This week I went with the staff to a workshop on ministry
with the poor. During one video clip, Claudio, a pastor in Brazil, talks about
theologians defining poverty—a lack of money, of food, of clothes, of housing.
Then he posits a situation in which they are told they have lost absolutely
everything—all possessions, money, home, family, job, everything. He asks: how
long would it be before you could find food? A place to sleep? Work? The
answers were minutes to find food; hours to find a place to sleep; and a week or two to find work. Claudio tells
them that they are not poor. What the poor lack are friends, and relationships where others help you out.
Even in the times I have been most alone, and felt the most
lost, I have known that I have friends. It is hard to imagine a life without
friends, folks who have my back, who are there when I am in need. What poverty
it would be to have no one!
While it vital to give material goods—food, shelter,
clothing, and more--it is the relationship that is most important. That’s what
John Cook of L’Arche said as well when we talked about residences for persons
with intellectual disabilities. Offering assistance is important, but the
greatest gift is to walk along side someone, to let them know they are seen,
and that they are not alone. I am reminded of The Servant Song: “Brother, sister, let me serve you, let me be as
Christ to you; pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.”[i]
I give thanks for friends who have walked the miles with me
over the years, giving up a mission trip to be with me when Jeff died; coming
to lead Jeff’s service when recovering from surgery; dropping off a meal en
route to the airport to travel across the country. I pray that I can be Christ
to them, but also to those who would never expect anything of me.
1 John 3:17
How does God’s love abide in anyone
who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
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