“Quest #4 –Release the Oppressed”

Five Quests of the Christian Life (Part 5)

February 21, 2010

Ecclesiastes 5:8 Luke 4:14-21 Acts 7:18-20

The late-night calls began when Theresa Flores was 15.

In 1980, before everyone had a cell phone, the private phone that Flores' parents had installed in her
bedroom was a luxury. But it nearly proved her undoing.

Minutes after getting a call, Flores would silently slip out of the house, cut through the backyard
and get in a car waiting at the curb. She would then be whisked away from her home in an affluent
Detroit suburb to homes and hotels, anonymous places where she was forced to have sex for hours
with strangers.

"I can't describe to you the feeling of terror. No child should ever have to know that kind of fear. I
didn't know what I was going to have to endure that night, for how long, or if I was going to come
back home."

What started innocently with Flores' infatuation with an older male classmate turned to date rape
caught on film by some of the rapist's friends. They used the photos to blackmail the girl into sexual
slavery that lasted two years and involved hundreds of men.

(Columbus Dispatch, Sunday, January 25, 2009)

In 1999, a teenage girl was taken from a Haitian orphanage and smuggled—using phony documentation—
into Miami, where she was forced to work as a domestic servant for up to 15 hours a day, seven days a
week. She was never paid, not allowed to go to school, occasionally beaten, and subjected to other
inhumane treatment. After suffering for nearly six years, she managed to escape in 2005. This March,
justice was finally served when three of her captors were convicted in the case.

In one prostitution ring broken up by the FBI, recruiters in Korea and the U.S. identified Korean women
who wanted to come to the U.S., typically to make money to support their families. Recruiters arranged
transportation, and in some cases provided the women with false passports and visas. Once in the U.S. and
saddled with a large debt (usually in the tens of thousands of dollars), the women were transported to
brothels—some that fronted as legitimate spas and massage parlors—where brothel owners or managers
often confiscated their IDs and passports, making escape difficult.

According to Wikipedia the online encyclopedia, “Human trafficking is the practice of humans being
tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then forced to work with no
or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. The practice is considered to be trade or
commerce of people, which has many features of slavery, and which is illegal in most countries. The
victims of human trafficking can be used in a variety of situations, including prostitution, forced labor
(including bonded labor or debt bondage) and other forms of involuntary servitude. The sale of babies and
children for adoption or other purposes is also considered to be trafficking in those children.”

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, with the total annual revenue for
trafficking in persons estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion. A report by the US
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Department of State earlier this year estimated that up to 2 million people are trafficked worldwide every
year, with an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 in the U.S. Investigating human trafficking and other civil rights
violations is one of the FBI’s top priorities. In many cases, prostitutes are forced into servitude by their
recruiters to pay back the cost of passage out of their countries.

Modern day slavery is the second largest criminal industry in the world second only to drugs and just ahead
of illegal arms smuggling. In total, over 12 million people worldwide are trafficked for forced labor or
sexual exploitation.

Even though our first story happened in a wealthy suburb of Detroit, just in case you were thinking that that
sort of thing doesn’t happen around here, this week as I researched I read shockingly inhuman true stories
written by the survivors of human trafficking. I also discovered that the FBI considers northwestern Ohio
one of the "top recruiting locations" in the U.S. for underage prostitution (girls as young as 12) Although it
is getting better, one reason Ohio is a world leader in human trafficking is because the laws against it in
Ohio are weak.

A new report conducted by the Trafficking in Persons Study Commission found that 1800 people are
trafficked in Ohio every year. This includes 800 immigrants who are exploited in commercial sex and
factory work, as well as about 1000 American-born children who are forced into prostitution.

As we continue in our series on the Five Quests of the Christian Life, we arrive at quest number four, “to
release the oppressed.” These were the words of Jesus as he read the scroll from Isaiah in the synagogue
in his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:14-21).
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Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole
countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
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He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the
synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to
him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
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"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
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to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
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Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the
synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing."

Because Jesus asks his followers to do the things that he did and to take responsibility for his ministry until
his return to earth, we too must seek to release the oppressed.

In scripture we find many references to oppression but only two in the New Testament, this one spoken by
Jesus and one in Acts which tells the story of the Israelites in Egypt and the birth of Moses. Luke (Acts
7:18-20) says,

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Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. 19He dealt treacherously with
our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they
would die.
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"At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his
father's house.

