Today's Scripture Reading (March 10, 2022): Judges 5
I
love Elie Wiesel's (1928-2016) comment that "The opposite of love is not
hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's
indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the
opposite of life is not death, it's indifference." Wiesel should know. As
a survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, he personally suffered
for the world's indifference. Oh, maybe we didn't realize how bad the
conditions were in those camps before the Allied troops liberated them. But we
had heard the rumors and had discounted them. No one, not even Adolf Hitler,
could have been that evil. But the truth is that we didn't care enough to find
out the truth. We were apathetic to the plight of the Jews and consumed by our
own pain and discomfort. And what is maybe even worse is that there are still
elements of society that still are filled with that kind of indifference. Who
cares what is happening in Ukraine if it doesn't impact my little world. The
Holocaust, at least to some, is nothing more than a cautionary tale, a
nightmare told to children without any truth to the story. We believe this despite
the pictures, the existence of the concentration camps that can still be
visited, and the testimonies of the survivors that can still be heard. But we
don't care enough to listen. Apathy is our sin and one from which we need to
repent. Part of that repentance needs to be that we will end our indifference
and begin to really listen so that a holocaust can never happen again.
The
Song of Deborah strives to thank those tribes who joined in the battle against
Jabin and his general Sisera. But the song also questions those who did not
join the struggle and curses some who stayed away. And one of the cursed was
the city of Meroz. Maybe it is a fulfillment of that curse that today we are
not even sure where the city had existed. We believe that Meroz was planted on
the plains of Galilee north of Mount Tabor. But the city's inhabitants refused
to lift a finger to help Israel defeat Jabin. They stayed home, not caring what
happened to other areas of Israel as long as their location was not under
threat. And as a result, the sin of Meroz has come to signify an attitude of
indifference and apathy.
During
the American Revolutionary War, those who fought for American independence
often argued that the British Loyalists were committing the sin of Meroz. They
didn't care enough to join the fight and end the nation's slavery to the old
world.
The
sin of Meroz might still be one of the most common political sins. Our attitude
often reflects the attitude of Meroz during the days of Deborah.; if it doesn't
directly affect me, then I don't care enough to make a difference. It is an
apathy for which I am afraid we will have to answer one day.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Judges 6
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