Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Joshua chapter 2 verses 1 through 7:
Then Joshua son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, ‘Go, view the land, especially Jericho.’ So they went, and entered the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and spent the night there. 2The king of Jericho was told, ‘Some Israelites have come here tonight to search out the land.’ 3Then the king of Jericho sent orders to Rahab, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come only to search out the whole land.’ 4But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said, ‘True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. 5And when it was time to close the gate at dark, the men went out. Where the men went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you can overtake them.’ 6She had, however, brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax that she had laid out on the roof.7So the men pursued them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. As soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
Today is the Feast or the Righteous Gentiles, a day when we remember those who took great personal risk to hide, aid, and speak up for Jews during the Holocaust. Tens of thousands of Jews reached freedom because of the extraordinary actions of these men and women. Their witness is both an inspiration and also a challenge. In the face of the Righteous Gentiles’ courageous actions, we are each left asking ourselves: Would we have done the same?
But, of course, that is really not our question. Our question is not about what we would have done then to save and spare life and to speak out against injustice. Our question is not about the past, but about the present. Our question is not about what we would have done, but what we are doing.
Yesterday we had someone I consider to be a Righteous Gentile in our worship service, Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili of the Republic of Georgia. His work for peace amongst Christians, Muslims, and Jews, has been honored worldwide. He described the extraordinary work of his congregation in Tblisi and especially its work to care for Chechnyan refugees who came across the border into Georgia. Since Chechnyans are the historic enemies of Georgians, the congregation‘s witness of giving refuge was especially powerful.
Of course Chechnyans are not Jews, and in this day of remembrance I would not wish to diminish the faithful witness of those Gentiles who acted courageously on behalf of the Jewish people in particular. Jews are a small minority in this world, who century after century going all the way back to Biblical times, have been systematically persecuted and threatened. We must always remember our duty to aid and defend our Jewish brothers and sisters.
Yet at the same time, the Feast is the Righteous Gentiles, and the witness of Malkhaz Songulashvili, remind us that we are to act for the sake of righteousness wherever it is that we are, and for whoever it is that knocks upon our door. It is not just the Jew in Nazi Germany we must ask ourselves about, but also the Jew in our own city. And not only the refugee seeking asylum in times past, but also the refugee seeking the same today. This is what the Feast of the Righteous Gentiles is truly about — it’s about the poor and vulnerable and persecuted knocking on our door today.
The Feast is the Righteous Gentiles is given as a reminder. We remember there were those who were called to act courageously on behalf of others in times past. And we remember that we may be called to do the same in times present — perhaps even this very day.
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