No More Poor People

Two dozen times scripture uses the image of “a land of milk and honey” to paint the picture of God’s people flourishing in the Promised Land. Part of that flourishing was economic, including clear laws laid out in advance, that would eliminate poverty. For example:

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts… 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 15:1-4

But that’s not what happened. There were tons of poor people in ancient Israel. This law (and others) were never kept. And by the time of Jesus, Nazareth was one of the poorest corners of the known world. People had hoped for so much more - and their expectations had been dashed over and over again. No wonder Jesus spoke so much about money, about justice, about equity!

All the while, we’ve misconstrued Jesus’s line “the poor you will have with you always” as justification to stop working for justice when no doubt for him it was a statement of lament. So how do we figure out new and healthy ways to live into God’s vision for a world without poverty? What are your favorite ways to justify not participating more deeply in God’s work of eliminating poverty? How does this affect how you think about your finances? Is there someone you know that you could talk with about these things?