This convention has broken through to me with things I've seen coming for a while now. Jesus is in the poor. It isn't even about abandoning political ideas or theology to reach them either. It's about recognizing a brother or sister in need and being Christ to them. And the great thing is, in turn they will be Christ to us. The "theologia crucis" says Jesus, God, is the embodiment of pain and tragedy. He is right there. Sometimes I've looked at serving and salvation as mutually exclusive. But I was wrong, we serve because we are saved, and they are so very closely connected.
Going back to that story in Genesis 22 of Abraham and Isaac, we see that on the mount of Yahweh it will be seen through. At the cross God did see it through and He continues to see it through/provide by His church today. At the end all suffering will cease, and what a time we should pray for daily. When people in their despair feel God is so far away we get to show them He is right there in the midst of it all.
Although, and especially in today's unfortunate context, we even see kids and adults in suburbia who deal with real life issues. Divorce rate in and outside the church is pretty much the same (50%), drugs are rampantly used in the whitest of white boy towns, sexual pressures (hetero and GLBT) are thrown around everywhere, and there are girls out there who may feel abortion is necessary because they've never been loved. Where is the church in all of this? The church needs to be right in the midst of it all telling the heterosexual struggling they are loved because Jesus is there. The church needs to be right in the midst of the struggles in the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender community giving them love because that is where Jesus is. The church needs to be holding the hand of a girl who feels her only option is abortion because she is too scared to think of what lies ahead, because Jesus is right there. For the addicted and the afflicted the church needs to stop with the fear and embrace those who seek help. There is a lot of "help" being offered out there in the world, and if we believe what we do then why wouldn't we be out there extending a hand and saying "follow me?" That's what Jesus did. And Jesus is ever so present in the lives of the poor and oppressed. But unfortunately it all seems so distant and is not in our face. St. Paul talks about entertaining angels and how we should treat everyone we meet with love. For how long has the church been treating angels as lepers instead?
Poverty and disease is something we all suffer with. It's just that sometimes we see it as separate. Maybe if we had true compassion (latin-to suffer with) we could fearlessly hit the streets with the cross. When a brother or sister suffers we all do and if we are God's people we need to be where God is present. We get to be where God is present. This is not Law, this is all Gospel. Take heed to the angels pleas, "Be not afraid!"
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