July 14, 2020
by Reverend Dan on July 14, 2020
The gap between those with money and those without is wider than at any point in history
Justice . . . or just us?
- In a world where Michael Jordan made more from Nike in one year . . . than all the hired workers in all the Asian factories that make Nike shoes made combined . . .
- Justice . . . or just us?
- In a world where the CEO of Disney makes $97,000 per hour, and the workers making Disney products in Haiti make $0.28 cents an hour . . .
- Justice . . . or just us?
- There's a huge gap between the 2,000 square-foot houses we live in and the people – six to eight of them – who live under a single thatched hut measuring no more than eight or ten feet across . . .
- Justice . . . or just us?
- There are 16,000 microbreweries in this country . . . Snapple has 50 flavors of drinks to quench our thirst . . . Coke has 165 different drink products . . . and yet three out of five children in Senegal won't make it past their fifth birthday because what little water they do have to drink is tainted with animal dung and teaming with bacteria.
- Justice . . . or just us?
- The world population is 7.8 billion people. In the world, eight men own more than the poorest half of humanity combined. 8 men are wealthier than 3.9 billion people combined.
- Justice . . . or just us?
- I read last week that because of the Corona Virus, the world is facing a bigger hunger emergency than ever before in history, which could double the number of people facing acute hunger to 265 million by the end of this year.
- Justice . . . or just us?
- In Nairobi, Kenya, there is a place called the “Kibera slum”. When flour and cooking oil arrived a few weeks ago, many people were injured in the human stampede to get food, and some were killed in the crush of people.
- Justice . . . or just us?
- Tonight, in Alamance County, one out of every 7 children will go to bed hungry.
- Justice . . . or just us?
Don't you think for a minute that the Lord doesn't care about such inequities." The prophet Malachi is saying: "He is calling all who claim to be God's people, whether citizens of this nation or any other nation, to be stewards of God's justice.
Social justice is a large part of the church's mission. Or at least it is supposed to be. Soup kitchens and overnight shelters and food pantries. Social justice means reaching into the river of human despair and rescuing people who are drowning. But it can’t stop there. It must also mean moving upstream to see who or what is throwing them in the river in the first place and doing something about that.
What are you doing for the sake of justice?
“Father, Open our eyes and our hearts. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Grace,
Rev. Dan
“So, I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the orphans, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty..”
