Rebuking the Oppressor

Few people in the U.S. can even imagine that a place like this still exists in the world. We are naive enough to think that everyone lives in comfortable homes where electricity is available 24-7, water comes out of faucets, hot and cold, refrigerators are stocked with tons of food and on the driveway or inside spacious garages, a couple of cars sit there, waiting for their typical one passenger.

We can't imagine that there are places in this world where people have to walk 20+ miles to get wood to start a fire to cook some food which they cultivated in their own fields. We can't imagine that as soon as the sun goes down (at about 6:30 p.m.) the world grows dark to a multitude of people. And they walk to and from work (the few that are lucky enough to have work) or crowd the mini-vans and trucks, if they can afford to pay the transportation fee, risking their lives just to stay alive for another day that brings little or no hope of change.

Countries like the Central African Republic have a track record of failed leadership in the government. One dictator comes to power and stays in power long enough to get rich, then gets overthrown by a rebel who calls himself a "liberator." The former dictator then exiles himself to places like France or the Ivory coast, and gets to spend the rest of his life in luxury, while the new "liberator" quickly shows his despotic intentions by turning his machine gun touting soldiers against his own people. This has been going on for so long that people have lost the ability to hope for change. They are resigned to live under dictatorships and the cry for freedom gets squelched by the power of the gun.

God looks at this and despises the exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful. He is always looking for those who will stand up for those who have nothing. In Isaiah 1:17 He tells us to "learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Another way of translating "encourage the oppressed" is "rebuke the oppressor."

We feel like every time we go to the C.A.R. and lift up those who are stricken by poverty and fear, we are fulfilling God's command for us to "rebuke the oppressor." I know it is not in your face "you are the man" type of rebuke like Nathan did to David, but it is a quiet voice that grows louder inside the soul of those feeling the oppression.

The video above is an example of this quiet kind of love that eventually will be talked about in the palaces of the oppressor. A group of Westerners gives up the comfort of their life and spends two weeks bringing comfort to some of the poorest of the poor in the C.A.R. One afternoon they spend hours tenderly caring for a small band of Pygmies nobody in this world cares about. They tend to their wounds, give the kids toys that make bubbles, help them pump water, play soccer with them. This is such an empowering experience for those who are oppressed, and we hope that by doing this we give them a little bit of hope.

People from the nearby village come and join the fun. In the end they insist that we give them the soccer ball and the frisbees we were using to play with. They say "you can't give them to these animals" (they emphasize the word "animals), "they wouldn't know how to play with them." An argument breaks out. People there are incapable of understanding why anyone would care about a group of Pygmy.

And remarkably I can see their point. I don't know why anybody would care about a group of people who on the exterior look downright scary. They literally live on the dirt. Though they now have a water well in their village, they never shower. They are wearing (those who have anything on) the same tattered clothes they wore many months ago. Their bodies are covered with sores. They are not what we could call "pretty." They are like props left over from an age long gone by. They even seem to invite exploitation. They may even deserve it.

I don't see why anybody would want to come anywhere close such a group of people. And if they did, they would have to be insane to touch them. But again we are not just "anybody," are we? We were once like the Pygmies -- there was nothing desirable about us, was there? We were also repulsive, weren't we? But God ignored all of that and sent His only Son to die on our behalf. Who would do such a thing?

And that, my friends, is one of the reasons we chose to go to a Pygmy village in the middle of nowhere to share the hope of Christ with "the last of these." We were "graced" and "mercied." We got the bug of compassion and it all comes from knowing this Lord who gave all He had for us. The more we get to know Him, the more we understand that His heart aches for those who have been robbed of their dignity. The more we study His Word, the more we understand how deeply He desires to fellowship with all peoples. The closer we get to this Messiah, the more we despise the arrogance of those who take power by force. The more we feast at His feast of grace, the more we realize that at the foot of the cross we are all equal. And we long for His Kingdom to come. Oh, how we long for the day when justice will be meted out and the despots of this world will run for cover.

And this is just one way we "rebuke" the oppressor.

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade

itrindade@woostergrace.org