Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw; based on Luke 12
If I were to ask you to name the most famous text in the Bible that refers to the poor - which one would you choose?
I have a friend, who speaks on this topic regularly, and when he asks audiences this question, what’s the most famous text in the Bible that refers to the poor -- they always choose the text we just heard - ‘You will always have the poor with you.’
As you Bible scholars know, this statement comes out when Jesus is getting his feet anointed - it’s one of those rare incidents that’s mentioned in all 4 of the Gospels - in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 7, and here in John 12.
As we just heard - Jesus is having dinner with his best friends - Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. This is right after Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead - which, I’m sure, made for some interesting dinner conversation:
“So Lazarus, what was the food like... wherever you were… did you see anyone you knew… we’re glad you took a shower…”
So yes, people were talking about Lazarus. And people were talking about Jesus. People were joining his movement. Jews and non-Jews were coming to hear him. And the religious authorities were not happy.
In fact, in the verses that lead up to this story - these religious authorities in Jerusalem are so angry, they have decided to kill Jesus and Lazarus. And they’ve made no secret about their plans. So Jesus has had to go into hiding. He can’t publicly be seen or he’ll get arrested. He has to stay away from Jerusalem.
That’s when Mary, Martha, and Lazarus have him over for dinner - it’s at their house a few miles away in Bethany. And they know the jig is up. The religious authorities and the Romans are very powerful. Jesus does not have much time left.
And so a pound of expensive perfume is pulled out. It cost, in today’s terms, about $30,000.
And Jesus doesn’t stop this extravagant ritual, symbolic of his impending death, from unfolding before him and the gathered few.
But others who are around, they do mind - they think this is a waste, in this case it’s Judas who says: ’Stop Lord’ - we can sell this and give the money to the poor! To which Jesus responds: ’You will always have the poor with you.’ And if you’re like me, please raise your hand if you wondered: ‘You will always have the poor with you?' What’s that supposed to mean?
You and I are good Christians - and we’ve always figured: Dear Lord - you’ve called us to leave everything behind and to go into combat with you - fighting hunger, homelessness, and sickness - to feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the destitute — and you’re telling me that no matter what I do, I’m just never going to win?
What’s this supposed to mean?
Well, it depends who you ask.
There’s a Texas congressman named Jodey Arrington who’s argued that it means we’ll just always have poor people, it’s a problem we can never solve, so there’s no sense in extending welfare and other aid to help the needy. We’re stuck with them — see Jesus even said so.
Then, there’s the famous novelist Kurt Vonnegut. He once gave a sermon on this text -
That’s right, the famous agnostic did have Christian leanings, as many agnostics do -
And he made is own translation, he interpreted Jesus as saying: "Judas, don't worry about it. There will still be plenty of poor people left long after I'm gone.’..
And then there’s the famous anti-poverty preacher Jim Wallis.
He has a unique take on this statement.
Instead of being someone who remains physically distant from the poor and writes them off, Wallis says Jesus was in effect telling his followers: “Look, you will always have the poor with you because you are my disciples.... So, you will always be near the poor, you’ll always be with them, and you will always have the opportunity to share with them.”
I like this last interpretation because - as you Bible scholars know, at the heart of Jesus’ ministry was the active and intentional caring for the poor — not passive apathy toward social injustice. No, Jesus was all about justice - justice for the suffering.
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I know of a student who, one day, decided to clip out all the verses in his Bible that referenced the poor. He took scissors to his Bible - and he literally cut out those verses! And, when he was done, that Bible was literally in shreds. It was a Bible full of holes.
As you Bible scholars all know, the Holy Scriptures contain almost 2,000 references to poverty and economic fairness. There are proverbs and psalms and letters and histories of rulers who deal with the poor: According to the Oxford Companion to the Bible, the Scriptures teach that the fundamental responsibility of rulers is to help those unable to help themselves - yes, those who oppress the poor in biblical history are always characterized as wicked.
