Common Good

Common Good

Back to Food Systems and Agriculture

Farming with Justice

LentFood Systems and AgricultureWeek 18 · Day 2

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Leviticus 25:1-7

1 The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.

3 You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;

Read 4 more verses

4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.

6 The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.

7 For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

New Testament

1 Corinthians 3:6-9

6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.

7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

8 Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labour.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.

Thought for the Day

Leviticus dares to command rest not only for people but for land. Every seventh year, the field is not to be squeezed for all it can give. The Sabbath year is a confession: the land is the Lord’s, and we are not gods. Even what grows of itself is to be shared, not grabbed.

Paul, writing to a divided church, uses farming language to humble human pride. One plants, another waters, but God gives the growth. We are not owners of outcomes; we are servants within a gift we did not create.

Show 108 more words

This steadies how we think about food systems. Justice in farming is not only about yields and efficiency; it is about limits, mercy, and patience. It asks whether those who work the land and those who live from it can breathe, can rest, can eat, can endure.

Lord, deliver us from a frantic, grasping spirit. Make us grateful for those who plant and water, and honest about the fragility of what sustains us. Teach us to seek practices and policies that honour the land, protect workers, and keep the poor from being priced out of life’s necessities. Let our common life taste a little of your Sabbath peace.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Thank God for the land’s fruitfulness and for the gift of rest that resists greed and anxiety.
  • Pray for farmers and agricultural workers: fair pay, safe conditions, and wise stewardship.
  • Ask for justice in land use and food pricing, that the poor are not squeezed first and worst.
Show 2 more prayer points
  • Pray for leaders and institutions to hold long horizons, resisting short-term gain that damages soil and communities.
  • Pray for the Church to support local and distant neighbours with practical generosity.
Continue Reading Journey