but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah
6:8) “And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the
least of these who are member s of my family, you did it to me’.” (Matthew 25:40)
Manifestations of discipleship is a no-brainer! We’re to never tire of doing good
for people (Galatians 6:9); we are to care for the vulnerable and oppressed in
society in the name of the Prince of Peace; we are to be agents of God’s grace in
this world so as to help make earth, in the words of St. Augustine, “a colony of
heaven.”
Christians show forth the fruit of a good tree that far transcends mere rhetoric.
That fruit is seen by how we respond not only to human, animal, and
environmental tragedies such as the devastation of hurricanes, but to all of God’s
creation in the ordinary course of life as we all struggle to navigate our ways
through it. We not only share our collective pain and struggles, but bear each
others’ burdens (Galatians 6:2) as in some small way modeling the life of Christ.
The disciple of Christ not only ministers to the poor, humble, and lowly, but
identifies with them as he or she sees his or her own poor, humble, and lowly
state. We always remember that Jesus hung out with the marginalized and
demonized in His society, and that whenever He dealt with the power structure, the
religious leaders of the time, He was either berated, beaten, tortured and,
eventually, killed.
We also care for the environment and for the animals of the earth, of which we
were made stewards, and for which we are responsible. And we stand up to those
in power who would denigrate, degrade, and destroy life and its inherent dignity
for material, psychological, social, and political gain.
Disciples of Christ fight for social justice, for the inherent rights of all of God’s
children. And that fight is probably the best manifestation of the holiness God
enjoins His children to have until we see Him face-to-face.
