In the midst of a...
Illustration
In the midst of a world filled with despair and human suffering, the writer of Baruch sees a time when the hills will be made low, the valleys made level, and the people of Israel will move forward-once more to the glory God has for them. It is a passage filled with the hope of what God can do, even for the "nobodies" of this world.
In Elizabeth Yates' book, Howard Thurman: Portrait of a Practical Dreamer, there is a story about the time when Thurman was in India in the year 1935. He had spoken in many villages about the new life in Christ. Late one night a lad knocked on his door. His dress revealed that he was an "untouchable," and he told his story in broken, faltering, English. "I stood outside the building and listened to your lecture, Sahib Doctor. Tell me, please can you give some hope to a nobody?"
The boy fell to his knees, and Thurman reached out compassionately to him. Thurman knew what it is to be classed as a "nobody." Moreover, he had committed his life to the ministry of a love that identifies with suffering humanity and those who have no hope.
As Baruch once wrote about this glorious hope for Israel, so God holds out to us in the coming of his Son again, that same love and grace which reaches out to the "nobodies" in every age and makes us children of God.
In Elizabeth Yates' book, Howard Thurman: Portrait of a Practical Dreamer, there is a story about the time when Thurman was in India in the year 1935. He had spoken in many villages about the new life in Christ. Late one night a lad knocked on his door. His dress revealed that he was an "untouchable," and he told his story in broken, faltering, English. "I stood outside the building and listened to your lecture, Sahib Doctor. Tell me, please can you give some hope to a nobody?"
The boy fell to his knees, and Thurman reached out compassionately to him. Thurman knew what it is to be classed as a "nobody." Moreover, he had committed his life to the ministry of a love that identifies with suffering humanity and those who have no hope.
As Baruch once wrote about this glorious hope for Israel, so God holds out to us in the coming of his Son again, that same love and grace which reaches out to the "nobodies" in every age and makes us children of God.
