By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. – Isaiah 53:8

Today's Scripture Reading (November 1, 2026): Isaiah 53

I recently read a bit about the church's history with slavery. What amazed me was that the universal church really did not take a stand on the issue of slavery until very late in the process. Part of the history included a story about two pastors from the same denomination, men who would have had to stand on the same platform at any of the denomination's major functions. On the surface, the two men were friends, but a deep divide separated them. One of the pastors was a slave owner, while the other was an abolitionist. In the book, these two men are held up as an ideal of how people of good character can form a friendship despite significant differences.

However, as I read the story, I began to see something different. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that slavery is wrong. There is also no doubt in my mind that the church did not take a stand against slavery as early as it should have. Our story has been the story of the abolitionist pastor standing on the platform with the slave owner, neither one able to push the issue and say that the other was wrong. The only way I can imagine this relationship working is if both pastors put away their personal beliefs about slavery. In some areas of life and belief, that is indeed laudable. However, we deserve to be chastised for not standing up against the evils of this world, even when they come disguised as religious belief. According to the Bible, we are called to act whenever someone is oppressed. We stand for those who can't.

For the most part, the Bible is God's instructions to the world's oppressed. This message about the oppressed may be why the affluent sometimes struggle to understand the Bible. If there is one constant, it seems to be that God stands with the oppressed and with those who are judged. I realize that often the oppression and judgment of policies in the past seem to be clearer to us than any current oppression. Still, we need to work to recognize oppression in our current beliefs. We need to stand up for those who suffer under judgment in our world, wherever we find them.

Isaiah describes the Suffering Servant, whom the Christian Church recognizes as Jesus, as being carried away by both oppression and judgment. Yet no one in his generation stood up to defend him. For Isaiah, this seems to be the greatest sin: refusing to care for those who need someone to stand in their stead, even if that means entering uncomfortable territory. For Isaiah's Suffering Servant, this oppression and his generation's inaction meant he would be separated from life. What made this even worse was that the Suffering Servant was being judged for sins that were not his own. The sins he suffered for belonged to the people who were willing to stand by and let him die.

Oppression is a constant in our world. But the church's reality is that we need to stand against oppression, wherever it is found, and against the oppressor, regardless of whether they are like us or not. We also need to repent for the people we oppress, so we might be considered part of the Kingdom of God movement.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 54