Haiti, Humility, and Hosanna
Committing to Help Those in the Aftermath of the Earthquake
Last month’s havoc in Haiti reminds my heart of the reality and extent to which our lives are in God’s hands. God’s creation merely shudders—and man’s creations collapse. Our Creator is an awesome God. How profoundly dependent we are upon Him whether we worship Him or not!
God made that point through His prophet in Isaiah 28:16. Jerusalem leaders were relying on unreliable foreign alliances for their security and prosperity instead of relying upon Jehovah. Isaiah confronted this false notion and their rebellious independence. Pointing to the coming Messiah, Isaiah writes: Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.” Israel refused to repent—and paid the price. What do you suppose God would say to North Americans about the foundations we rely upon if He were writing directly to us today?
The worst result of the Haitian earthquake was, of course, not the destruction of buildings. What hit closest to your heart and mine was the loss of lives. Thousands of lives. Worldwide media attention will bring funding for buildings and roads relatively soon. Those are easy compared to the long-term challenge of rebuilding lives.
That’s why ministries like Mission to Children enter the process. Mission to Children is not a crisis-chaser, using calamities to raise money or become famous. We need funds, and fame is fine. However, our mission is to change hearts and lives in Christ’s name and for God’s glory. We understand that it is more attention-getting and much quicker to rebuild infrastructure than it is to rebuild lives. Both are needed, but lives are our focus. Mission to Children was quietly helping Haitians many years before this disaster and will continue helping long after news media move out to report on some other crisis.
On page three we include the tenth and final character quality included in our “Christlikeness” resource for Bible teachers. We describe humility as: “Honoring others by drawing attention to them instead of myself.” As with those in prior newsletters, this page is invaluable for Christian parents and grandparents who want to help their young ones understand Christlike humility, act out or illustrate a Bible story demonstrating it, or memorize scriptures about this way of showing interpersonal respect. Help them understand how humility helps in sports, in an office, or in family relationships. Encourage them to cultivate that quality this month.
Jesus Christ is our supreme example of humility. Philippians 2:5-11 says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who . . . made Himself of no reputation. . . . He humbled Himself and became obedient to . . . the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him . . . that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. He is our sure foundation. This is what we proclaim through the Resurrection Dinners for which we prepare this month. Christ is risen—He is risen indeed! Hosanna in the highest!
