When I was Most Weak

 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 ESV

 

                The leak of the draft Supreme Court decision regarding abortion released a torrent of emotion. A sea of impassioned faces stares out at me from my screen, some ecstatic others baleful. Pundits in both camps struggle to make sense of this watershed moment. For many, this moment represents a hopeful victory, years in the making. For many others, this portends a savage curtailment of freedoms. For me, I am reminded of Romans 5:6, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” When I was at the most weak and desperate someone in power spoke up for me.

                As a sixty-year-old man, a veteran of over twenty years of active service in the Army, ten years of experience in high school and junior high classrooms, father of three children, and thirty years of marriage to the same beautiful woman, I intimately understand the dynamics of power and relationships. I know what it is like to wield power and what it is like to suffer indignities under the lash of tyrannical leadership. At my lowest and most vulnerable, someone spoke up in my defense, giving up their rights for me. Yes, giving up their rights for me, a concept foreign and anathema to most of us. When I was weak, someone spoke for me. So now, I must speak for the weak.

                And yes, I speak for the weak, enfolded in their mother’s womb. They are voiceless, so I raise my voice for them.

                I speak for the weak, huddled masses along the border desperately hoping for a chance a something better. I speak for them, the sojourners. Some flee persecution and violence. Others flee a future darkened by unending, relentless hardship. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak children, trapped in crumbling under-supported schools. They spend their days in dank edifices learning just enough to know that there is something better out there, but unable to escape to a brighter future. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak, enduring a life of grinding poverty, alienated in a country they call their own. They know that the game is rigged against them. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak, those ailing among us that cannot afford appropriate medical treatment. In a time of historically unparalleled riches, they perish for lack of standard healthcare. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak among us who struggle to find their place in our culture. Adrift in a hostile environment, they long for patience and understanding. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak who labor in the service industries that provide the foundation of our economy and the oil for the humming machine that supports our life of ease. They regularly toil in bare minimum wage jobs with no benefits, often working multiple jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and to feed a family. I speak for them.

                I speak for the weak among us whose lives have spiraled down into homelessness. Yes, poor decisions mar their path, but surely, they deserve some level of help and succor. I speak for them. But it is not enough to simply speak.

                We must also act, doing all that we can to provide the impoverished help and succor. The right to life must surely extend past the first nine months and include proper education, food for the table, shelter from the elements, adequate clothing, and perhaps most importantly hope for a future. In a country which is arguably the wealthiest in the world and perhaps historically, we must rid ourselves of our current churlish attitude towards those less well off. When we were at our weakest, raising our fists in open rebellion, someone spoke up for us. Given our astounding resources, physical, spiritual, and intellectual, universal healthcare is within our reach. To withhold such from large sectors of our population reflects our own selfishness. We should provide every child within our borders a high-quality education. To fail in this, simply ensures that we will have to deal with masses of uneducated youth trapped in low-wage jobs with no future. Those of us that enjoy all the benefits of contemporary American or Western culture also enjoy the responsibility of caring for the weakest members of that culture. Long ago, Jesus said, “…Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12:48 ESV) Future historians will not evaluate our nation on the numbers of millionaires and billionaires we produce. Every culture produces an upper, wealthy class. The more enlightened, worthy cultures allocate resources to care for and protect the rights of the weakest members of its’ society.

I know that many consider the possibility of a reversal of Roe v. Wade an assault on their rights. And I understand. For centuries, perhaps millennia, women have endured significant depredations at the hands of brutish males, and despite progress, still frequently endure second-class treatment; consequently, the quest to secure rights remains a critical and necessary work. Sadly, especially in some areas, securing appropriate treatment remains a distant goal. Much work remains to eradicate the pernicious weed of sexual discrimination. But a child, resting secure within the safe embrace of its mother’s womb represents the weakest of the weak. Who speaks up for this weak person? When I was weak, someone spoke up for me. Now I must speak, and act for the weak.