| Poverty is everyone's burden By Pierre L. Williams Jesus said, The poor you will always have with you. However, the church of today is called to address poverty in all its forms. Poverty exists when people and institutions lack the resources they need to fulfill their God-given responsibilities. A person or family might not have money, but they may also lack skills, healthy habits and opportunities to succeed. Poverty can never be a secondary concern for Christians because it strikes at the heart of what it means for people to be created in the image of God. Poverty should not be reduced simply to a spiritual failure on the part of society. Deep spiritual problems manifest themselves in highly complex social structures. The starting point for a Christian understanding of these structures is the biblical message that God is the sovereign creator and sustainer of all things. In examining poverty, it is important to note that poverty is integrally linked to the proper functioning of the many components of society. No person or office in our society can exempt itself from fighting poverty. Each has a unique and important contribution to make. Within contemporary American society, the state has a distinct, and limited, responsibility before God. In the Old Testament this task is frequently described as doing justice (Psalms 72, 82). A central function of government is to set out a public legal order that can serve to integrate all social institutions into one society that embraces justice. In relationship to the poor, government ought to ensure that a satisfactory supply of housing, food, clothing and income is accessible to the needy; it should empower the initiative and exercise of responsibility by poor people, institutions, and neighborhoods; and government should promote initiatives that help business, unions, and other groups to create employment for the poor. The church that Jesus founded is an extension of the Incarnation. It is through the churchs mission and ministry that Gods will is to be done on earth. The ministry of Jesus is to be viewed as comprehensive and holistic. Jesus looked at the entire person and individual relationships with others. However, he also had a concern for human welfare that reached beyond the interpersonal to the systemic. His was a public ministry. He opposed systems of power that were dehumanizing, and while his ministry included the least of these, he also challenged the greatest of these whenever humans were being mistreated. Following Jesus, we too are called to social, holistic ministry, such as the Bishops Initiative on Children and Poverty. Jesus startling message in Luke 4 that the year of the Lords favor included good news for the poor is a wonderful, third-millennium challenge for todays church. Some Christians may respond to this challenge with hopelessness because of the immense scope and gravity of poverty in the United States and around the world. We need to remember, however, that Jesus also said, today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In Jesus Christ, the ultimate victory over sin and evil has already been won. The Holy Spirit is beckoning and empowering us to be faithful and work to overcome poverty. The Rev. Pierre L. Williams is the founder and executive director for the Sanctuary of Hope Homeless Outreach Program and the associate pastor of the New Zion Center of Hope UMC in Ellicott City. | 
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