Injustice...

Matt did this illustration for an illustration class about 6 years ago. At the time, several area churches were confronting issues of immigration and fair labor practices, issues that ultimately diverge into many tributary streams - housing, food, job skills, literacy, education. Our church was embroiled in a disagreement about whether day laborers could gather in the church parking lot. The topic set into motion discord among members, among neighbors, with the police, with county and local government.

Men who desperately needed fair pay to shelter and feed their children stood outside a building owned by a faith community that struggled to know how to respond. Their first responses felt like anything but loving a neighbor, serving the widow and the alien.

In that conflict, justice became real for me...not just something debated or enacted in large systems, but something shaped by our daily decisions.

What does The Lord require?

Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.

...and do not exclude anyone from the Kingdom.