Today, we are in week 5 of our series Get Off Your Donkey 2.0.

In 2023, we spent six weeks looking at Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan—a Samaritan man traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and finds someone lying on the side of the road—robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Instead of continuing on his way (like those before him), the Samaritan gets off his donkey, cleans up the man’s wounds, and takes him to an inn where he can recover.

Jesus tells this parable to illustrate that our faith is not just about what we believe, but also about what we do—our faith calls us to get off our donkey and care for others, particularly those in need.

We’ve brought back this “Get Off Your Donkey” series as a way to acknowledge that sometimes, faith-in-action looks like meeting immediate needs—cleaning someone’s wounds or giving them food to eat. Other times, faith-in-action looks like doing systemic work—advocating so that all might have the things they need to thrive, and working to change systems that cause harm.

Our United Methodist social principles are a great way to illustrate this work. These principles aren’t church law, but they call each of us to engage with the world around us, and to live like Jesus—compassionately working for justice for each and every one of God’s creations.

This week, we are taking a look at how our faith calls us to work for justice for all sexual orientations and gender identities.