Our call as churches to generous, creative ministry with the poor
By: New Wine
Tags: Christianity, Giving, Church, Urban, Stories

“You will always have the poor among you…” said Jesus as he responded to those who criticised the ‘waste’ of the expensive perfume used by Mary to anoint him at Bethany (John 12:8 and Matthew 26:11). What are we to make of these words? What do they say to those people working in the neediest and poorest communities?

You might well think that if the poor are always going to be with us then what is the point of trying to eliminate poverty? We’ll never succeed, so why not invest our time into something where we can succeed? However, if you know the Jewish scriptures, you’ll recognise the verse from Deuteronomy (15:11) that Jesus would have known well and was probably quoting, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be open-handed toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” As a well-known saying, Jesus would not have needed to give the full quotation. The first phrase was enough for his hearers to know he was referencing the whole saying. It also suggests that Jesus saw Mary’s extravagance as an expression of her open-handed devotion to Jesus. Like many poor people drawn to Jesus, she had found help, value and significance — and was grateful. Jesus used her to teach the rich onlookers, just as he continues to use the poor to teach the rich — if they will listen.

What Deuteronomy 15:11 shows is that, rather than a reason for despair, the fact that there will always be poor people among us is a reason for the necessity of generosity. The previous verse makes it even clearer, with generosity flowing from an appropriate attitude, “Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” The principles are clear. Firstly, God’s people are called to generous action to tackle poverty. Open-hearted generosity to the poor is to be a characteristic of God’s people. As the early church wrestled with all kinds of tricky issues about what of the Jewish law should apply to new non-Jewish believers, the key requirement was to ‘remember the poor’ (Galatians 2:10). Secondly, God will bless those who bless others. He will put resources into hands which are open to others. And that is the experience of many urban churches working with and for the poor — as we seek to bless the poorest, so God provides for that ministry, often in amazing and unexpected ways.

Nevertheless, Jesus words at Bethany still niggle somewhat. With the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, and the coming of God’s shalom in all its fullness, surely we ought to be able to ‘make poverty history’ (to quote the campaign from 2005-6)? Such it seems was the experience of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. Acts 4:34–35 tells us that ‘There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.’ Acts of open-handed generosity meant that no one in the church was in need. So, if it could happen in Jerusalem in those early years of the church, why not now?

Well, first there were still other needy people in Jerusalem, just as there are in our communities today. Even though the Jerusalem church looked after it’s poorer members, Acts 5 tells of the many sick people who were in the city and how they were brought near the apostles for healing. This is what many of us experience. As we offer generous, open-handed ministry in Jesus’ name, so the poor and needy are attracted to what they see of Jesus in us. In that sense, the poor are always with us, because they seek us out. When broken lives are transformed and healed, when those who have felt marginalised find value and significance and become participants and contributors, then others see these effects and want that experience for themselves.

Secondly, it soon became clear that the Jerusalem church could not sustain its position of having no needy people among them. The apostle Paul took money from the church in Antioch to them (Acts 11:29) and later worked tirelessly to collect money from the churches he had planted to take to the church in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8–9; Romans 15:25–27). While things were hard in Jerusalem, partly because of famine (Acts 11:28), the fact that church members had sold assets meant that they no longer had these resources to draw on. The Jerusalem church needed to be propped up financially from outside.

This, too, is the experience of many urban churches. Denominational structures redistribute money to support and enable ministry which churches in less prosperous areas could not afford on their own. Making grant applications is a common and time-consuming task. There is a danger, however, of ‘the one who pays the piper calling the tune’, rather than allowing poorer urban churches to determine their own priorities and methods. It is a consistent challenge, for example, to develop indigenous leaders from disadvantaged backgrounds who will be externally recognised and authorised. Similarly, expectations have been strong that proven (and unproven!) models of worship, discipleship and mission from wealthier areas can and should be transplanted into more deprived urban contexts.

If the poor will always be among us, then ministry with the poor is not going away, and we need to keep getting better at it. As denominational resources become more stretched, so greater creativity is being encouraged in seeking new and more sustainable approaches to church life in poorer areas. For example, in the Church of England, Strategic Development Funding is being channelled through a number of urban churches linked with New Wine. This is recognising their proven track record of fruitful ministry in poor areas, and their creative, missional thinking. The funding is to increase the scale, scope and reach of their work, and help replicate sustainable ministry in other urban contexts.

If you’re involved in such a project, please let me know, as I’m trying to pull together an overall picture of how New Wine-linked urban churches are involved in such nationally funded initiatives.

I am grateful for all that New Wine does to ‘remember the poor’, and the honoured place granted to ministry with the poor. The New Wine Urban Network is there to encourage, envision and equip those involved in leading churches and in mission in the least advantaged communities. The New Wine Urban Forums happening soon aim to do just that. We’re looking forward to practical down-to-earth teaching from Chris Lane and other experienced urban church leaders, meeting with God as we worship, and learning from and ministering to others who share the same joys and challenges. I hope to see you at one of them.

Andy Jolley is Archdeacon of Bradford and New Wine’s Head of Urban Ministry. Email him at andy.jolley@leeds.anglican.org

Andy is hosting the Urban Forum: North in Bradford (16–17 October) and Urban Forum: South West in Bristol (12–13 November). These two-day forums seek to support, envision and equip urban leaders and disciples, enabling them to make a sustained impact for the Kingdom.

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