whenever you wish
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.
Mark 14:7
I've written a few times about AECH and its plans to create a transitional facility for homeless people in Wichita.
One of the obstacles we face is the perception that homelessness is a permanent problem, and that there's nothing we can do about it. Some people even quote the words of Jesus, "You will always have the poor with you," as an excuse for not doing anything.
But in context, it's clear that Jesus was not saying we can't do anything. In fact, he was saying just the opposite.
Labels: homeless
posted by BruceA @ 3:55 PM
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3 Comments:
The title of your post reminds me of one my favorite movies "The Princess Bride." One of the key lines in the movie that Westley says to Princess Buttercup is "as you wish." It really means I love you. When Jesus says we can reach out to the poor whenever we wish maybe he is really saying there is no greater act of love then to give of oneself to make someone elses life a little better. The poor will always be with us so our work of sharing the love of Christ is never done.
When I pastored a church in an intown neighborhood of Atlanta the biggest obstacle we had to any program we wanted to start for the homeless was the NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard).
Grrrr...Jesus wasn't asking us to fulfill that as some sort of horrid command, but you already know that.
That scripture quote is in the context of lavishing love on the Son of God, for heaven's sake!
Helllloooo.
Anyhow, I certainly agree on the boneheadedness of using the quote in that way. Grrrr.
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