They are part of us

Nehemiah was very privileged like many of us in the west. He lived a life of affluence, and lacked nothing. His position as cupbearer to the king was that of a high ranking status. One day, unwittingly, an encounter with some brothers from his homeland of Judah changed his life forever.
He heard reports from them of the plight of those living in Jerusalem. His people were distressed, without a walled city, and the temple was in ruins. This news made an impact on Nehemiah like it had never had before. Being an exile himself in the courts of Persia, he would have known of the status of the holy land. Yet it was different this time. He was emotionally vulnerable, and allowed himself to be affected by this latest update of the state of affairs in Jerusalem.
When I think of the plight of the poor, locally and globally, I am very aware objectively of their depravity. However so often do I carry on with life as if it’s “business as usual”. Recently in Haiti, God opened my eyes in a greater capacity to the needs of people, and I like Nehemiah experienced an awakening, and become emotionally involved in their problems.
Emotional involvement, I feel is the beginning for social transformation. When I think about Nehemiah’s sudden interest in the plight of Jerusalem, I realize it couldn’t have happened without committing emotionally. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel that emotional connection until he put himself in the place of the others. He likened them to himself, and realized that they were of the same stock, nationality, and heritage. This congruency allowed Nehemiah to feel compassion for his “brothers”.
Compassion is sympathy in action. In order for us to demonstrate God’s love to the hurting we need to see them as we are. Most won’t go to our church, but they belong to Christ. Or maybe Christianity might not be their practice, however they qualify for help because they participate in humanity. For others, maybe they don’t live in our neighborhood, but we live in the same city. While many are not even from our country but we will care because we share this world together. Whoever they are, wherever they live, whatever they do, as we strive to emotionally sympathize with our suffering family like Nehemiah, we will see them to be part of us. Then and only then will we become emotionally involved, and poised to practically show them God’s love, sharing the gospel, while healing social hurts, bringing God’s restorative justice to the least of these.