a human construct and not natural phenomena. The pandemic has slowed socializing and economy, and has turned attention from the harsh and hateful words of six months ago. Enemies have faded in face of an unseen disease.
However, instead of enemies, read this command as speaking about those we fear because of infection. The command is to assist one’s enemy’s household and family even while at enmity, that there is ethical imperative to care even while opposing. That in this time of fear of infection, there is ethical imperative to act on caring for the stranger in the store, across the street, in another continent.
This is higher-function behavior. It is, instead of self-interest, looking out for one another, particularly the other we don’t know or prefer not to know.
We will come out of isolation in a couple of months. We will look back on this experience and try to make sense of it. We will look back, and to the degree we are brave, examine our own character under stress. We will return to public but will be different. These days reveal our faith and our spiritual character.
God’s Spirit is clearly moving in this time of stress and anxiety. It is one thing to watch out for family; it is another to watch out also for those I don’t know. Respectful social distancing, purchasing only what one needs, resisting hoarding, smiling and looking in each other’s eyes even with a mask, checking in on one another, doing tasks another can’t, practicing patience, being gracious, being generous, are some ways the Spirit of God moves among us. Faith is the degree we participate in these movements of the Spirit.
In the long run, our mental health, our spiritual strength and our worldview depends on getting past ourselves and attending to others. Praying for others, praying specific, particular petitions for others is one act that will give us strength to endure this isolation. Taking care of each other is another.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat … Proverbs 25:21
