Isaiah 1:17 - Defend the Oppressed

This past week, at the small group meeting I attend, this scripture came up and it caught my attention. Enough so that I have been thinking about it for a couple of days.

¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

The phrase that jumped out at me was " defend the oppressed". My first thought was to consider who are the oppressed?

 Maybe because it is also National Coming Out week, I started thinking about the LGBTQ community. Everywhere we turn, we hear about issues that relate to the LGBTQ community such as marriage equality which has become a talking point for political debate in this election year. And today, we are reminded of Matthew Shepherd, who was killed because he was gay on this day in 1988. I modified my question to, is this community oppressed?

I decided to look up the word oppressed and found the following definition at the top of my Google search: 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority.

Looking at that, there is no question that in a number of countries, this community is oppressed. In 17 countries, you can be legally put to death for being gay. And in many more, you can be beaten and harassed with no consequences for those who perpetrate these acts. But what about here in the USA? Is this an oppressed community?

I look across the country and consider all the states that are trying to get legislation passed regarding marriage. Some to allow same-sex couples, and some to make a marriage outside of a man and a woman unconstitutional. I consider the inheritance rights of married couples and their ability to pass on property to their spouse, while unmarried, couples must pay huge inheritance taxes to do the same...

Were women oppressed when they were not allowed the right to vote? Shunned from the workforce?

Were African Americans oppressed when they were forced into slavery? Segregated?

Were American Indians oppressed when they had their land taken from them?

I think we would say yes!

Is the LGBTQ community oppressed? I would say yes. The real question is, what do we do about it? How do we defend this oppressed community? Or do we?

 Shamefully, the church as a whole did not defend the other oppressed communities I mentioned. In fact, the church always seems to be divided when it comes to issues surrounding oppressed peoples. The Bible is often used to defend multiple positions of issues. That is as true today with issues surrounding the LGBTQ community as it has been with many other communities.

I guess the first question you have to ask yourself is whether you see the LGBTQ community as oppressed. Next, you have to consider if you believe that you are called to defend the oppressed, and finally, what that looks like.

Being national Coming Out week, maybe the first step is to listen to hear and understand the people of the LGBTQ community. next, consider what ways they are being oppressed and think about how you are called to defend the oppressed. It might be as simple and stopping a conversation that is negative, judgmental and offensive, it might be what candidate you vote for on election day, it might be praying about the situation and for the LGBTQ community, it might be talking to people around you about the issues, or making public declarations and gestures.

However you hear the call of this verse and understand the issues and what action you take is really between you and God, but I ask you...to consider this...Is the LGBTQ community oppressed and what do I do about it?