Help Me to See the Invisible

"... and He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth." (Isaiah 11:3b-4)

Learning how to discern right from wrong, truth from fiction... to make decisions and pass judgments has been one of the harder things I've had to learn how to do as a pastor or as an academic dean of students. The passage from Isaiah cautions us against judging by what we see or what we hear. Isaiah recognizes that our sight and our hearing are often clouded by prejudice, power, or cultural assumptions. And in a day and age when images and sounds can be so easily manipulated by technology, it has become even more true that what we see and what we hear are not always the best basis for a decision. Often we have only the partial truth, only one side of the story, only our limited understanding.

In the end, of course, God is the only one who can pass judgment on anyone. And yet each day we must make decisions about people, we decide between right and wrong, we act justly or unjustly... to the best of our ability. What can this text teach us? The first previously reminds us that we must rely on the Holy Spirit, that we need to listen to God, to know God, to be in relationship with God so that God may lead and guide us.

This verse reminds us that in whatever we do, whatever decisions we make, we must do so with an eye to those in need, the poor of the earth. We must strive to see those the world would render invisible. We must not let power, prestige or position impact our decisions. Those in power should not face less consequences because "they have more to lose." We must protect those without power even though the world tells us they have less worth. All people are created in the image of God. God values all people equally... perhaps even raising up those who seem to be less in the eyes of the world.

This week, Lord, open my eyes to those who have been invisible in my life, to those I have forgotten or ignored. May my decisions be informed by a care and concern for all God's people, especially those in need.