This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ – Zechariah 7:9-10

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 22, 2017): Zechariah 7

Mother Teresa once commented, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” It is a strange comment to modern ears. Our feeling is that our highest duty is to ourselves. I am responsible for me. But as much as Mother Teresa’s comment that we “belong to each other” might be foreign to us, our concept of individuality would be foreign to people of ancient times. We live in community, and community only happens as we give ourselves to it. And part of our responsibility as part of community is the defense of those who are weakest among us. Justice, in its most basic form, is the assurance that the most vulnerable are treated by law the same as those with resources. Compassion is the extent to which as a society we are willing to lift up those who are struggling among us. And both justice and compassion are required if we are to truly belong to each other.

It is also a fundamental teaching of the Bible. There is never a time when taking advantage of the weak, or the poor who exist within our societies is an appropriate response. And in Jewish understanding, this protection extends even to the foreigners who walk among us. I believe strongly that this has been a part of the terrorist problem that we face within our contemporary society. We have created a form of second-class citizens among the foreigners who walk in our midst. Within these groups, we create a situation where there is a lack of hope, and it is this lack of hope that becomes the fertile growing place for the violence that we are currently experiencing. And maybe some of this could be prevented by the simple act of not oppressing the foreigner.

All of this is part of the idea that we “belong to each other” or maybe better stated that “we are responsible for each other.” Mother Teresa is right; this is the foundation of peace. Unless we are willing to belong to each other, we will have no peace. In community, this means belonging to each other in spite of our differences. As a society, we will be judged by how we treat “the least of these.” And we should not somehow believe that justice and compassion are optional. They can’t be because Mother Teresa is right – we belong to each other.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Zechariah 8