“The Poor Will Always Be With You”

“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.

 

Sunday, November 12th

When Jesus said, “the poor will always be with you,” he was drawing from the deepest wells of Israel’s identity. Quoting from Leviticus, he was reminding God’s people that one of our core covenants is care for those of our neighbors who are poor. What could that mean for today? Is it a call for more charity? For particular changes to public policy? We look at the history of the Poor People’s Campaign, from Dr. King up to today. Paige Maconochie, preaching.