Poor



Being in Africa brings our obscene Western decadence and blatant disregard for the poor into inescapable focus.

Knowing that we could do so much more, but choose not to because of our inability to set limitations on our own inexhaustible wants, is scary. Even scarier, is the thought that we have received our consolation.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation."
Luke 6:20...24

Ouch. We've received our consolation?

While browsing the net for a Phillip Yancey quote, I came upon these words from other bloggers, on this subject:

"The hope that Jesus extends to the poor is a scandalous one. It is the poor who will inherit the Kingdom of God. Normally in our world, it is the children of the already rich who receive the large inheritances. The poor seldom are mentioned in wills or receive estates. However, Christ proclaims that it is the poor who receive the inheritance of the Kingdom--all the Kingdom of God becomes theirs.

In the strange calculus of grace, recognizing and admitting our poverty is the prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of God. We are trained throughout our lives to hide the awareness of our own inadequacy from ourselves and from others. To enter the Kingdom, we must come out of hiding, and admit before God and others who we are."

On the Culture Crafstman's blog, he writes:

"So what can we do? We need to learn from the poor. I don't have a commentary to back me up on this.But another way to read "the poor in spirit" is to be like the poor.To take on those attributes of the poor that make them more susceptible to the Kingdom of God.
It is learning to think and act like you are poor.

Monika Hellwig, lists the following "advantages" to being poor that I think we would do well to imitate.

1. The poor know they are in urgent need of redemption. We need to be like the poor in our desperation for God's help.

2. The poor know not only their dependence on God and on powerful people but also their interdependence with one another.

3.The poor rest their security not on things but on people.

4.The poor need other people. Intimacy is created when we are met by others in our time of need. We need to be like the poor in this respect. Relying on each other.

5. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance. We know a woman from back home who used to live a very humble life. Then she decided to run for state congresswoman.

6. The poor can distinguish between necessities and luxuries. I have a very difficult time with this. One of the reasons my generation can have a difficult time living inside their means

7. The poor can wait, because they have acquired a kind of dogged patience.

8. When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or scolding."