In Luke’s words, oppression is not only slavery, but also forcing people to do things against their will
including things that they would not ordinarily do. In Deuteronomy oppression is associated with robbery,
in Judges with affliction, cruelty and distress. As the prophet Samuel was retiring and preparing for the
end of his life, he asked the people if he had done wrong to anyone (1 Samuel 12:3-5)
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Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken?
Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I
accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."
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"You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's
hand."

In the mind of the people, oppression was equated with theft, cheating and other illegal activity that in
some way takes something of value away from another. Worse, in Proverbs 15:15, Solomon says that,
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All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast

From this we can understand that in addition to all the other things that might or might not be stolen,
oppression steals happiness from the heart of the oppressed. In Proverbs 31:5, we also see that oppression
happens when people are deprived of their rights and in Ecclesiastes 5:8 Solomon adds that the oppressed
are also denied justice. This may help us to understand Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 53:7) in which it is said
that the Messiah would be oppressed and afflicted. Clearly, Jesus was both deprived of his rights and
denied justice as he was tried on trumped up charges in a kangaroo court in the middle of the night.

Instead, the people of God have a different calling. In Isaiah 1:17 God calls his people to
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learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the
case of the widow.

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As followers of Jesus and members of the Body of Christ, Every one of us is called to combat oppression
in every form whether it is spousal abuse, child abuse, child labor, slavery, sweat shops, forced
prostitution, other human trafficking or any other form of oppression where men, women and
children have their rights, their happiness and their lives stolen from them or justice denied them.
We are called to speak out and to advocate for those who don’t have a voice in our society or in our
legal system. Less than a hundred years ago, women were denied the right to vote and many church
leaders spoke out against that injustice.

A generation ago, persons of color were deprived of their basic human rights the church played a key role
in that fight as well. Today we see the rise of other groups who are denied justice under our system
of law and government. Regardless of our opinion or political position on illegal aliens or
“undocumented workers,” it is our moral obligation and our Christian duty to see that no human
being is bought or sold or denied their freedom, deprived of their rights or denied protection under
our system of justice. Many people are not able to speak for themselves but the body of Christ can.
The laws in Ohio may not be sufficient to protect persons who are being violated by human
traffickers but the voices of the people of God can be heard in Columbus and we can help to prevent
such terrible abuses from happening in the future. The shocking reality is that the lives we protect,
just might be our neighbors, our children and our grandchildren.

Releasing the oppressed is not a job for the faint of heart, but neither is it a job for just a few. Releasing the
oppressed is a job that requires the effort and the vigilance of every single member of the body of
Christ. As I read the stories of the victims of human trafficking, it was disheartening to hear how
often these victims had the chance to be discovered but were not, simply because good people failed
to take any action whatsoever. One woman received treatment by EMTs in full view of a crowd in a
turnpike restaurant but neither the medical technicians nor anyone in the crowd thought to report the
scars and bruises that were apparent around her neck, wrists and ankles. After her treatment she was
taken back to the car by her abductor, handcuffed and thrown in the trunk while being watched by a
well-dressed couple driving a Cadillac. No one called the police. Another woman watched as the
police raided the house in which she was imprisoned but since they had come to serve a warrant and
to arrest her captor, they took no interest in her other than to tell her that she would be arrested if she
continued to bother them with her pleas for help. Because human trafficking and many other modern
forms of oppression are hidden, we cannot rely upon the local police or other law enforcement
agencies to rescue those in need. A watchful and informed public, including the Body of Christ, can
accomplish what the police may not. Further, our legislators in Columbus and in Washington will
not understand the urgency to strengthen laws against human trafficking if only a few voices are
heard.

Combating oppression is a job that will require the courage to take action. Those who choose to release the
oppressed cannot watch as others are abused but pick up a phone and alert the authorities when they
see other human beings robbed of their rights. Whether it is taking a chance to call 911 to report
something suspicious, or calling Children’s Services because of the condition of your neighbor’s
children, or reporting a relative for spousal abuse, Christ’s call is not to worry about “getting
involved,” but to take action and to do the work of Jesus Christ. Releasing the oppressed will take
constant vigilance and commitment because it is often hidden and it is not a problem that is going to
go away. The people of God are called to be an army, working together to rescue those who have
had their rights, their happiness and their lives stolen from them or justice denied them.

This week Christ asks you to listen for his voice and also to listen with your heart. Can you hear Jesus
calling you to follow him in his quest to release the oppressed? Christ has created within you a love and

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compassion for other human beings. Christ has promised to his followers the strength and courage that we
need to do what is right and to accomplish his will and his mission.

Christ is calling you to follow him on this quest.

Will you, Release the Oppressed?

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All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.