"Men at Ease Have Contempt for Misfortune"  

Job's defense at the beginning of Chapter 12 takes on a bit of sarcasm. I've been there, I imagine you have too. The truth seems to be that very few folks have any empathy at all when everything is going fine in their immediate world. Verse five terms that lack of empathy as "contempt."

I would protest that "contempt" isn't at all what I am feeling. I would rather restate it as contemplation, reflection, concern...all nice terms of third person positional analysis. You see, as long as I'm detached from the passions and trauma of the event personally, I can perhaps affect a rational and measured response. After all, we wouldn't want to 'over-react,' now would we?!

The reality of most of our reactions isn't that they are over the top, but rather too little - too late. Feeble attempts enforce failure... But, we don't take the blame for the failure. Instead we cry, "We tried."

I'm thinking of the many despicable atrocities that have happened down through the Christian Era. Just a few of which would be the Sudanese slave trade, the slaughter of hundreds of thousands in tribal warfare in Central Africa, the slaughter of tens of thousands of Kurds in Iraq, the slaughter of tens of millions of Chinese during the rise of Marxism in the Twentieth Century, the slaughter of millions in the Soviet Union during the reign of terror of Joseph Stalin, and the slaughter of millions by the Nazi's in Germany (some of whom were only guilty of being deaf - 60% of Germany's deaf population was killed along side of the Jews in death camps). 

Then there's the incredible number of homeless people, abused children, oppressed and abused 'aliens' in our land, and many other downtrodden and abused - powerless people without advocates...all without voice or ability to negotiate the 'system' that keeps them locked out.

What??? Is this some bleeding liberal writing this?! Not hardly. I'm just responding from a heart pierced by the message Jesus sent to John the Baptist as proof that He was the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. The above are those for whom Jesus came and He said, "Even so send I you."

Rudolph Bultmann so aptly described the responsibility in a Christian's existence. To poorly paraphrase him; until our ability to rationalize and reflect becomes wrapped up in orbit with our personal fears of failure, loneliness, pain, sorrow, disenfranchisement and suffering - we will NOT have empathy for misfortunate!  

Our Christian existence is to emulate the Suffering Savior Who was touched by the infirmities and sorrows of the least of those in society.

"In as much as you have done it unto the least of these..."