First, let’s identify the nature of poverty. Is it a poverty of ideas, of spiritual development, of emotional health, or of wealth? We need to realize that we must always evaluate the word “poor” against some standard. In terms of financial wealth, when compared to the earning power of a dishwasher in a fast-food restaurant, I am rich. But contrasted to a Fortune 500 executive, I am poor.
Second, people and families tend to move in and out of poor. Many rich people have gone to the poorhouse, while many poor have worked hard and become rich.
Third, there will always be poor among us.
Finally, we must not forget that Christ become poor so that we could become rich.
Homeless & Hungry
Does Christ allow the poor among us so that we will learn critical lessons about how to love our neighbor as ourselves, how not to show favoritism, how to be kind and generous to all.
Doesn’t Jesus walk in the worn-out shoes of the poor every day? If we are alert, we will hear Jesus pass in the shuffling gait of a homeless bag lady. When we are tuned to helping our neighbor, we will hear Him pass in the clicking wheels of the near empty grocery cart of the single mom. Or if we are listening carefully, we will hear Him in the groans of the Wall Street investor who’s lost his fortune, Listen, do you hear Him pass in the sobs of a just-raped teenager or in the involuntary sniffles of an abandoned child? Do you hear Hi in the request of a neighbor who needs help drying out their basement after a flood? How about the student who asks for tutoring or the plea for help in the primary Sabbath school room, the local food bank or soup kitchen? A newly engaged couple request marriage mentoring? Is that, too, the sound of Jesus passing?