Call to Justice
Biblical reflections on God's call to do justice
The DART Center seeks to be a place for religious leaders to reflect and
act on God's call to do justice. Below we have provided several
reflections grounded in scripture as a place for clergy to reflect on
the need for justice ministry. We understand the call to do justice is
very rich in Biblical traditions. Therefore, this is by no means an
attempt to provide an exhaustive resource on the topic, rather a cursory
examination of the sacred examples, themes, and commandments regarding
the imperative of people of faith to seek justice.
We invite you to explore:
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• The City of God
Understanding God's Vision for the City described in Deuteronomy
• The Prophetic Call to Do Justice
Understanding the Hebrew Prophets and Truth Telling
• Redemption of the Individual & the Powers
Jesus Christ's Transformation of the World
• Justice and Charity
Contrasting the Exodus with the Parable of the Good Samaritan
• To Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
an Interfaith Perspective on the Great Commandment
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The City of God
Scripture References:
Deut 6; 7:7-11; 10:12-11:28; 15:1-17; 16:18-20; 17:14-20; and 18:15-19
Along with other faith traditions, DART organizations work with several
Jewish synagogues from various traditions. We respect and honor the
long-standing sacred tradition of justice work described in the Torah.
We have included two Jewish perspectives on this topic.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses provides the Hebrew people with a
vision for God’s kingdom that extends far beyond religious observance in
the narrow sense. Here we discover a detailed and challenging vision for
political and economic affairs that clearly agitates us as we contrast
God’s vision to the world as it is today.
Particularly, we encourage clergy to reflect on God’s challenge to
political leaders to ensure that justice be impartially administered for
rich and poor alike:
“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns which the Lord
your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the
people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice ; you
shall not show partiality; and you shall not take a bribe for a bribe
blinds the eys of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
Justice and only justice you shall pursue, so that you may live and
occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” - Deuteronomy 16:
18-20
We also encourage clergy to explore the economic system presented in
Deuteronomy that commands special protection for the poor:
“Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts. And this is
the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that
is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a
member of the community, because the Lord’s remission has been
proclaimed… There will however be no one in need among you, because the
Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving
you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the Lord your God
by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you
today.”
For further study on the theme of the City of God, we encourage you to
attend a local DART “Rethinking Justice Workshop” and reading
Transforming Power: Biblical Strategies for Making a Difference in Your
Community by Rev. Robert Linthicum
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The Prophetic Call to Do Justice
Scripture References:
Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Ezekiel 22; Amos 5: 21-24; 8: 4-8; Isaiah 61; Jeremiah: 22:13-17
Like the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
expected earnest action from the church on the issues of injustice
facing the world, and he lovingly criticized the church when it failed
to fulfill this obligation. In his book, Strength to Love, Martin Luther
King, Jr. wrote the following:
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of
the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide
and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not
recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club
without moral or spiritual authority.
Dr. King’s quote challenges people of faith to hold unjust systems
accountable and not to be seduced into complacency or collusion. His
challenge is grounded clearly in prophetic truth telling found in the
Hebrew Bible. To understand the depth of this theme, we encourage clergy
to look to the prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Micah, and Amos. These
prophets were fierce champions of justice.
Under close observation of these texts, we see Ezekiel condemning the
princes, priests, and officials for practicing extortion, oppressing the
poor and the needy, and denying justice. We also see Amos who turns to
religious leaders and pleads for greater attention to justice. In Amos,
Chapter 5 verses 23-24, we hear God’s yearning for action: “Let justice
roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
In short, we find time after time in the Hebrew Bible, a litany of
stories and testimonies about prophets who are clearly critical of the
political, religious, and economic leaders for failing to live up to
God’s vision for fairness and justice. Today DART Clergy answer the
prophetic call to do justice by organizing their people to powerfully
call the systems back to what God created them to be.
For further study on the theme of the Prophetic Call to Do Justice, we
encourage you to attend a local DART “Rethinking Justice Workshop”, and
to read “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
and “The City: A Work in Progress” an article by Dr. Walter Brueggemann
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Redeeming the Individual and the Systems
Scripture References
Colossians 1:16-17; Acts 3:21
DART’s local congregation-based community organizations include many
different Christian denominations with churches from nearly every
Protestant and Catholic tradition. For a complete set of denominations
active in organizing efforts, go to our About DART section of the
website. Below is one of several Christian perspectives on the need to
do justice.
