"Only the poorest people of the land were left." - 2 Kings 24:14
The happiest person in my high school class of just over 400 students was the poorest one of them all.
Furthermore, she had no network of friends that any of us could tell. She had no outward beauty. She had no athletic skills. She was definitely not a leading student. She wasn't musical or artistic. I trust you'd assume that her clothes were clothes of the poor--clean, but worn out.
I'm ashamed to say that I really don't know exactly what she believed, but I do know she always went to church.
And I do know that I heard God's voice in my ear and I felt God's hand touch my heart when, everyday, she would walk towards me, smile at me (with her buck teeth and all), and say, "Hi, Chris!"
The day we graduated, she came to me with her greasy hair, plain face, and what looked as always like a bed sheet dress, and she thanked me for being her best friend.
I felt like the richest young man in the world...
...because the happiest person in my high school class of just over 400 students considered me to be her best friend.
I'm pretty sure that all I ever did to earn that honor was smile at her, greet her, and call her by name.
As I recall it, such honoring was modeled by my mom and dad. Though mom lives six hours away and my dad died in March, I'm guessing my mom still speaks to everyone, especially the poor.
I remember mom taking me to a nursing home to visit people. I remember visiting a shack in the mountains that was filled with "pets" and their food and their waste; it was disgusting; and yet my mom kept her eyes on the people and talked to them, and in so doing encouraged me to do the same.
God does special things through the poor.
Maybe it's because the poor have nothing special except God.
In today's Bible reading, the foreign king, Nebuchadnezzar, took Jehoiachin, the king of "God's people", and all the leading citizens and all the treasure to Babylon so that "Only the poorest people of the land were left." (2 Kings 24:14)
Maybe it's because the poor have nothing special except God that God chose to start creation with poor people, to start a nation with poor people, to save the world from sin with a poor man, to tell the world of its salvation through a man who became poor, and to tell all who would listen, "Blessed are not just the poor in spirit" (Gospel of Matthew) but also "Blessed are the poor" (Gospel of Luke).
The happiest person in my high school class of just over 400 students was the poorest one of them all.
Think about it.
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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