12 Service: Kinship

<p>We would have to ignore large portions of Scripture to avoid God’s concern for the poor and his desire for his people to care for them. In the first century, the poor or “the needy” would have included widows, orphans, or those in prison.Today, this could be children in the foster care system, a single parent, the sick, the elderly on a fixed income, or refugees. While our societal order often overlooks these individuals and keeps them on the margins, Jesus’ order — or the Kingdom of Heaven — moves them toward equal ground at the center. Jesus so identifies with and cares for the poor that, to follow him, means we must also brush shoulders with the needy. And more than that, we must see in them a brother and a sister.This is what distinguishes service in the way of Jesus: we are invited beyond charity from afar into love up close; to leave ourselves open to the reality that service may not only turn strangers into neighbors but into family. This is the dignifying destination that true service leads us toward — kinship.Teacher: Caleb SprinkleText: Various</p>