From Charity to Solidarity

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” - Luke 9:57-58

Jesus was born in a cave and placed in a feeding trough as a baby.. He didn’t have a lot of stuff -he had no home and no ‘nest egg’ for later in life. He had no ride - remember, he had to borrow a donkey on the way in to Jerusalem before he was killed. There’s a word for this. He was poor.

So what does that mean for those of us who follow him? How do you read the verses above about what it means to follow him?

As we talk about money this week, one of the things to revisit from the sermon on Sunday is the idea of giving to charity. Jesus always encourages giving. But he’s so much more radical. He actually invites us to be like him - and he didn’t just give handouts. Neither did he write a check from heaven nor did he arrive at earth and set up in a nice villa. He identified with the poor so deeply that he was even called poor. What might that look like for you today? Take a moment and ponder these things, using this line from Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz to spur you to prayer:

It is my contention that solidarity, in the original sense of that word, must replace charity as the appropriate Christian behavior — ethical behavior — in our world today. - Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Mujerista Theology