Matthew 26:11 (Mark 14:7, John 12:8) Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 15:11 in saying, “the poor will always be with you”
As this is the case, Ignacio Ellacuria says, in essence, the great salvific task is to evangelize the poor so that out of their poverty they may attain the spirit necessary first to escape their indulgence and oppression, second to put an end to oppressive structures, and third to be used to inaugurate a new heaven and a new earth, where sharing trumps accumulating and where there is time to hear and enjoy God’s voice in the heart of the material world and in the heart of human history.[3]
I think that is very important. We need to evangelize the poor. We know what the word evangelize means, right? It comes from the Greek word ‘euangelion’, which means ‘good message’ or ‘good news’.[4] We need to share the good news with the poor. Jesus, as recorded in Luke 4:18, in his very early sermon in the synagogue in his very own hometown quoted the prophet Isaiah – Isaiah 61:1 - in this very sentiment. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”
What is this good news? What is this ‘euangelion’? This good news is that we can be saved from eternal death. We can be bodily raised from the dead to eternal life and even more.[5] We can have the Spirit of God on us now in our very lives. By the power of God, we can start to experience a new life this very day – renewing our heart and transforming us from the inside! That we can all have this is good news – especially for the poor! And there is more: for just as salvation isn’t just for the future it also isn’t just for the individual; it is for all creation (Romans 8:19-22).
And in our society today, as in almost all, if not all societies throughout history, the group that consistently experiences being excluded from the society of the privileged is the poor. Today in Canada we talk a lot about indigenous history and the TRC. Today out of the United States, BLM is a significant movement. Today there is much talk about identity politics. Today there are many people discriminated against. The people who have been primarily victimized in these and all other groups are the poor. (There are some exceptions, of course. The unvaccinated are being excluded from society at present and they are not all poor – yet. But Quebec may even now be putting a special tax on them!) The consistent target of exclusion in our society – and our world - is and has always been the poor.[6]
In the USA which experienced some of the worst slavery and anti-black history in the whole world, this century already they have had a rich, powerful, privileged black man ruling their nation while many black and other people still suffer horribly under the curse of poverty and exclusion from society.[7] The Church however is inclusive society and while some of the poor and disenfranchised are already experiencing the blessings of the Good News of eternal salvation, sadly many are still waiting to experience solidarity in the totality of salvation – that of mind, body, soul, and circumstance. A just society, a Christian society is one where everyone will have access to community. A just society, a Christian society is one where the poor and the wealthy will experience solidarity in their salvation. A just society, a Christian society is one where the rich will no longer risk their eternal rewards by withholding material necessities from the poor, as it says in Matthew 6:19-24.
John Sobrino tells us that God can use the poor to unleash the solidarity that can be salvific for both the poor and the nonpoor, where “poor people and nonpoor people are mutually bearing one another, giving to each other, and receiving from each other. This kind of solidarity goes beyond mere unilateral [one-way] aid, with its intrinsic tendency toward imposition and domination. [This kind of Christian Solidarity] … can resolve the ambiguity and root out what is harmful in the falsely universalizing concept of globalization.”[8] Bishop Desmond Tutu, recently ptg, and President Nelson Mandala referred this as ‘Ubuntu’ which literally means, ‘a person is a person through other people.’ [9] Solidarity is not a one-way street where some dominate others. Salvation is not a one-way street where some dominate others. A Christian society is one where we share resources and bear one another’s burdens (Acts 2:42-47).
Ignacio Ellacuria writes that we need to work to create such a society that can replace our civilization of capital, our civilization of wealth, with its the closed and competitive individualism. This needs to be replaced with a society of labour.[10]
A Society of Love: Societies based on wealth (capitalism) can never be Christian (Matthew 6:24) as they exclude the poor.
When Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again He began ushering in His proleptic Kingdom. We know what ‘proleptic’ means, right? It means both now and not yet. The Kingdom of God has begun. It will culminate in Jesus’ return. The Pentateuch here records what God’s Kingdom will look like. Deuteronomy 15:4 records that “there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you.” Deuteronomy was speaking specifically about the penultimate Promised Land but as with so many other texts, its culmination comes only in the ultimate Promised Land of the Kingdom to Come. This Kingdom is coming now and as we work to make this Kingdom a reality, we prove our citizenship in it (Philippians 3:20).
The Church is Christian society. As citizens of Heaven, it is important that we no longer objectify others and exclude them from society. The society of Jesus is inclusive. We need to not only allow but also invite our neighbour to participate in society – No more excluding the poor or anyone else! We need to give every person every opportunity to be part of our group. We need to allow every person to serve. Do not force anyone to just be served. Allow everyone to help. Do not demean some by considering them unable to assist. We must empower every person to help others.[11] We must! The Kingdom of God is about inviting others to be part of a society of Jesus, where we love and serve one another. This is the society we are to be building as we await Christ’s return.
Today, I encourage you to look for an opportunity to invite someone to serve our Lord alongside you. For those who work and volunteer here, I invite you to not only give out clothes to others who need clothes but allow someone in need to help you; for those who work here, allow someone who has enjoyed a meal with you at the soup kitchen to clean tables or do dishes alongside you. For all of us who are here today, ask someone you serve what is their opinion – ask someone who may not otherwise think that you even care about their opinion, what is their opinion – and then listen to what they say! And honour them by engaging them! For all of us who are here today, ask someone to pray for you; pray for someone else and then ask them to pray for you! When you do this, you involve others in the community of Christ; When you do this, you involve others in the society of Jesus. When we do this, we invite others to be a part of the Kingdom of God.
This week let us look for opportunities not to merely serve others but to invite others to be a part of the Kingdom of God by inviting them to serve God right alongside us. Only then will we all have an opportunity to truly be part of the society of Jesus.
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[1] Cf. Ronald E. Clements, The Book of Deuteronomy, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 407
[2] Cf. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/C. Specific Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty (12:1-26:19)/1. For worship and ceremony (12:1-16:17)/d. Time-related activities (14:22-16:17)/(2) The year of canceling debts (15:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2
[3] Quoted from John Sobrino, No Salvation Outside the Poor (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008), 76.
[4] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Romans 1:16: I am not ashamed of the Gospel! (Swift Current, SK, The Salvation Army, 05 July 2009) http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/07/romans-116-i-am-not-ashamed-of-gospel.html
[5] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47, “The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim in terms of the rest of the letter.”
[6] Cf. Thomas Mann, The Book of the Torah (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1998),153. God’s people will love and include the pooer.
[7] Cf. Fidel Castro, Obama and the Empire (Melbourne, Aus.: Ocean Press Press, 2012)
[8] John Sobrino, No Salvation Outside the Poor (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008), 63-64.
[9] Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness (New York, NY, USA, Double Day, 1999)31 and Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (New York, NY, USA, Little Brown & Co,, 1994)
[10] Quoted from John Sobrino, No Salvation Outside the Poor (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008), 76.
[11] Solomon Andria “Generosity and Solidarity” in Africa Bible Commentary. (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 231
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