God calls us to be responsible citizens. Jeremiah’s call included being overwhelmed by national and international events—to be set over nations, to build up and tear down. He lived in a time of governmental corruption, of wars and the destruction of his homeland. And God called him to pronounce judgment on the corruption.

John Wesley reminds us that we are called to live “acts of mercy.” For him, that meant meeting the immediate physical needs of persons—food, housing, medical care, and employment. Each week, the people called Methodists were asked to contribute to a fund for meeting the physical needs of the poor. When there is a crisis today, God’s people respond well to efforts to meet the same kinds of need.

Wesley didn’t use the language of “acts of justice,” but he lived them out. He was always calling for reforms, such as cutting the size of the military to free up funds for the care of the poor. Christians in our day are also called to seek justice for the poor and disenfranchised in our world.

Biblical justice means dealing with the social, political, and economic structures that cause hunger, homelessness, and lack of healthcare. Why is it that children are not getting adequate food in the richest nation on earth? Why are there people who die because they don’t have health insurance and can’t afford to go to the doctor? What do we do about racial and economic disparities? We feel overwhelmed when we think about all these issues and wonder what our faith calls us to do about them. Jeremiah tells us that God calls us to change our world.