Perhaps things were much different when these words in Holy Scripture were written.  Today the idea of showing hospitality to strangers (inviting people you don’t know into your home if only momentarily) is met with a healthy dose of cynicism and caution.  Today, the idea of allowing some stranger into our homes also invites us to consider “squatter rights and laws”, wrongful evictions, and other laws that protect those who may be homeless over those who have homes and may choose to show hospitality to others.  We are challenged, then, to find other ways to “keep loving one another as brothers and sisters” while at the same time finding workable housing solutions for those who may be strangers among us or are simply unable to find affordable housing solutions.

         And yet, the reality is, while times have changed, justice for the poor and empathy for those separated from family and friends has not changed.  We — as God’s people — still have an obligation to honor God by showing compassion and empathy for those who are considered “have-nots”.  The key is not how we practice justice, but that we practice justice.  And we must do it in ways that both honors God and those who find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of being without an adequate living space — if only for one night.

         Our and other communities have chosen to criminalize homelessness by establishing laws allowing the arrest of individuals found sleeping in their vehicles and in public spaces without a place to stay.  Our community — as well as many others — have failed to address homelessness in a way that gives dignity to the homeless community regardless of how they now find themselves to be without shelter.  The question becomes, “How do we both honor God and give dignity to those who are homeless without criminalizing their poverty?”  And the answer is to do the just and empathetic thing according to God’s word by showing compassion, mercy, and understanding to those who may now find themselves holding the short end of life’s stick.

• How can we effectively “keep loving one another as brothers and sisters” without providing adequate solutions to remedy homelessness?
• What would you be willing to do to support your church in helping to find a solution to “show hospitality to strangers … “by finding a solution to the homeless situation in our community?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Loving God, give me both the wisdom and strength to work in finding a long-term solution to address the homelessness that surrounds me.

         There is a powerful connection between doing justice and living.  And I don’t mean living as in waking up, breathing, and walking around kind of living.  And I don’t believe that is what God means.  I believe that God attaches living to the justice we impart to others.  Living, then, becomes more than just occupying a warm body and moving around.  Living becomes an action targeted toward the empathetic actions of care toward those who are less fortunate.  And it involves actively pursuing matters of justice as related to those from whom the basic necessities of life are frequently withheld.  For God, that involves eliminating oppressive policies against the poor.  It involves issues of integrity in which people don’t take that which doesn’t belong to them, but feeds the hungry in their midst, providing clothing to the naked, creating economic equality among the poor and not profiting off of their poverty.  These are the issues of justice things Jesus came to live when he said,

     18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

         because he has anointed me

     to proclaim good news to the poor.

         He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

     and recovery of sight for the blind,

         to set the oppressed free,

     19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-2)

And it’s nothing more than the message God gives to each of us — to provide justice for those to whom justice is often denied, giving them an opportunity to experience living as God intended all human creation to experience.  It’s not a single season of a specified period.  It is a season of life that is a daily expression of living offering others the justice that God requires for and from us all.  So, it’s not just that we live, but how we live that opens the door of God’s justice for all people.

• In what ways does your living actively display God’s justice among those you know?
• How can you become more assertive in living in a way that God’s justice becomes a more central part of your life?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
God of Life and living, grant that I may live my life in such a way that I honor others according to Your understanding of justice and truly live.

         One of the greatest sources of injustice in our world is the economic injustice that we live with each day.  When we consider the enormous wealth of 1% of the population of the world compared to the other 99%, it’s clear that the world is divided into the “haves” and the “have nots”.  God has never required more than a tithe (10%) of all God has given us.  But the money lenders of our age charge as much as 30% interest on credit-card debt and other loans.  Yet when Nehemiah sought justice for his people, he encouraged them to charge no interest, and only 1% of the commodities the people consumed.  What a different world it would be for the poor if the interest they paid could be returned, or the amount of interest reduced by as much as 25%.  What a difference it would be in the world if those who were wealthy believed in the equitable distribution of wealth in the way the bible suggests so that:

         15 As it is written,

     “The one who had much did not have too much,

         and the one who had little did not have too little.” (2 Cor. 8:15)

Even our gathering of resources is supposed to guided by a sense of justice with a fair distribution of the resources God has provided for all.  It makes no sense for some people to have two homes while others have none.  Yet we all know of people who have larger homes than they need, more homes than they can live in at one time, and more money than they could spend if they lived two lifetimes.  God has always required a just distribution or resources because it — as Nehemiah says — “is not right” for it to occur in ways that make it burdensome for the poor.  That is God’s justice at work in the human heart and among those who are challenged by exorbitant economic policies.

• When have you found it necessary to engage in a protest about high interest rates or the unfair treatment of the poor?
• What would be necessary for you to take seriously the cause of the poor in ways that you became an advocate for their concerns?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Gracious God, give me the courage and will to pursue Your justice in ways that I actively advocate for those who are the victims and survivors of economic injustice in our world.