John 11:55-12-11

Jesus said, "You will always have poor people with you..." (12:8)

What a depressing statement! When we look around our world today, we see that the words of Jesus still ring true.

A quick Internet search reveals frightening facts: “The lives of 1.7 million children will be needlessly lost this year (2000) because world governments have failed to reduce poverty levels.” "A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world’s poorest 2.5 billion people." In the United States alone, 37.0 million people, over 12% of the population, live in poverty (2005).

Studies continue to tell us that we have all the resources needed to end poverty; we're just not using them properly.

So what are we supposed to do about it?

It's easy to look at Jesus's statement, and assume the worst. 'Well, Jesus said we'll always have poor people, so I guess there's nothing we can do about it.' This kind of attitude is common, but somewhat understandable. The problem is so overwhelming, it's easy to think that our small contribution will not have any lasting effect.

But this attitude also shows the danger of taking Bible verses out of context.

We see many times, in the Gospels, that Jesus was generous and loving towards the poor and marginalized people of His society. Likewise, we, as Christians, are called to care for the poor and marginalized in our society.

There are many resources, locally and internationally, where we can contribute our time, treasure, and talent to help alleviate, if not eliminate, poverty in our world.

But let's add another level to this story. What if Jesus didn't only mean financial poverty? What if He was also saying, 'You will always have spiritually poor people with you'?

Aren't we also called to address this need in people as well? This is a need that runs across all levels of society. If anything, we sometimes see greater spiritual need in those with great material wealth. Great earthly riches can sometimes be a barrier between us and God.

I believe Jesus is calling us to serve all the poor of our society. He wants us to offer bread to the hungry, and living bread to everyone we meet.