Our Old Testament records God’s frequent exhortations to care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, the three groups most vulnerable groups who had no male head of household to protect them. Jesus frequently echoed this theme (“Who is my neighbor” and “Feed my Sheep,’ to name just a couple of examples.) Today it is easy to shrug one’s shoulder, toss a few bills or a check in the collection plate, and think that we have no connection to danger and destitution. Such selflessness would not have been easy for Jesus’ poorer listeners and could have gotten them in trouble with the occupying Roman forces. Such dangerous times have occurred throughout history. Thirty years ago, a Bill Moyers documentary described courageous actions of the inhabitants of the small French village of Le Chambon sur Lignon during World War II. They intentionally sheltered and saved 5000 men, women, and children in the face of Hitler’s efforts to eradicate European Jews. Hiding Jews was punishable by death, but this community banded together to follow Jesus’ teachings instead of orders from Germany’s Third Reich and Marshall Petain’s collaborating Vichy government. The film raises the question: If faced with a similar situation, would we have the courage to follow Jesus or would we “go along to get along”? If you want to watch it, I have the DVD, and the remastered film will be available for streaming on and after September 13, 2020

Lyn Pickhover, Pondering