On my recent visit to Ethiopia, I worshiped with the Sefera congregation, which is located in the NE section of Addis, Ababa, near the Bole Airport.  In fact, you can see airplanes take off and land even while you are preaching.   There was, though, something else on this Sunday morning that caught my attention.  I noticed that the floor of the entire building was covered with cardboard squares.  While litter and dust are common, still the Ethiopian brethren do try to keep their meeting places in respectable shape. But why the cardboard?  I soon found out.

          After we sang several songs (actually, while I can’t speak or sing in the Amharic language, I still try to engage my heart in their worship), Mesfin Markos, one of the preachers at Sefera said that the church members were going to engage in a period of prayer.  And pray they did, all kneeling on the cardboard squares!  So, the cardboard had a completely utilitarian purpose—it saved their knees and kept them off the dirty floor!  I imagine, though, that this group of Christians would kneel and pray with or without cardboard.  They are full of faith and fervency for the Lord and their worship shows it, including their sustained periods of prayer.

          The early Christians “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).  The apostles, rather than attend to those in need, gave themselves to “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).  When Peter was in prison, the church was praying for him (Acts 12:5).  Prayer was the custom of some in the city of Philippi; soon after arriving Paul and others went to that appointed place (Acts 16:13, 16). Prayer was an obvious, vital part of the lives and faith of 1^st century saints. 

          The privilege of prayer gives us the opportunity to ask God for things we need.  We need a better understanding of truth.  We need to see great vistas of the grace of God in our lives.  We need discernment to know light from darkness.  We need help in doing better in showing love, mercy, and humility.  We need spiritual renewal that we might have clean hearts.  We can pray for open eyes and ears and hearts.  We can pray for one another.  We can pray for a better appreciation of those who are our brothers and sisters.  We can pray for a hatred of the things God hates and for a love for the things God loves.  We can pray for better consistency in life and better application of God’s word.  Prayer is the opportunity to gives thanks to God.  We can pray for increased gratitude.  We can thank God for His Son.  We can pray for God’s peace in times of anxiousness, despair, and loss.  We can pray for the gospel to find hearts that are good and tender and receptive.  We can pray that when we find open doors, that we have enough faith to go through them.

          We sometimes say, “Without God, we are nothing.”  We might also say, “Without prayer, we are nothing.”  If prayer connects us to God, then without prayer, surely we are nothing.  As Jeremiah said, “Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven” (Lamentations 3:41).  Does anyone have a piece of cardboard?

I use these facts to ask the question: What is our responsibility toward the orphan, the widow, the deprived. Do Christians have an obligation to those who labor in the clutches of poverty and oppression? It seems clear that followers of Jesus were concerned about those marginalized persons of the 1st century. Jesus responded to the harshness of His disciples concerning little children by saying:

The Law of Moses gave specific focus to those who were economically deprived. “And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:10; 14:21). Being poor did not mean special favoritism; it did mean that the poor were not to be avoided; God did not avoid the poor; neither did God’s people. “He who despises his neighbor, sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he” (Proverbs 14:21; Psalm 41:1; 34:6).

Widows and orphans are frequently the target of injustice. The Bible calls for social justice. This was a frequent theme of the prophets. “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!” (Amos 4:1). Rulers and others in positions of leadership were responsible for making sure right was done for all citizens. God said it is wrong to exploit others. “It is a joy for the just to do justice, But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity” (Proverbs 21:15).

How would we go about beginning to tackle the ills of society (assuming we believe you should have a part in such)? How can we move beyond religious ritualism to a true display of Christianity? What can we do to demonstrate the reality of our faith? How do we begin to take responsibility for those who stand in need of our help?

Randy Harshbarger