Being Christ and the Poor

Many are saying and sensing that the Spirit of God is moving in culture and the human community to awaken consciences to the scandal of extreme poverty globally and the shame of domestic poverty. In a recent New York Times article about the rock star Bono, three necessary ingredients were suggested to eliminate extreme poverty: a call to conscience, an appeal to imagination and a song worth singing. For me, all of these ingredients are framed and formed as a part of Christian discipleship. I realize that for others it is different. But for me concern for the poor and powerless is not a matter of partisan politics. It is not a denominational program, a trend or a fad. Rather it is central and integral to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to which I have committed my life.

After the resurrection, Christ comes to dwell among and within those who believe in him. This means that we who follow Christ become a continuing incarnation of Christ in the world. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the Body of Christ, so that now Christ continues His work through us. We become His hands, His feet, His voice and His presence. This for me becomes a powerful motivation for ministry in the world and engagement with the world. As Christ cared for the poor and powerless while He was here during the incarnation, Christ now cares for the poor and the powerless through us after His glorification.

But the resurrection and gift of the Holy Spirit mean something else. The risen Christ actually becomes present to us in the poor and the powerless. Christ is not only present within us. Christ is not only present when two or three gather in His name. Christ is not only present at His table and in the proclamation of His word. In mysterious and unexplainable ways, Christ is present in the poor and powerless to whom we are sent to minister. On one occasion Jesus took a child into His arms and said to His disciples, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me.” (Mark 9: 36-37) A child is as vulnerable and powerless as any person, and Christ identifies Himself with such a person. Of course the classic text that describes the presence of Christ among the poor is when He said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40). Here it is not only the risen Christ, but the reigning Christ who judges all of humanity at the end of history. And the basis of that judgment is how we receive Christ as Christ is embodied among the poor and powerless.

All through Scripture, God identifies with the poor and the powerless. One can’t read the Hebrew Scriptures without seeing it. And when one reads the New Testament one sees God’s compassion and commitment to justice in the earthly ministry of Jesus. After Easter and Pentecost, Christ is no longer limited to one time and one place. So God’s identification and solidarity with the poor and powerless finds its greatest expression in the living Christ. Christ is to be found among the struggling and the suffering of humanity.

The poor and powerless are not saints. They are like the rest of us; they are sinners. But if we want to see the face of the Lord, we must go to the margins of society, to those who suffer. And as we represent Christ among them, we will find that Christ is already there. We will meet Him there among the people to whom we are sent to minister.

Christ is hidden among the poor and powerless. Christ’s presence is not spectacular nor does it confound and convince us. In fact, according to the words of Jesus in the judgment, neither the believers nor unbelievers saw Christ in those that suffer. They said to Him, “When did we see you among the poor and the powerless?” And Christ answers, “I was there, they were me and I was them.” Whether one interprets these words symbolically or sacramentally, the imperative and urgency of their impact is the same.

The poor and the powerless among us are not to be seen as an inconvenience, or as the less fortunate or as an underclass. They’re not statistics for government research or numbers for a foundation grant. They are not units in a housing project, or inmates in a prison, or victims of violence, or clients, or patients. The poor and powerless are Christ to us; Christ with us; Christ among us. If we ignore them or refuse them, we are ignoring and refusing Christ.

In the final judgment the risen, reigning Christ pronounces His words of reward or rebuke on the basis of what people did. Even if we didn’t see Him, did we serve them? It’s not enough to empathize with the poor, or to feel bad about their problems, or even study and analyze them. The question that will ultimately be asked is, “What did we do to serve them and thereby serve Christ.”

Copyright 2008 The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship