Here are stories of hospitality and economic justice from communities around the country. This is a meaty section and might take you a little to prepare for. So, get a cuppa, sit comfortably and enjoy!
Link to dialogue Economic Justice and Policy Change – Red Letter Christians UK
(Chris, Simon and Sally chew the fat and discern what the Spirit’s saying about all this; a summary is on p203-207)
Questions
- Does your community have initiatives aimed at serving the local community (i.e., food banks, warm spaces, etc.)? How do the participants in your initiatives have lived experience of the challenges they are seeking to address?
- Are there larger organisations dedicated to advocacy for your communities’ areas of passion that you could connect with, to amplify the presence of God’s kingdom? Or if you are part of a larger organisation, are there local communities you could connect with?
- Do you see your own discipleship lived out more on the personal or political level? Why? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
- What does living out Christian witness ‘proximate to poverty’ look like in your community?
- Which of the stories in this section most resonated for you? Pray for God to shine a light on how your own story might closer reflect Isaiah’s vision of peaceful dwelling.
Creative response:
Hand draw a local map of your immediate neighbourhood showing where you shop, socialise, worship, meet to organise a response to local injustices. Use the map to inform your praying, maybe by lighting candles and placing them on the significant locations identified.
Write a poem about dwelling well where you live
Scan the map and upload it.
Have you attended a local council meeting, asked a question of a local councillor, contacted your MP? If not, do that now.
Bible
Psalm 72
1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity abound till the moon is no more…
12For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
Isaiah 65: 21-22
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
James 5:1-5
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
How do these passages help you link your neighbourhood to the actions of God? How can we ensure we our interpretation doesn’t neutralise their impact? What is God saying to us rather than them?
Please use this link to share what you have discovered and created Doxology: Radically Unravelling – Red Letter Christians UK
