How are you planning to engage in May to build congregational vitality, dismantle structural racism, and/or eradicate systemic poverty?
Make a commitment to engage, record, and celebrate with the Presbytery of Denver as we kick-off our first Matthew 25 Engagement Challenge this May.
See the video below, and check with your church or visit the Presbytery website for information on how you can get involved.
DEVOTION
Scripture Context, Matthew 25:31-46
Scripture Focus, Matthew 25:39-40
And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
LEARN
Photo by Grant Durr on Unsplash
Note the surprise of the mercy-givers. When the king tells them that they have extended these mercies to him, they cannot imagine when that could have been. While extending mercies to “the least of these” they had no idea that they would be rewarded for their kindness. There was no calculation in their generosity. They gave because they were moved by human need—not by the potential for reward. The king explains to these astonished mercy-givers that, as they showed mercy to “one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (v. 40). The king does not require that we save the whole world, but rewards those who help even one person, especially one of “the least of these.”
In Colorado, although the number of people sent to state prisons and county jails from urban areas has decreased, that number has continued to rise in many rural places. Racial disparities in incarceration remains strikingly wide; and the number of women incarcerated is rising.
Check out The Equal Justice Initiative website https://eji.org to learn what’s being done to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality.
REFLECT
Neither the people, who put their faith into action for others; nor those who don’t put their faith into action for others know that their action or inaction affects Jesus directly.
Why do you think both “the righteous” and “the unrighteous” have this unawareness in common, and what does it mean for you?
When have you seen the face of God in someone charged with a crime or incarcerated? How were you able to do that?
When has it been difficult for you to see the face of God in someone charged with a crime or incarcerated? What caused the difficulty?
PRAY
God of truth and justice, thank you for Jesus’ words of good news and freedom. May your truth and justice be with all who are incarcerated today, for those living out sentences, and those awaiting trial and bail. Reform my ignorance and breathe new life into my deficient understanding of the inequities in our penal system. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.
LIVE
• Invite at least one other person to read and discuss with you either “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander or “Waiting for an Echo: The Madness of American Incarceration” by Christine Montross, M.D.
• There is a large gap between the truth and justice in our penal system and the truth and justice, which Jesus envisions. How might you make your neighborhood or city look a bit more like Jesus’ vision?
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Carol Parsons is an ordained minister of the word and sacrament serving as the Director of Congregational Life at First Littleton. She lives in Mayfair and enjoys long swims, challenging hikes, and all-seasons gardening.
Photo byGrant DurronUnsplash