Poor? Try the Gospel.

Jesus had a very clear way to meet the needs of the poor.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.” Jesus, Luke 4:18; quoting Isaiah 61:1

I was baffled when I read this again later in Luke, when Jesus is testifying to His actions;

“Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Jesus, Luke 7:22

It’s obvious what the lame need, they need to walk.

It’s obvious that lepers need cleansing and that the deaf need to hear. The dead being raised I know happens, but is a significant step of faith up for me to grasp and understand.

But why is Jesus’ solution for the poor to preach the gospel to them?

I initially supposed that Jesus maybe meant the ‘spiritually’ poor. But no, Jesus’ solution for poor people is not to just give them resources, but the news that they can live a life IN RELATIONSHIP WITH the source of all resources. God, their heavenly Father. It’s another masterful exposure of the reversal of the curse through being in right relationship with God. Under the curse means out of relationship with God. what we produce is in line with the amount of sweat on our brow as we battle with a disobedient earth that only wants to produce thorns and thistles for us. Nobody wants this though, even the earth doesn’t; it’s longing for us to walk in a full manifestation of our relationship with God so that it can be free to respond to us as it was created to, as it did to Jesus, and originally to Adam and Eve.

Key to this is understanding the gospel of the kingdom, the only gospel (good news) that Jesus preached (evangelised). That the kingdom of God is at hand. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection we can walk in the light as He is in the light. Led by the Holy Spirit. This is what happens when we receive the gospel of the kingdom. This is the foundation upon which the poor can become rich, in every sense. I’m not speaking about a prosperity gospel here, I’m simply pointing out that creativity, productivity and resources flow out of a life that is in Him. This has been my experience. As I have found solidity in who I am as a son of God, I have found myself strengthened from my innermost being. My creativity is in Him, my confidence is in Him, my perseverance is in Him, my failures are in Him, so that when I get rejected, ignored or turned down, my resilience is in Him. Yes, and my successes are in Him and for His glory.

Are you poor? Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4). Get with Christians that live near you and explore these verses with them.

When you burdened to help those who are poor, meet their need with faith as well as with resources. Both are necessary (Luke 12:33).

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, 6th Century BC

I think that Jesus goes even beyond this, He gives us the capacity to believe that we can catch fish, that we can thrive as we fish, and that the earth will respond to us as we fish, being led by the Holy Spirit.

This last part is linked to the unfolding revolution that is starting to take place in farming, as people realise that farming isn’t something that should be done TO the earth, but WITH it. More on this another time.

Photo by Timur Weber, Pexels