Dignity for the poor

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up..” (Proverbs 12:25)

The Rabbi told us, “You will always have the poor among you, (Mark 1:47)” A lot of these “poor” often come to the church building looking for help. When I served a church in east Texas my office was right by the lobby where the church secretary sat and one of her jobs was to talk to these people, be discerning and make the decision if these people would receive the help they sought. She did a good job, by the way.

Can we talk? It was hard for this bleeding-heart pastor to watch these 'poor' people come and go regardless if they were telling the truth or if benevolence was given.

It was hard for me to sit and listen to the conversations while my Mini Cooper (before the Jeep era we drove Mini Coopers) convertible sat right outside my office window. It was hard for me to sit and listen when I’m about to walk over to the post office and see what Amazon Prime had delivered for the Blonde. It was hard for me when my biggest first world problems were, “Where are we going for lunch?”

One of the deacons at this church who was as sensitive as I am told me, “If we gave to everyone who asked we would be sitting on the street corner with a sign ourselves.” I get that and he's right in a lot of ways but, is it okay if my heart still hurts? There are some red letters (I love the red letters) in my Bible that say, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:42).” What if Jesus meant what He said? I love it when God makes it simple.

We don’t qualify those who ask. In other words, if they smell like smoke we don’t ask them why they spent their money on cigarettes, we just give to them. It doesn’t matter if they are a member of a church, we just give to them. Yeah, but preacher, what if they use the money for alcohol or drugs? I don’t know, what if they do? I’m not their mother, I’m just supposed to help.

Listen, I’m not suggesting we are to be poor stewards of God’s money, I’m just asking, what if we took God seriously and what if for a change we actually did what God said to do? What if we did not overthink obedience, kindness and generosity? What if we practiced the Golden Rule and what if we treated everyone with some dignity and respect?

They will always be here (the poor), the question is how do we respond to them.

He told me to tell you that.