Part 2 of the Faith+Justice+Lent Series on Luke 4:18-19.
This week’s reflection is written by Jack Underhill, PhD, a volunteer for the FaithJustice Foundations and many other social justice causes. Click here for the full Lenten series.
Part 2 – To Bring Good News to the Poor
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
– Luke 4:18-19
A persistent theme in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is that we should help the poor and be aware of the dangers of being rich. The biblical writers were concerned about inequality and social justice then and we should be concerned about it now. The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, spoke to the poor in the hills and streets. He founded a school for the poor and advocated for sobriety and hard work. Wesley preached that we should gain all we can, save all we can, and give all we can.
“We, as people of faith, both individually and collectively, should join others as vocal advocates for making deep structural changes to create a more just society.”
In the United States, after World War II, poverty dropped dramatically for most Americans and equality of income and wealth increased for three decades. But since the 1970s, the economy slowed down, inequality increased dramatically, and poverty remains high. Since then, most of the income gains have gone to the top 10% of Americans. The bottom 50% of the population earns only 13% of the income and the top one percent earns over 22% of the income. There were 45 million poor people in the United States in 2017. We pride ourselves as the land of opportunity, but only half of those born in the 1980’s surpassed their parents’ income. This is in spite of the fact that our economy has grown since the end of the recession by over four trillion dollars and unemployment is at a 50 year low.
How then can we, as Christians, help the poor? Many local churches do a lot for the poor. At my church, we have mission trips abroad, Appalachian Service Project, hypothermia project for the homeless, Lenten projects, Rise Against Hunger, help to Rising Hope, prison ministry, disaster response, and sandwiches at our satellite campus. The list goes on. These activities provide for needed direct relief for the poor.
But the argument can be made that we, as people of faith, both individually and collectively, should join others as vocal advocates for making deep structural changes to create a more just society. The civil rights movement resulted in such a profound change that it took many generations to accomplish. The United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries supported progressive taxation to more equitable distribute wealth and income across all income brackets. The newly created FaithJustice Foundation has a goal of encouraging the creation of a network of churches to seek social justice. Please support this effort.
“We also need to increase our knowledge of what works and doesn’t work in reducing poverty and disparities and not leave advocacy to the lobbyists for the affluent.”
We should ensure that we welcome all in our church doors, not just the affluent. Nationally, only 26% of the United Methodist Church households have annual incomes less than $30,000 compared to 45% nationally. Some evangelical churches do a much better job of including the poor.
We also need to increase our knowledge of what works and doesn’t work in reducing poverty and disparities of income and not leave advocacy to the lobbyists for the affluent. Our supervisors at the county level and representatives in Congress care what their constituents think. We, as people of faith, need to make our voices heard for social justice. Don’t leave the task to someone else.
Lenten Blessings,
Jack Underhill, PhD
FaithJustice Foundation
Support Our Work
The FaithJustice Foundation is a new nonprofit organization that exists to provide education, training, and resources to local congregations starting or building social justice ministries. You can support our work by making your tax-deductible gift through our fiscal sponsor by clicking on the link below. Thank you for your support!
More Lenten Resources
on Social Justice
Anglican Church of Canada
Less Plastics for Lent Calendar
United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race
Roll Down, Justice! and other Resources
Catholic: Network Lobby
Lent 2019: Recommit to Racial Justice
Riverside Church (UCC)
Podcast: Be Still and Go: Meditations for the Movement
North Carolina Council of Churches
A Time to Mend: A Social Justice Study for Lent (2014)