Many valuable lessons can be learned about justice and God’s concern for
the poor when studying the Christian Bible. Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the
Mount, confrontations with the Scribes and Pharisees over their
hypocritical ways, and lessons on money and the seduction of wealth all
point to a persistent love and concern for the poor. But beyond Christ’s
earthly ministry, the New Testament offers great understanding about
creation, human failings, and redemption.
During Bible Study, Christians learn that Christ’s life was not simply a
collection of valuable lessons and deeds, as invaluable as these
instructions are for our day-to-day living. Christians learn that Christ
was sacrificed for the redemption of a world that has fallen away from
its Godly origin. Conventional Christian teachings often view this
sacrifice solely in terms of one’s individual salvation, so that
Christ’s sacrifice is limited to forgiveness for our personal
transgressions. Many Biblical scholars would question such limitations,
and believe Christ’s sacrifice acted to redeem and transform the world
including the political and economic systems we relate to every day
(e.g., schools, healthcare industries, corporations, governments.).
Dr. Walter Wink, a Christian theologian and Professor of Biblical
Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City,
discusses this topic in his books on the “Powers and Principalities.” He
writes in Engaging the Powers, “The Powers are the necessary social
structures of human life, and it is not a matter of indifference to God
that they exist. God made them… The Jesus who died at the hands of the
Powers died every bit as much for the Powers as he died for people…
Nothing is outside the redemptive care and transforming love of God. The
Powers are not intrinsically evil; they are only fallen. What sinks can
be made to rise again… We can love our nation or church or school, not
blindly, but critically, recalling it to its own highest self-professed
ideals and identities. We can challenge these institutions to live up to
the vocation that is theirs by virtue of their sheer createdness.”
The religious leaders in the DART network assert that congregation-based
community organizations provide a vehicle for people of faith to pursue
not only the redemption of the individual – as crucially important as
that is – but also to pursue the redemption of all God’s creation.
For further study on Redeeming the Individual and the Systems we
encourage you to read Dr. Walter Wink’s Naming the Powers, Unmasking the
Powers, Engaging the Powers, and The Powers That Be.
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Acts of Justice and Mercy - Moses and the Good Samaritan
Scripture References
Entire book of Exodus with particular emphasis on the following: 1:8-16; 5:1; 6:1; 12:41; Luke 10:25-37
We often find agreement among clergy on one thing: we are called as
people of faith to have an impact on society. We settle on this common
understanding because our traditions provide ample stories, examples,
parables, and commandments that repeatedly express an obligation to
ensure God’s love, mercy, and justice. Where confusion often sets in is
when we begin to discuss how we are to make an impact. Two well known
Bible stories provide insight into the difference between doing justice
and loving mercy.
In Luke, Chapter 10 Jesus describes the parable of the Good Samaritan.
This story gives us some clues about assisting individuals in need.
First, we notice that it is the unlikely Samaritan – not the priest or
Levite – who stops and helps out the beaten man left for dead. Second,
we learn the Samaritan does not hesitate and is quite generous toward
the man in his time of need. He not only bandages the man’s wounds, but
also pays his expenses while he recuperates at a nearby inn.
In the Hebrew Bible, we see a different form of action taken by Moses.
In this example, we see extreme hardship placed on an entire nation –
not solely an individual. We learn that Pharaoh has turned the
Israelites into slave laborers and ordered midwives to kill every male
infant at birth. In response, God calls upon another unlikely champion,
Moses, to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. We watch Moses
powerfully confront Pharaoh, demanding freedom for his people, bringing
God’s powers to bear on Pharaoh, and ultimately winning justice for the
Hebrew people.
These stories have contrasting elements that are helpful when evaluating
the needs of our community today, and the responses we may choose to
take. First, Moses does not deal with the individual victims of
Pharaoh’s rule – he confronts the perpetrator of the injustice. The
Samaritan does not attempt to survey the causes of highway banditry.
