Om om te gee in ‘n wêreld waar daar baie onderdrukking is
1 Konings 12
Through worship, prophetic word, and protest, we are called to expose oppressive social realities and insist: It could be otherwise. – Walter Brueggemann
Die sentrale verhaal van die Bybel, is die Eksodus-narratief: God verlos uit slawerny. Dis nie iets wat maklik gebeur nie, maar gaan gepaard met pyn en opoffering. Tog bly dit ‘n deurlopende tema: God gee om vir onderdruktes. Daarom is Jesus se volgelinge mense wat omgee. Ons sien onderdrukking raak. Ons het empatie. Ons weet dat liefde altyd hande en voete het.
In ‘n artikel genaamd “Entitled neighbors” skryf Brueggemann:
We mock the poor when we imagine that they are not present to us and we make them invisible. We mock the poor when we imagine they are not entitled (simply because they are among us). We mock the poor if we blame them for their status which is created by hidden power arrangements and unacknowledged social advantage. We mock the poor when we resist viable ways through which to share the well-being of society. We mock the poor, and they are helpless to retaliate (except, of course, in random acts of violence). We mock the poor … and God is unsettled … and the stakes are upped severely.
The counter to mocking the poor is to take the poor with economic seriousness as entitled neighbors, as legitimate members of the community who are not going to go away. It is God’s practice to notice the poor. It is God’s delight when God’s powerful and blessed also notice … and act accordingly.
Lees die res van die artikel hier.
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