Rethinking the Parable of the Talents

“The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus says. In American Christianity, this saying has been adapted to fit our context of charity for the poor. “Do what you can to help,” it seems to say, “but you will never ‘solve’ poverty, so don’t worry too much about it.” But that’s not at all what Jesus meant. The poor will always be with you, Jesus says, because as my followers you will always be with and for those who are poor. For 3 weeks in November, we will explore 3 different text from Matthew’s gospel that take up questions of wealth and poverty, and help to translate them for our church’s calling in the world today. We will also explore the New Poor People’s Campaign (https://poorpeoplescampaign.org), a modern faith-rooted movement to end poverty in America.