6.25-When Christians cannot be silent

6.25-

God allows some things that amaze me.  He allowed Cain to kill his brother Abel.

He allowed Herod to kill a lot of babies.

He allowed a pregnant woman to have to travel on a donkey to Bethlehem.  What amazing freedom God has given His human creatures.  They have been made in His image and so have the freedom of choice.  To love and worship Him in response to His love or to reject His love and live in hate and violence.

I posted this on my Facebook today.
It is no surprise that many Christians have a soft heart toward refugees escaping from a country where children are in danger.
Matthew 2.
13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So [f]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He [g]remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Herod Slaughters Babies

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So [h]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

So it is understandable that many Christians stand with refugees.

Men of God have a history of standing and speaking truth to power.  Daniel did not quit praying when told to do do.  He did something illegal.  The three Jewish young men did not worship an idol although thrown into the fiery furnace.  Those who looked in on the fire saw a fourth figure with them that looked like the son of man.

Much later in history there have been men of God that did things that were against the authority.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood for God when Jews and others were being first called names and later killed by Hitler.

Martin Niemoller wrote:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
 
Martin Luther King

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/martin_luther_king_jr

 In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Larry Wishard
6.25.18