Voices That Cry Out Case 1. Do you remember the poem, In Flanders Fields, written on behalf of the soldiers who died in WWI and were buried in the fields of Flanders, France. In one place the poem says: “Take up our quarrel with the foe; to you from failing hands we throw the torch; “ Be yours to hold it high; if you break faith with us who die, We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.” Well, think with me of for awhile.: Note that the dead were crying out to the living to “take up our quarrel with the foe.” But who is the foe? Who is the enemy or who are the enemies that the appreciative and loyal must take up the quarrel with? Whatever occasioned that war is surely still at work and needs to be opposed. For starts, surely it would include aggression, greed, selfish ambition and the lack of love and respect between peoples! Case 2. In Genesis 4:10, in encountering murderous Cain, the Lord said, Your brothers blood cries out from the ground... What was the blood crying out? Wasnt it guilt? Mistreatment? Unfairness? Isnt that still crying out from our generation? And dont each of us have opportunities to do something about it? Case 3. In Heb. 12:24, the writer says that the blood of Jesus speaks better than the blood of Abel (the NIV says a better message”) The message of the blood of Jesus was forgiveness rather than guilt; loving forgiveness rather that vengeance, right? Well, what can we do to hear and respond to that message, both for ourselves and to others whom we may influence? Case 4: Toward the end of James 5, the writer says fair wages that had been unfairly retained by lecherous employers cry out, and their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts. So, don’t the wages still cry out for fairness, integrity and the like today? Isn’t there something we can do about that? So, what I am getting at is the great need of listening to the voices of the past, that are crying out to us and the importance of heeding them. And the sobering question is this: are we making an effort to listen and respond to the voices or the past, or are we content to plant a few poppies. Are we going to take up the quarrel with the foe, or just plant poppies?
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 06:14:07 +0000
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