Corrections_Today_May_June_2021_Vol.83_No.3

nEWS&vIEWS

Correctional Chaplain Perspectives

Attending to Those in Prison: The Abrahamic Mandate Mark Davies

J ohn Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism, wrote that there is “no holiness but social holiness.” 1 From his university days to the end of his life, Wesley himself ministered to those in prison — visiting them, seek- ing to alleviate their suffering, and working for systemic change in the prison system. 2 Yet the mandate to do so is not confined to Methodism or Protestantism or even Christianity as a whole but extends to Judaism and Islam as well. Attending to those in prison reflects an Abrahamic command, which is what this essay is about. Christianity Outreach to prisoners bookends the teaching ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. In his first sermon in his hometown, quoting Isaiah 61:1, Jesus proclaims that he has come “to preach (or proclaim) release (or pardon) to the captives” (Luke 4:18 (AT)). 3 In his last recorded sermon (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus passes to us the baton to reach out to the poor and oppressed, including the prisoner. “I was in prison and you

visited me” (25:36). When asked when he had been in prison and they came to him, he responded, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (25:40). And the reward for those who do so is great, but the punishment for those who do not is equally great (Matthew 25:34, 41, 45-46).

As the popular theologian Wil- liam Barclay put it, “the lesson [of Matthew 25] is crystal clear — that God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human need.” 4 To be sure, all this stems from Jesus’ admonition to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27, quoting Leviticus 19:18). And “neighbor,” importunes Jesus in the parable of

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8 — May/June 2021 Corrections Today