Go and watch the Christian Aid video clip
Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cries for relief from their hard labor ascended to God:
God listened to their groanings.
God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
God saw what was going on with Israel.
God understood.
Exodus 2; 23-25 (The Message)
Through the eyes of,….
I don’t know if you have ever tried on the wrong set of glasses, or even tried on a pair of glasses when you don’t wear them. The world can go very fuzzy all of a sudden, if you are standing you might even go a little dizzy or light headed. Seeing the world through someone else’s eyes can be a disorientating experience, but it can also give us a unique insight.
Over the next few weeks, in the run up to Christian Aid week we will be trying to view the world through someone else’s eyes, the eyes of the,…..thirsty, the widow, the prisoners and the poor.
To get some good background info go and have a look at the following film clips;
Stop the Traffik promo
Don’t be oblivious
Ruth Dearnley, CEO of STOP THE TRAFFIK’s interview on BBC Breakfast
Is there a moment is your life that defines who you are now? It might be a wedding day, the birth of a child, a decision you have taken, an accident, I wonder what you would answer.
Was there a moment in the history of this country that defines us?
Many would perhaps answer to the second question Churchill becoming prime Minister during the second world war. Others might remember the Thatcher years, others 1966 or 2003 world cup wins.
The reading that we had at the start of the presentation is one of those moments that defines a country. Joseph, of the technicoloured dream coat fame, had been handed over by his brothers into slavery. He had risen through the ranks and had become a powerful administrator who had overseen Egypt through 7 years of plenty and 7 of famine. His family had come to join him, sadly he had died and then his ancestors had started to multiply far quicker than the Egyptians. In face they had grown too numerous and the Egyptians took action to put them into slavery, they were worried about National security and they had a national building program to complete.
So Joseph’s ancestors were brick makers and treated harshly by their masters, they knew what it was to feel the sun and whips on their backs and the sand and chains on their feet. They were treated cruelly were showed no mercy. The brick quota kept going up and then they had to deal with genocide. The Egyptians took every one of the boys born to Joseph’s ancestors and threw them in the River Nile. They were treated like vermin. And then we read,…
Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cries for relief from their hard labor ascended to God:
God listened to their groanings.
God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
God saw what was going on with Israel.
God understood.
Exodus 2; 23-25 (The Message)
We read that Israel cried out. They did not just moan under their breath or cry out to each other, or complain amongst themselves. They moaned and cried out loud to God, it is an amazing step of faith. Maybe they doubted he would hear, maybe they were unsure about what would happen, maybe this was last resort alley and last chance saloon. Will he hear? Will he come? What will change?
Did you know God has ears? He heard the cries of the oppressed and God acted.
What did he do?
God appointed a murdering, doubting, cowardly nobody to lead the people out of slavery.
God acted through his agent Moses, he was called.
Moses was called like Wilberforce, like Mandela, like Pankhurst, like Edward Jenner, like Churchill, like you?
God needs agents today to act on his behalf to hear the cry of those who are trafficked all over the world.
Will you respond? Will you join in with God’s action? Will you like God hear the cry?
Take some time to reflect, go and watch
