The Least of These
by LewisMatthew 25.31-45 is a powerful and challenging section of scripture. A question asked there is, “When did we see you a stanger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?”And Jesus’ reply is this: “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.”
Here’s how you can do exactly that.
For several years I’ve been a fan of Tremolo, introduced to them by a mutual friend who worked with Justin Dillon, the leader, in another music life.
Justin and the rest of the group have long been committed to the cause of ending modern day slavery, a blight on mankind that too many Americans don’t even know about and too many people in the world simply ignore. It is estimated that there are more than 27 million people — many of them children — living now in forced slavery.
About two years ago Justin started putting together a concert to help expose this terrible thing, but the concert turned into a movie, and the movie is about to be released. The title of it is Call + Response, and you can see a short clip of it here. On that same site, you can also find a theater where you can go see the movie, which includes performances by or interviews with Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Ashley Judd, Cornel West, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, and many others, including, of course, Justin Dillon.
But Justin being Justin, that is only part of the story. His note reads: “We are rolling CALL+RESPONSE out all on our own so that we can give all the profits away to those who are victims of slavery.”
In other words, you can help put an end to modern day slavery, and you can help someone who has been a victim of slavery, simply by going to the movies. It’s hard to imagine a simpler way to help those who really are among “the least of these.”
And, if you want to do more, you can go betheresponse.com, create an account, then login to see what else you can do.
I can’t tell you that this will be the most entertaining film you’ll ever see, but I guarantee you it will be told straight and well, and that this is something you should know about.
Thanks, Justin, for your passion, for your good music, and for putting them together to do good! May God bless your efforts with saved lives, redeemed lives, and with the inspiration of thousands of others who will also hear the call to serve others and respond.
Tags: ashley judd, call+response, justin dillon, moby, rockumentary, slavery
October 6th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Wow, he’s got an amazing lineup of artists for this film, and Tremolo’s own music is superb. When I grow up, I wanna be a lyricist like Justin!
It’s inspiring to know of someone, just a regular someone who lives across the bay from me, who decided to make a difference in the world and has taken step after step to accomplish it.
How many things have happened in this world because one person caught a vision and passion for it? I can think of a couple of instances in which an entire group caught fire with a vision and acted on it, but I think that is more rare. What does it say that God works through individuals?
Let’s go see the film, Lewis, and help abolish what was already supposed to have been abolished!