"The Poor You Always Have With You"

-said Jesus (John 12:8).

Similarly, in Deuteronomy 15:11 God says, "For there will never cease to be poor in the land." I could use these verses to say Jesus doesn't care about the poor, or maybe that as long as we save souls we need not be concerned about a person's physical state on earth. Of course, taking verses out of context has led to countless errors in applying God's word.

A village school

The rest of verse 11 reads, "Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."

Additionally, if you observe Jesus' life you'll see quite the opposite of neglect for physical needs. He constantly healed the sick and improved people's lives in the here and now in addition to directing people to eternal life.

Quite a contradiction appears to exist in Deuteronomy 15:4, where God says to Israel, "But there will be no poor among you..." How can this be? There will be no poor, yet there will never cease to be poor? A land free of poverty was the ideal for ancient Israel as God blessed them abundantly...if  they obeyed His commands. As God's people they were called to showcase what His kingdom would be like. Unfortunately, they fell short of this ideal due to disobedience.

Today, enough money and resources exist in the world to lift the materially poor out of physical poverty. Why then is my friend prostituting herself seven nights a week in Bangkok to send money home to her family? Why is a man I recently met living in a shack and working illegally in a country not his own? Poverty is not simply a result of lacking things; therefore, sending money or resources often won't have a lasting impact. Broken relationships, broken systems, and a broken connection with our Creator result in poverty. As a follower of Christ, how do I respond?

One error that permeates religious communities was addressed by Jesus. "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God" (Luke 11:42). Believers have a tendency to become this way, developing a greater concern for piety than for reflecting God's heart. "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others" (v.42).

When the prophet Isaiah spoke to the people of Israel, they were actively performing religious activity and spiritual disciplines - offering sacrifices, singing songs of praise, and even fasting. Yet their hearts remained distant from God. A primary manifestation of hearts devoted to God is not religious activity, but reconciliation - repairing what sin has broken. God declares, "...seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (Isaiah 1:17). In Isaiah 58:10 God makes a promise: "If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday."

Salvation obviously holds great importance. But what is salvation? "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Salvation is God overcoming the brokenness that resulted from sin and restoring our relationship with Him. In addition, sin affects our relationships with each other and with the environment. Bringing about reconciliation in these areas restores what sin has tainted. While full restoration won't come until Christ returns as righteous king, we are called to provide a foreshadow of His rule and reign.

Temple area in Cambodia

Darkness persists only due to an absence of light. As children of light we ought not tolerate systems of oppression and abuses of power. God invites us to know His heart by giving us a "ministry of reconciliation." I believe Jesus experienced great joy in fulfilling Isaiah 61, as He quotes in Luke 4:17-19, no matter what it cost Him, because He shared the Father's heart, which is all about restoring and repairing that which is broken. He has sent us to do the same. How will you be obedient?

"He has told you, O man, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8