Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

there were a lot of things i could've updated about in the past few months... my birthday (which was exceptional - the best in 31 years), christmas, new years... but none gave me as much motivation as this: bono's speech to president bush and many congressional leaders at the national prayer breakfast last week. he pleaded for the american government to not let up on their mission to provide aid to the world, especially africa, and reaffirmed that we are in the year of jubilee, an "age of grace" in fact, that began when jesus came to this world, an time when all debts will be canceled and justice served.

in my measly life, i've made it a goal, a mission, to to fight for justice and serving the disadvantaged. i've tried to do what i can, but not nearly enough. but when someone like bono, arguably the biggest rockstar in the world, stands in front of the most powerful people in the world who has the power to change history, it makes me think a little more about the call jesus gave us.

in this world, there's a lot of injustice, indifference, ignorance, greed, cruelty, selfishness, self-righteousness, pretentiousness... the list can go on and on. if only a few more people would take their eyes off themselves (their own pain, their own goals, their own needs & wants, their own whatever), they might begin to understand that it's not what we can aquire for ourselves in this life.

it's not about that at all.

as bono pointed out, God himself says in isaiah 58:

6 "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?

7 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?

8 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.

9 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,

10 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.

11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

did you guys get that? God says that if we would focus on others rather than ourselves, then HE would take care of everything. he's got our back (v.8). he says that our light would break forth, he would bring healing, righteousness, and protection. he would guid us always, satisfy our needs, strengthen us, and flourish us. but only if we stop trying to do get all these things by ourselves.

so where do we go from here?

last night tom spoke at our evening service and he spoke of the 'isaac spirit' - being dependent on the promises of our supernatural, awesome God rather than ourselves. go check it out. the vine's audio vault.

and since i began this post with bono's words, i'll finish it with them as well:

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, "I have a new song, look after it. I have a family, please look after them. I have this crazy idea..."

And this wise man said: STOP.

He said, "Stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed."

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.