Sabbath Devotional: Unto the Least of These

I was revisiting Isaiah 6 this week after seeing a verse of this scripture being used in a very spiritually manipulative and divisive way. I don’t want to give more traction to a horrifying display of Christian nationalism and the conflation of religion with a particular political worldview so instead I’ll direct you to MWEG’s idea of what it means to respond to God’s call: https://www.instagram.com/p/DL3DRAnMgrX/

I love spending time with the words of Isaiah because his words always give me a lot to think deeply about. As I revisited this particular chapter, I had not remembered the verses that precede “the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Earlier in this narrative, Isaiah is lamenting his unclean state. I think this could be a literal or metaphorical expression, but my inclination leads toward the metaphorical in the sense of sin, as the verses (6-7) describe:

“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

“And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

Then we read the well-known words in which Isaiah responds “Here am I; send me.” The verses that follow describe the charge Isaiah receives, to preach to the people and share the word of God.

This got me thinking of another familiar Bible verse about preaching the gospel and deliverance. Luke 4 recounts the Savior’s time in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. When He returned to Galilee, He taught in the synagogue, and He also turned to the words of Isaiah. In verses 17-18:

“And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

This is what has been asked of us as followers of Christ — to tend to our fellow man with care and perception, whether it be with healing, deliverance, liberty, or the good news of the gospel. The breadth and range of what Christ offers each of us is truly remarkable, and that we have the ability to reach others by extending Christlike love is also remarkable. I know I have talked about this book before in other devotionals, but I love the writing of Howard Thurman in his book, “Jesus and the Disinherited.” It feels very resonant with these teachings of Isaiah, shared again in the New Testament account of Luke, which demonstrate the way the Savior has called on us to reach out to “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40). When I see religion, and in particular Christianity, weaponized and used to harm others, I always turn back to this book, and most importantly to the Savior Himself. Jesus Christ often acted in ways that were seen as politically subversive or contrary to the social traditions of the day, in service of those in the most vulnerable positions within society. I am continually inspired by the ways that the Savior defied expectations and in doing so, taught us important lessons about what it means to follow Him. Religion (and specifically, Christianity) has been used time and again in ways that it perhaps should not have been, and I daresay that will continue to be the case. But when I see that happen, I try to take a leaf from actual scripture and the example of my Savior, who persevered in the face of oppression and never let the political or social hegemony determine who He chose to minister to and love.

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Image credit: painting of Christ by Michelle Franzoni Thorley (you may know her by her social media account of FloraFamiliar)

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Elizabeth VanDerwerken is the proactive root director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.