IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8

     To walk in the footsteps of Jesus; to humbly follow the path that God has laid out for us, often seems the most difficult of tasks. Even clergymen and women know the tug of temptation and, some, find it hard to resist. Why is this so?

     Well, first of all, to walk with Christ requires a commitment that places upon us certain obligations: the obligation to feed the hungry; clothe the naked; care for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned; to visit and have concern for the prisoner (Matt. 25). However, everyday we encounter those whose attitudes towards the poor, the naked, the hungry, the prisoner run counter to what Christ has called us to do. I often find myself at odds with this charge every time I come across a homeless person with a sign that says they are hungry while holding out their hand begging for change. I struggle with how often should I reach into my pocket to satisfy their need? If I ignore them does that make me an evil person? I try to comfort myself in the reality that I cannot stop on every street corner to give in this way. So I give what I can to the United Way, or the local soup kitchen, or food pantry, and when I can, I give of myself by working towards alleviating their misfortune.

    But, there are those who just don't care about them? What do we say to those who callously call such unfortunates lazy or drunkardly or addicts? To those who turn their backs on the needy and label those who were led into drug or alcohol addiction, or into a life of crime as "criminal" and deserving of their fate? How often do we hear references to certain parts of our cities as, "crime infested" or "drug laden," trigger words said to gain cheap political points without regard for the underlying social issues that produced such conditions. Do we call them "Evil?" I can't say if they are, in fact, evil, but it is evil, plain and simple. And, what is evil if nothing more than indifference? Indifferent to need, indifferent to solutions, indifferent to life. In my view, anyone who just stands around and watches evil is complicit in that evil. It is a conflict that has afflicted the world from the very beginning. After all, it was 'Evil' that tempted Eve, and it was 'Evil' who drove Cain to slay his brother, Abel, and we've only just gotten started with the Book of Genesis!

     To walk in the footsteps of Jesus means to commit ourselves and all of our energies to the creation (not just the ideal) of a world where love, peace and community prevails and where everyone (emphasis on EVERYONE) can live in an open, loving and tolerant environment in their pursuit of peace and happiness. To do God's Justice means to denounce hatred and division and to stand for that which is right and just for all. It means to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all our brothers and sisters and to do so without regard to the color of their skin, or where they came from, or what they may believe, or their sexual orientation. This is true love and solidarity. In doing so God's justice is practiced in the home, in our schools, in our economic system, the criminal justice system, and in our political institutions. This is what it means to follow Christ who welcomed all: the tax collector, the Roman, the leper, the prostitute, the adulteress. This is what it means to follow Christ who told us to "suffer the little children" (Matt. 19:14), who forgave those who killed him, and who proclaimed to the thieves who were crucified with him that, "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). 

     Jesus calls us to take up his cross (Matt. 16:24-26), and that, my friends, is a heavy burden. It means that we are to become engaged in the crises, the social suffering and in confrontation with all the evil forces set against us. I consider myself a man of faith; a man who believes in Jesus Christ and am, therefore, a man who calls himself a Christian. But what does that mean? Does it mean that I stand up in public as an advocate for God's Justice, to protest, to take on 'the system?'  It would seem so. Or, is it enough to get up Sunday morning, go to church, recite the creeds, support missionary service and give lip-service to a doctrine of faith that often has stood in opposition to all the things that the name, Jesus Christ, stands for, then leave the pew and go to the golf course? Or, is being a Christian, as theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, committed to "the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple gives up all and leaves his nets and follows him." (Bonhoeffer, 'The Cost of Discipleship').

     What does all that mean? It means, to me, that to call oneself a Christian, there is only one way to truly walk in His footsteps and that is to stoop down and pick up the cross, the same cross Christ took to his death at Golgotha, and to fearlessly walk hand-in-hand with Him into a future filled with uncertainty, yet filled with Hope that depends on us to create. Such hope is heard in a voice that softly whispers to us the words, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30, NASB).