Social Justice Ministries

PERSONAL JUSTICE 7.05.10

This my second monthly writing about Personal Justice. How do we personally practice justice in our daily coming and going? How do we practice justice in our families, with our friends and others not so friendly and with strangers whom we meet or never meet, e.g. homeless, unemployed, working poor and non-working poor, those who live in inadequate housing, children in poverty, those affected by war and violence, and many others whom society considers “the least”. We are familiar with Jesus’ words about what we do or don’t do for the “least” we also do or don’t do for Jesus. I sometimes feel overwhelmed thinking of Jesus’ saying and thinking about how I need to practice doing more for the “least” and how I sin by not doing what doing more for those who are considered “least” in our community, nationally and globally.

Monday, after July 4, or Independence Day, I came across the following article by Shane Claiborne, founder of Simple Way, now Potter Street Community. a Christian community devoted to their self-sufficiency and service to the poor. For his work in Philadelphia and around the globe he has been compared to Mother Teresa. He has been recognized by the evangelical magazine, Christianity Today, as one of the most promising Christian leaders today.

Some of Shane’s thoughts are: “Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of us all being bound up in an “inescapable web of mutuality”. MLK talked of how we have encountered half of the world by the time we have put on our clothes, brushed our teeth, drunk our coffee and eaten our breakfast, as there are invisible faces that make our lives possible every day.”

This reminds me of the poem,
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” (John Donne, poet, Anglican priest)

Further, I am reminded of St. Paul’s writing Romans “12. In this way we are like parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the whole. . . . Bless your enemies. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy, share tears when they’re down.” (The Message) Although Paul was writing to Christians, it seems that the instruction could also be applied to all of God’s children. Paul also wrote to the Corinthians, “If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into exuberance. I Cor. 12.26 (The Message)
‘
Shane continues: “We are taught to celebrate Independence. But independence and individualism have come at a great price. In the wealthy and industrialized countries we have become the richest people in the world, . . . we also have some of the highest rates of loneliness, depression, and suicide. We are living into patterns that not only leave much of the world hungry for bread and starved for justice. This year, let’s celebrate Interdependence Day-- recognizing the fact that we are part of a global neighborhood. Let’s appreciate all the invisible people in our lives, and let’s lament the fact that the human family is terribly dysfunctional”. It’s not about being unpatriotic or anti-American but about being pro-world. (To be continued).

Rev. Dale Shotts, Director of Social Justice Ministry.

SOCIAL JUSTICE IS...

Social Justice is creating sustainable changes in a community that improves people’s well-being and quality of life personally and collectively. The United Methodist Church has a long and rich history of engagement on issues of social concern. John Wesley was a forthright advocate on prison reform, human rights, abuse of spirituous liquors, labor justice, healthcare, slavery, the humane treatment of animals.

The United Methodist Church believes God's love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people's lives to risk interpreting God's love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other "mind-makers-up" that exist in our society."

Social Justice works on a one to one personal and on the community level to show Christ’s love, make disciples and transform society as we believe is within Christ’s vision for the world and God’s kingdom come on earth. Community includes neighborhood, city, state, nation and world.

If someone falls into a well and a traveler hears his/her cry for help, goes over, looks in the well and asks, “How are you?”, then says, “I’ll get you a sandwich”. When he comes back s/he drops a sandwich down the well” that is a work of mercy. If the traveler says, “I’ll go and get a rescue team” and does so that is social justice on a one to one personal basis. After rescuing the person from the well, the traveler, rescue team and other nearby townspeople come together and develop a plan to search out all open wells in the community and fill them to prevent others from falling in, that is community social justice.

For more information on our Social Justice Ministries contact Dale Shotts. Read Dale's Blog.

We Act In Society

"Taking an active stance in society is nothing new for followers of John Wesley. He set the example for us to combine personal and social piety. Ever since predecessor churches to United Methodism flourished in the United States, we have been known as a denomination involved with people's lives, with political and social struggles. having local to international mission implications. Such involvement is an expression of the personal change we experience in our baptism and conversion.