So much of God’s law in Exodus is concerned with justice and mercy, particularly for the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the poor. It is not that the poor should be favoured (23:3) but that special attention should be given to defending the rights of those who are least able to defend their own rights. The community that is being envisaged here is not one in which everyone fights for his own rights, rather a community in which everyone upholds the rights of everyone else. There are people in this world who are deprived of the most basic of human rights. Knowing that this is the case should cause us to feel compelled to do something. Indeed, if everyone who was able did something, such injustice could not exist. You cannot change the world on your own, but you are called to do what you can. You may not be able to engage in issues of poverty and injustice directly, but you can support those who are directly engaged. And you can encourage others to do so too. This is the responsibility of every Christian. We should encourage our government to uphold justice but in doing so we should not abdicate our personal responsibility. We must each do what we can to create a community that promotes the welfare of those in need and strives to give people the opportunity to be all that God made them to be. The values of justice and mercy undergird the law being outlined here. Make sure your life expresses these values so that you can become a beacon of God’s love and grace.
Think about what you can do to express love and care for those in need.
Read Exodus 23:1-9