And while Jesus’ statement that ‘You will always have the poor with you has often been misused as an excuse not to do anything about the poor - that couldn’t be farther from what Jesus is really getting at.
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We discover where he’s going when we turn to the Book of Deuteronomy.
Here we see that Jesus is doing something he does quite often: he’s quoting from the Hebrew scriptures.
Here we discover that Jesus has not made up the line ‘you will always have the poor with you’ - he’s actually quoting this line from chapter 15. And here’s the context of that verse.
Deuteronomy 15 is talking about Israel’s responsibility to the poor.
In this chapter there’s a scheme described as ’The Jubilee.’ And it is a practice the Hebrews were asked to participate in - that called for everyone to share with one another - that those who had accumulated wealth over a period of time, over 7 years, were to hit the ‘reset’ button - and to recalibrate and to consider those who had not done very well.
Those who’d become sick — which is still the number one cause of bankruptcy in our world today - would not be sentenced to a life of penury. Those who invested in seeds, had a bad harvest, and lost everything, these entrepreneurs would not have to spend their lives in slavery.
No.
Society was to be ordered so that people cared for one another.
Do this, and everyone has enough.
There will be no more poor.
There will be no more hunger, homelessness, or stupid disease.
Fail to do this and
‘You will always have the poor with you.’
So, the original meaning of this verse is not some universal statement of the triumph of poverty - Rather it’s the declaration of an inevitable consequence when society fails to order itself as God asks us - for those who have enough, to share with those who don’t.
Yes, this passage in Deuteronomy about God’s plan to ensure that no one is poor is what Jesus is referencing here by saying “the poor are with you always.”
And yes, when we read our Gospel this morning, we don’t have Deuteronomy readily available in OUR minds, Jesus’ disciples would have. They would have understood his reference to chapter 15 and would have known that God had another program for addressing poverty.
Doesn't this sound more in line with how a loving and charitable God operates?
And what’s interesting is that this program was NOT what Judas suggested. It was not about selling something valuable and donating the money to the poor. Charity is not what Jesus is getting at here - it’s justice.
The people of God were supposed to organize their society to ensure there were no poor people among them - there was ‘The Jubilee.’
So, we see that Mary anointed Jesus as king of an empire that had Jubilee and justice at the center. And we can conclude that what God demands of God’s followers is justice not charity.
And justice is a string that runs all through the Bible - that we are to care for one another - especially those who have less:
There is the story in Exodus 16 of the manna that God sends from heaven when the Israelites are living in the wilderness after escaping from slavery. The prophets all emphasize our duty to care for the widow, the orphan, those in need.
There are passages like Matthew 25 where Jesus reminds us that what we do to the least of these, we do unto him.
There is the community of goods in Acts 2 and 4 that tells us that the early Christians had no needy people among them because they shared and cared for each other.
And even the Apostle Paul following his revelation of Jesus started a collection for the poor of Jerusalem that he discusses in Romans, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians – more than any other single theological issue - Paul talks about the Christian’s responsibility for taking care of those in need.
And we do that not so much with individual acts of charity, but by working to organize a way of living together that eliminates the need for it.
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Do you know what an amazing preacher you have here in Pastor Barry?
Last week he preached at my church - And he preached on the Prodigal Son - And he told a touching and moving story about forgiveness that had people applauding - and my people rarely ever do that.
But 1,600 years ago, there was another preacher - who was nearly as good as Pastor Barry.
His name was John Chrysostom. He just went by the name John - but his sermons were so good that when he died they called him John Chrysostom - What does Chrysostom mean?
Well, you know we Anglicans have to put Latin into our sermons because it makes me sound educated and it makes you feel like you’ve learned something - But “Chrysostom" is what we need to start using to address Pastor Barry - Pastor Barry Chrysostom - Because that word literally means ‘Golden Mouth’ - It means this man knew how to preach.
And in the 4th century John Chrysostom said this:
"This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good . . . for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for his neighbors."
