There is an intriguing verse in which Jesus is recorded as having said, “The poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7). Upon first looking at this one could ask, “is Jesus being portrayed here as complacent and pessimistic, as saying that no matter what we do we can never abolish poverty”? The verse would initially seem to play into the hands of those who would claim that the world is in terminal decline and can only be redeemed at the end of history. At the very least it would seem to hold a negative view concerning the possibility of ever distributing the wealth of the few among the many.

However there is another way of approaching this verse, one which interprets it as an insightful comment upon the nature of human interaction. Within its context the verse is referring primarily to those without money. However it is important to bare in mind that these individuals will be financially poor, not because they don’t want to work, but because they are excluded from the economic life of the Roman Empire (I would doubt that there was some kind of welfare state). These people would be made up of the elderly, the widowed, the sick, the outcasts, and the political dissidents. So we can think of the people that Jesus is referring to as those who are poor because they are excluded, weak and marginalised. Indeed we can take this a step further and say that, for Jesus, “the poor” directly refers to those who are excluded, weak and marginalised (hence Jesus saying elsewhere about the poor in spirit – a phrase that takes the word poor out of a purely economic realm).

With this in mind we could interpret this saying of Jesus as one that infers, “we will always have the excluded among us”. And indeed this idea makes sense when one acknowledges that every time human beings (as social animals) band together in groups some people will be excluded from those groups. And when one or more of these groups become powerful they will exclude in a more powerful way. Sometimes this exclusion will be explicit and consciously violent (e.g. the Jewish persecution by the Nazis) while at other times it will be implicit and the violence will be hidden (like the implicit violence involved in simply being a Western Consumer). When there are insiders there are always outsiders. Every time an ideological system is formed – a political structure set in place, an economic strategy enacted or a religious group put in power – there will be those who do not fit.

The Christian is the one who always seeks those outside these dominant systems of power (even, or especially, if these systems call themselves Christian). The Christian is the one who privileges those who are marginalised, identifying with the poor in all their manifestations, and seeking to provide them with a voice. The Christian is one who acknowledges that there will be excluded, voiceless people as long as the world is the world. And while they may have a vision beyond vision (no eye having seen) of a realm in which there are no poor, in this world within which we currently have our being what we are called to do is continually prejudice the excluded over the included. The believer is called to always look after the poor and, baring in mind the words of Christ, to never sit back saying, “my job is done, there are no more poor to look after” – if we think that we just aren’t looking hard enough.

Here is a little parable from the book I am currently working on (Dis-courses),

Many centuries ago a small island was attacked by the dictator of a neighboring country, a country with vast resources and a mighty army. Upon landing on the island this army moved with little resistance toward the islands only city. With less than day to decide what action to take the leaders of the island desperately discussed what could be done. They were hugely outnumbered, out resourced and out skilled, so defeat looked inevitable.

The leaders never took a decision without first consulting with their religious Oracle so they approached her small dwelling on the edge of the city, informing her of what was taking place. In response the Oracle spent an entire day in deep mediation before finally coming to the leaders with a heavy heart saying, “I am so very sorry but I have been told that God Himself has joined our enemies and has put all of His power at their disposal”.

This message, as one might expect, sent deep fear and trembling through the heart of the leaders. In response one proclaimed, “We must surrender now and pray that they will have mercy”. Then another responded, “No, let us make ready our fastest ships and set sail with as many people as we can, perhaps we can sneak past their navy while it is dark”. But the chief remained calm through the discussions and finally said, “please trust me, I know what to do, I will bring us through this dark hour”. The chief was well respected by all and so they reluctantly agreed to do what he ordered.

That day he called together all the men of the city who could fight. He then sent those with young children home followed by those who had been married for less than a year. Then he asked that only those who wanted to fight stay. By the end of this process the remaining men numbered less than 1000, a tiny group in comparison to the army they would soon face.

These brave men were then armed and told to march behind their chief toward the encroaching army. That day there was a bloody battle and many lost their lives. But, to everyone’s utter surprise, by the end of the day the dictator’s seemingly impenetrable army had been dealt a devastating blow and turned in retreat.

The entire island was dumbstruck as they heard of how the army had run in fear back to their own land. The Oracle however was more confused than most for she knew what had been kept secret from the people: that God had joined the side of the enemy and fought with them. So the Oracle approached the Chief and said, “how did you know to fight when the odds where impossibly high and God Himself was pitted against you”.

But the chief merely smiled and replied, “your message was the very thing that persuaded me to fight rather than flee. For surely you know that it does not matter in the slightest where God is located in a fight… when God gets involved in a battle the weak and oppressed will always win”.