“The People of God” is a very powerful concept in Judeo-Christian thought. The description was used for the Jewish People for centuries. But sixty years ago, the Catholic church began to use the title of the People of God to describe who we the baptized are.
The country of Israel, after the time of Moses, was supposed to reflect the values of God’s chosen people. The Jewish people were set apart because God had picked them out to live as a holy people. So, they were to represent what it meant to be a righteous nation.
What that meant was laid out in the Law of Moses. The prophets also emphasized this idea. The prophets had a saying that went like this:
The quality of your faith will be judged by the quality of justice in the land: and the quality of justice in the land will always be judged by how “widows, orphans and strangers fared while you were alive.”
What a challenging statement that is!
We might ask how we measure the quality of justice in the land? The Law of Moses points to several things. The first thing the People of Israel looked at was how the resident alien was being treated. Why was this so important? The Jewish people felt like this was important because centuries before they moved to their homeland, they were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. The Israelites were challenged to reflect on the golden rule as a societal norm. You were treated as slaves when you had to live in another land. You didn’t like it. You need to treat the foreigner in the way that you wished you would have been treated in Egypt.
The second thing that the People of Israel were to look at was how much charity the weak and vulnerable were being given. Women had few rights in the society. Children were considered as property in the ancient world. The sick were often cast aside. The Law of Moses said if we are holy people this cannot be the case in Israel.
Another thing that was the measure of a society, according to scripture, was how the poor were treated. Often destitute people survived from day to day in the ancient world. A man might have to borrow a few cents to eat. He might even have to use his cloak for collateral to borrow money for a day. Such a man might hope to pick up some work so he could pay back his debt before nightfall when he would need his cloak back. Such a man’s debt was to be treated with leniency. Why? Because the people of God were to reflect the compassion of God. Compassion was the most important thing for a believer.
When we look at the world today, we remember, once again, that we as Church call ourselves the People of God. If we are, our conduct must reflect the values just outlined. We might wonder as we read the headlines in the media why bishops of the Church are using whatever influence they have to advocate for the immigrant? Why are bishop’s protesting when programs are cut for aid to the hungry, the sick, the homeless, the ill-educated, the unborn and many others vulnerable people in society?
Bishops protest when the values of the People of God need to be proclaimed in society. Religious leaders are to be the conscience of any nation in any part of the world even if it means persecution.
We have a special responsibility in our nation because we are not an autocracy. We are a democracy. That means each citizen has a voice in determining how our society should operate. We often hear that we should ask a question as we vote, “Are you better off than you were the last time you voted.” If we believe that our nation should reflect Christian values, we ask a different question which is, “Are we all better off than were the last time we voted.” The question should guide the Christian citizen in a democratic nation as they vote. We are constantly challenged to ask, "Are we part of God’s people or not?"