Instead, he provides much needed immediate relief. Second, the scale of
the problem and the ultimate solution in both examples are completely
different. The Samaritan limited his work to the beaten man, and simply
resolved the problem with good deeds, although the underlying problem of
banditry still remains. Moses does not have this luxury because the
problem is institutional, and therefore, he is required to take public
action to bring about justice. In short, the Samaritan’s action was one
of mercy, and Moses’ was an act to secure justice for the many.
This distinction may seem elementary on the surface but is often
overlooked within congregational life. A classic contrast can be found
in our response to the public education system. The basic ability to
read and write has proven to be directly related to one’s quality of
life. Yet, public schools throughout the country are failing to produce
quality education for all. In the spirit of the Samaritan, the church
may decide to respond to this crisis by establishing a tutoring program
through the generosity of its members. As a result, twenty-five kids
show remarkable improvement in their test scores. Meanwhile, the school
system stumbles along and hundreds of other children fail to achieve
basic reading and writing abilities. Another church may decide to act
similarly to Moses by recognizing the failure of the school system and
organize with other congregations to publicly call for needed changes to
make all schools more effective. These two responses are clearly
different choices.
The choice between justice and mercy can be seen time and time again
when looking at various responses to crises in community, no matter what
the issue. Housing, healthcare, increased pressures on the family due to
rising costs of living, unemployment, discrimination, access to
transportation – all of these can be addressed through charity and/or
justice.
We highlight the distinction to demonstrate the clear differences in
types of ministry. We also understand that we are required to do both –
to help the victim and fix the system. But DART seeks one thing: to
build a vehicle for congregations to come together and to fulfill the
imperative to do justice.
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To Love Your Neighbor as Yourself: an Interfaith Perspective on the Great
Commandment
Christian References
Mark 12: 28-34; Matthew 19:19, 22:39, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8;
Jewish References: Leviticus 19: 17 and 18, Leviticus 19: 33 and 34, Talmud, Shabbat 31a, Tobit 4:15;
Islamic References: Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths"
Many DART affiliates are interfaith, including Christian, Jewish and
Muslim congregations working together. For a complete list of
denominations involved, please go to our About DART section of the
website. Below we take a look at the common commandment, to love your
neighbor as yourself, and its relevance to the work of DART.
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam share a crucial common message known by
many as the Great Commandment. Christ echoes word-for-word the same
message found in the Jewish scripture to “Love your neighbor as you love
yourself.” In the Koran, we find the same simple sentiment, “None of you
truly believes unless you love for your bother what you love for
yourself.”
One of the most basic ways we love ourselves is both believing that we
deserve fair treatment and acting on this belief. When someone treats us
unfairly, we attempt to stop it. This is certainly one of the ways we
love ourselves. Part of what it means to be created in the image of God
is that we are entitled to be treated with dignity.
With that in mind, we recognize that this commandment is one of
reciprocity – it reaches beyond ourselves and commands us to want the
same for others. When we see our neighbor treated unjustly, how are we
to respond? If we are comfortable saying, “I would not accept being
treated unfairly,” isn’t it safe to suggest that we ought to not accept
others being mistreated when seeking to live out this commandment?
In the Bible, we see many religious leaders responding to the injustice
faced by family, neighbors, and loved ones. Nehemiah confronts money
lenders for gouging the people, Moses confronts Pharaoh for enslaving
the Hebrew people, Christ confronts the hypocrisy of the religious
leaders by doing miracles on the Sabbath, and Jeremiah shames the King
for using his power and influence for personal gain. These are all
courageous examples of living out the Great Commandment.
Daily, we see in our communities:
- Skyrocketing credit card interest forcing low-wage workers into dependency
- Families declaring bankruptcy due to the increased costs of healthcare
- Children graduating from public school without the basic ability to read or write
- Workers unable to provide the basics for their families despite putting in an honest day's work
- Youth being recruited into violence and substance abuse.
Religious leaders involved in the DART network do not accept these
injustices and have come together around the shared commandment to treat
their neighbor as they wish to be treated.
For further study on the theme of the Great Commandment, we encourage
you to read the aforementioned scriptures and Where Do We Go from Here:
Chaos or Community by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as,
attend DART’s 5-Day National Orientation Workshop.
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