God Chooses Sides!

So... did you watch the Super Bowl? Yes? No? Which team did you root for? Did they win?? Were you happy with the results? Or were you seriously disappointed?

I have to say, having watched the game, that it was one of the most exciting games I had seen in awhile. The Saints certainly made a great comeback and that one pass that was caught was awesome! Even being as football illiterate as I am, that was a great game to watch.

Around every football game, the question remains: Whose team are you rooting for? Which team do you want to win? For the enthusiast, that question is at the heart of who they are. Especially when THEIR team is playing! But for the rest of us who could care less, that question becomes an entertaining one. Which side should I root for?

We usually think that God doesn’t take sides. That He is passively neutral to the world. But that thought is mistaken. True, God doesn’t really care who wins the Super Bowl, but he does care about sides. And for God, that choice is easy. God is on the side of the poor.

God says so Himself. In the book of Isaiah:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

There is a thought in our culture today that poverty is somehow the fault of the poor. That anyone can pick themselves up off their bootstraps and make something of their life. While it may be true for some, for most of the poor in the world, they were born into that condition. Much like we were born into families who could afford 3 square meals each day, cars to drive in, a roof over our head, clothes, and toys, they were born in families that could afford none of those things.

Who will stand with them? Who will take their sides? Who will root for them and encourage them and give of themselves for their benefit??

God will, that’s who! God is on THEIR side. God is on their team! And God calls us to be on their team as well. To “clothe the naked, provide the poor wanderer shelter, and share your food with the hungry.” To be advocates of the poor and needy in our own community. And God will reward those who take their side too. Those who satisfy the needs of the oppressed and spend themselves in behalf of the hungry are promised “your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.”

So... how are you spending yourself? Whose team have you chosen? Have you chosen another team besides the poor? Most of us parents spend ourselves for our children. We literally spend our money, our resources, and our very lives on the little ones that run around our feet. That’s fine...but who else are you spending yourself for and on? Do you care for the poor with what is left of your time, your talents, and your resources? Or have you forgotten them and turned to giving to yourself instead?

Whose team have you chosen? It’s something worth looking at. And is it the same team as God has chosen? Amen!