The London Transportation System has a slogan – “See it. Say it. Sorted”. That is the end of a long warning. It begins by saying that if you see something that doesn’t feel right, you should speak out to the authorities and it would be sorted. Similar idea is popularized in America. It is “if you see something say something”. This became prominent after the terrorist attack on United States soil on September 11, 2001. One of its aftermaths was government’s effort to rally every citizen to becoming more security conscious and to help look after one another. The concept of community policing may have been in place before 9/11, but it gained more prominence after it.
If anybody makes a suspicious move, spirited individuals will wrest him to the ground. You cannot even joke with words that are security sensitive without being accosted. The sense in this is simple: watching over others is watching over yourself.
“Watching over others is watching over yourself…As far as life and living are concerned, you cannot be indifferent to what is happening to your neighbours. We are made to be our brother’s keeper.”
In our passage for today, Paul instructs us to seek the wealth or welfare of other people. Since we live in community, whatever happens within that community will definitely have impact on the rest of us. A good example in the Bible is the story of Jonah in the ship during his rebellious, aborted trip to Tarshish. He alone disobeyed God, but everybody in the vessel was at the risk of losing everything, including their lives. Meanwhile, Jonah was sleeping while everyone panicked. Could they have said, “O, this man is deep asleep; he must be really tired. Don’t let us disturb him”. That would not only be stupid but suicidal. They woke him up, and recruited him to join their corporate effort for solution. As far as life and living are concerned, you cannot be indifferent to what is happening to your neighbours. We are made to be our brother’s keeper.
