Chains Shall He Break

• December 22, 2011 12:36 am
• by: Matt Osborne

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:  to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you… Isaiah 58: 5-8

It is interesting how my involvement in the modern day abolitionist movement has changed my sensitivity to things that would have just flown past me before.  Some examples would include that being a chocoholic, I now buy all of my chocolate from fair trade sources, and don’t eat chocolate offered to me by others if I know that it is from a non-fair trade source.  In watching movies, I am now seeing them through new eyes…whether the obvious ones like Taken, or those that seemed to be more subtle, like in Star Wars, where I had never thought about Anakin Skywalker and his mother being slaves.  Today was another example.  While sitting in SAU’s Christmas chapel today, we sang O Holy Night.  Now, this is not an obscure Christmas carol.  I have probably sung it every year, but it was this year, after my awakening to the issues of slavery, that this verse held new meaning for me.

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains He shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Jesus Christ is the Great Abolitionist.  Obviously He came to set us free from bondage to our sins and Satan’s hold, but He also calls us to break the chains of our brother, and see oppression cease.  How will you seek to worship Jesus Christ, the Savior, as we celebrate His birth, and be part of making His Kingdom of Peace a growing reality for our brothers and sisters around the world and right here in Jackson County?