October 7th Worship: Scriptural Speed-bumps – “You always have the poor…”
Once again Jesus, by his own words, seems to be cold and inconsiderate. Countless generations of Christians have wrestled with the implications of Jesus’ words here in Matthew. Was Jesus telling us that there will always be poor people, and we just need to accept that? Perhaps this text makes us despair that the suffering of the poor may be a permanent part of our reality. This Sunday, at 9:30 and 11:00 am, we search with hearts attuned to the suffering of the poor and seek God’s truth about a text that often trips up mission work in the Church. Perhaps the truth will stun us, and force us to change the way we understand, and live out our faith.