Friends, ours is a shallow and selfish age.
Did anybody see Will Smith and Chris Rock this week?
Or did anyone NOT see them….
One millionaire actor assaults another on stage in front of millions of people and everyone sits back as if nothing happened. Ours is an age of keeping quiet and not rocking the boat - when injustice surrounds us.
So we are in need of conversion—from looking out not just for ourselves but also looking out for one another. It’s time to hear and heed a call to a different way of life, to reclaim a very old idea of caring for all. Jesus issued that call and announced the kingdom of God—a new order of living in sharp contrast to all the political and religious kingdoms of the world.
That better way of life was meant to benefit not only his followers but everybody else too. And that is the point Jesus is trying to make when he quotes Deuteronomy, which references a plan for humanity to deal justly with the world, and to ultimately give his life to show us that love and care for one another - even to the point of death - is the solution to the problems that beset us.
It’s been said that, 'Christianity is not a religion that gives some people a ticket to heaven and makes them judgmental of all others - rather, it’s a call to a relationship that changes all our other relationships.
'Jesus told us a new relationship with God also brings us into a new relationship with our neighbor, especially with the most vulnerable of this world, and even with our enemies.
'But we don’t always hear that from Christians - and we need to stop that.
This call to love our neighbor is the foundation for reestablishing and reclaiming the common good, which has fallen into cultural and political—and even religious—neglect.
'Religion makes a big mistake when its primary public posture is to protect itself and its own interests. It’s even worse when religion tries to use politics to enforce its own codes and beliefs or to use the force of law to control the behavior of others.
'Religion does much better when it leads—when it actually cares about the needs of everybody, not just its own community, and when it makes the best inspirational and commonsense case, in a pluralistic democracy, for public policies that express the core values of faith in regard to how we should all treat our neighbors.’
In our Confirmation class last weekend - which is where I will be hustling to get to when I get out of this pulpit - Pastor Golden Mouth knows this and has given me the OK - but I hate that I can’t stay longer - and I hope you’ll invite me back if I have not offended you too much — -
But in our Confirmation class at church last weekend someone asked me how Christianity had gone from just 12 people in the year 32AD - a very small number of people who were initially hunted down, persecuted, and killed as they were considered subversive enemies of the state - how had that small band of misfits ballooned, in less than 300 years, to a force so large and powerful, that it became the official religion of the Roman Empire - the very government that had tried to kill it off?
Historians will tell you that this meteoric rise in popularity was due to one thing: Christians cared for others.
When someone was sick, Christians helped nurse them to health.
When someone was in need, Christians gave them money.
When someone was in prison, Christians visited them.
Jesus famously said: ’They will know we are Christians by our bumper stickers!
I’m sorry — he said, ’They will know we are Christians by our jewelry. No - by our fancy cars, big houses, and their preacher’s jet planes….
They will know we are Christians by our love.
Does anybody know what the word Christian means?
It means ‘Little Christ'
And the more we act like Jesus - the more ‘Christian’ we are -
In today’s passage Jesus is anointed. Guess what the Hebrew word for anointed is: Messiah.
And the Greek word for anointed is: Christ.
So, where Jesus is made Christ and considered Messiah, is actually in our passage -
And where you and I are commended to be Christians and considered messengers, is in this church - right here, right now.
The point to this sermon is simple:
Go out and be a Christian - a ‘little Christ’ to the world around you.
Don’t make excuses as to why we shouldn’t help those in need -
Don’t find ways to get around being charitable -
Don’t resist a generous urge -
Friends, we know that the poor will only be forever with us if we allow it. God has given us the gift of free agency and to partner with God in bringing Justice to our world.
So in all wisdom and strength and confidence let us go arm and arm,
Let us go to combat against our common foes of poverty, hunger and injustice -
Let us be inspired by our humble leader whose love for us took him to the grave.
And will you rejoice with me in the power of the victorious Spirit who says ‘Yes, we can do this!'
Amen!