Lent
April 7, 2019
Scripture Reading: John 12:1-8
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ –John 12:4-8
I am sure the four gospels do not contain quotes of all the wisdom Jesus shared. The last sentence of the scripture above is one that I, at times, wished had not made it into the record books. It, like many other scriptures, when taken out of context provides a foundation for some dubious theology, including bad attitudes toward the poor. Jesus is talking about priorities at any moment in time and at that time and in that moment the woman’s ministry to Jesus was the appropriate priority.
The phrase, You always have the poor with you, is an observation of society not an acceptable way of being. I guess if there are differences in income levels the statement always applies. The concern is not that some earn more income than others; the concern is whether there are people who do not have incomes adequate to meet their most basic needs. In modern language we call that a living wage for those who work or its equivalent for those who are aged or disabled to the extent they cannot work*.
In the 1960’s the US federal government developed a measure of what is enough to meet basic needs and called it the poverty level. It was based on the discerned cost of food multiplied by three to cover the cost of clothing, food, shelter and so forth. At the time it was a positive move to address poverty. Time and cultural changes have long since rendered it to be an impractical means of measuring what is adequate. Finding a better means of defining what is enough over the last fifty years has become a political football and resulted in odd practices to offset its limitations. For example, food stamp eligibility is based on 33% of the poverty level. The current minimum wage is below the poverty level even for a single person.
In 2017 the poverty rate for Oklahoma was 15.8%** of the total population. While Jesus recognized the disparities in incomes in our scripture today, he commanded us to make sure that people had enough to eat, safe water to drink, clothing to wear, and health care. We have a lot of work to do.
Prayer: Lord, bring us together as the Body of Christ working in the world until those who are designated as poor have incomes that are high enough to meet their basic needs. Amen.
*For more information on the concept of a living wage see http://livingwage.mit.edu/
**https://okpolicy.org/new-census-data-shows-that-oklahoma-fell-further-behind-the-u-s-on-poverty-and-uninsured-rate-for-second-consecutive-year/