Opening prayer
Gracious God, we thank you for glimpses all around us of your reign. Before you, we remember all who are poor and neglected. Do not let us forget them. We especially pray for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so, those who are sick and have no one to take care of them, and those who are unable to find meaningful work. Help us to be agents of your will and your reign. Amen.
The World as God Intends
Read, reflect, and then answer the question at the end.
Right relationship between people includes economic justice. Proverbs 22 disapprovingly notes the reality of economic inequality: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender” (22:7). The chapter goes on to offer a clear sense of God’s concerns, as well as some guidance:
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed,
for they share their bread with the poor.
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 for the Lord pleads their cause
and despoils of life those who despoil them.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:
17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Biblical scholar Ched Myers points out that Paul’s discussion in 2 Corinthians 5 of the world being reconciled through Christ is rooted in an understanding of a just and divine economy.
“The term ‘reconciliation’ (Greek, katallagee) originally referred to an exchange of money repayment of debt (we still speak today of ‘reconciling’ a bank statement)... Reconciliation entails economic ramifications for community relationships…Thus Paul calls believers to embrace the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ (5:18), and to become ‘ambassadors’ for Christ (5:20a)…If we wish to ‘cooperate’ with God’s project, warns Paul, we must be prepared to practice this divine economy of grace in our own social life.” (The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics, page 56).
What do these visions of the world as God intends tell us about our society today?
Analyze Current Reality
1. The Gospel according to Luke offers two radically different visions of allocation of resources. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus took five loaves and two fish, “looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.” (Luke 6:16b-17)
Also, in a parable, Jesus tells us, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table.” (Luke 16:19-21) Consider these two images to be the end points on a continuum of the distribution of resources.
Loaves & Fishes ⇔ The rich man & Lazarus
Using this continuum, where would you place the distribution of the following assets in our country?
- Educational opportunity
- Affordable housing
- Health care
- Access to healthy, affordable food
- Public transportation
- Safe neighborhoods
- Meaningful work with livable wages
2. Review Figure 2.10 in the 2010 Hunger Report (Infant Mortality per 1,ooo Live Births), p. 78.
- Why is infant mortality so high in the United States?
- What policies might improve this statistic?
- What relationships between people might be restored by those policies?
Reflection and Sharing on Restoring Relationship
What assumptions affect how you approach inequalities in your life and in the world? What choices can you make to help mend relationships that are broken? Are there policy suggestions outlined in the Hunger Report that you could support?
Act
Based on your reflections, how might God be calling you individually or your group to act? Consider inspiring others with your story.
Consider inspiring others with your story. Bread for the World is collecting stories of what individuals and groups are doing to grow the movement to end hunger. Please visit www.bread.org/hungerreport and share the action(s) you took.
Closing Prayer
Almighty God, whose loving hand has given us all that we possess, grant us grace that we may honor you with our being. Help us be mindful of the account we must one day give, that we may be faithful stewards of your bounty, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
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