A LIBERATION

Scripture:

"Go to now, you rich man, we can howl for your miseries
that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted,
and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver
is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness
against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
You have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped
down your fields, which is of you back by fraud,
crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped
are entered into the years of the Lord of Sabaoth".
(James 5:1-4)

Reflection:

There are as many as 600 passages of Scripture
that make us aware that God has a special
commitment to the poor. This is because He is a
God who loves justice, and it is the poor who are
usually the victims of injustice.

We "middle-range Christians" buy into this view
of God. And while we're not about to take up arms
against the ruling establishment, we nevertheless
work for justice for the oppressed and help the poor.
We are part of what futurologist Tom Sine calls
"The Mustard Seed Conspiracy." By establishing
within our society a variety programs and projects
that express a love and concern for the poor that runs
counter to the values of our and consumer-orientated
society, we believe we can gradually permeate that
society with the new ethos. We believe that we can,
through our middle-range projects, be what the
Bible calls "leaven."

There is a belief among us that the feelings and
the thinking of America can be changed this way.
We believe ours is also a kind of "Liberation
Theology", but is one of positive nonviolent activism
that affirms that God is at work in America,
transforming it from the bottom up. And we
believe that those who participate with God in what
He is doing through our middle-range "Mustard
Seed" projects will themselves be transformed
in the process.

Some Christians want to become personally involved
in meeting the needs of suffering people.Their
opting for middle-range projects stems from a desire
to have hands-on experiences and a longing to see
direct results from their efforts. They have begun to
discover what happens to them emotionally when they
are doing things that make a difference in the lives of
people whom they personally know. They feel the
transformation of personality through involvement in
direct social action. THIS TO MANY IS A REBIRTH!
In their own lives they have come to understand the
deeper meaning of Christian Faith.

THEY ARE LIBERATED AND WANT TO LIBERATE
OTHERS!

Prayer:

Almighty God thank you for your son Jesus Christ
who through His death upon the cross gave us true
liberation. Liberation from sin and oppression and
and freedom in life through faith. Give us the
strengths to liberate all those who are in need.
We praise you and honor you, in Jesus name
AMEN.

(some excerpts taken from Tony Campolo's book
"Wake Up America")