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Problem here with definitions. What is middle class and what is poverty? As you might expect, there are disagreements. Liz Pulliam Weston on MSNBC cautions us even to talk about money. She says, "Write about poverty, affluence, whether the middle class is disappearing and if so, whose fault it is . . . and people go berserk." On the same MSNBC John W. Schoen writes "When politicians, economists, academics and journalists try to assess the current economic status of the "American middle class," the debate often begins with a question that some concede is all but impossible to answer: Who, exactly, is middle class in America today?"
I shall have to assume, as do most, that data aside, being middle class in America today appears to be mostly a state of mind. Poverty itself is another issue. I welcome your comments on both.
My primary concern is how to approach the teaching of our Lord Jesus and apply it to our own lives. In the week before His crucifixion he was dining at the home of a certain Simon the leper. His leprosy had evidently been cured, most likely by Jesus (Mark 14:1-9). The practice among the afluent was to recline on couches around the table, with your upper body raised next to the table. A certain woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard. It was very costly. In our terms that amount of ointment would be worth thousands of dollars. The Apostle John says this woman was Mary and that when she poured out the perfume the house was filled with its fragrance (John 12:1-3).
Judas, treasurer for the 12 apostles, scolded Mary for such waste. He claimed that the ointment could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor. The working man in those days made about one denarius a day. So what does a working man make in our day? That depends, of course, on his skill and experience. Lets round it out to $10/hour and multiply that by a ten hour day so that you have a denarius worth about $100. 100 x 300 = $30,000, a rather amazing sum of money. Judas had no intention of giving the money to the poor, of course. He had his eye on keeping the money for himself. He later sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. These were likely silver Shekels (denarii) of Tyre, the only currency accepted at the Jerusalem Temple. Using my estimate, Judas received about $3,000, more or less.
What I'm getting at in all of this is Jesus' comment about the poor. He said, "Leave her alone, she intended to keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me" (John 12:7-8).
In the OT we hear from Moses, "For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land' (Deuteronomy 15:11).
I wish it were otherwise, but it is not. Poverty is endemic to life in our nation and, for that matter, throughout the world. The reasons are multiple. Moses gave some practical counsel about how to deal with that problem. We who follow Jesus will do well to listen to that and to other guidance in the Bible as we seek to help those who are in need. Ultimately, however, we are aware that this is a sinful, fallen world. It is a world full of people who steal, lie, cheat, deceive and take from rich and poor alike. It is also a world of lazy, indolent, shiftless people who will not assume responsibility for themselves and others. It is a world in which people get caught up in drugs and alcohol, gambling and foolish waste. And it is a world of people without the knowledge and education to earn a living. Whatever the causes, we know that we will always have the poor with us.
I shall have to assume, as do most, that data aside, being middle class in America today appears to be mostly a state of mind. Poverty itself is another issue. I welcome your comments on both.
My primary concern is how to approach the teaching of our Lord Jesus and apply it to our own lives. In the week before His crucifixion he was dining at the home of a certain Simon the leper. His leprosy had evidently been cured, most likely by Jesus (Mark 14:1-9). The practice among the afluent was to recline on couches around the table, with your upper body raised next to the table. A certain woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard. It was very costly. In our terms that amount of ointment would be worth thousands of dollars. The Apostle John says this woman was Mary and that when she poured out the perfume the house was filled with its fragrance (John 12:1-3).
Judas, treasurer for the 12 apostles, scolded Mary for such waste. He claimed that the ointment could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor. The working man in those days made about one denarius a day. So what does a working man make in our day? That depends, of course, on his skill and experience. Lets round it out to $10/hour and multiply that by a ten hour day so that you have a denarius worth about $100. 100 x 300 = $30,000, a rather amazing sum of money. Judas had no intention of giving the money to the poor, of course. He had his eye on keeping the money for himself. He later sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. These were likely silver Shekels (denarii) of Tyre, the only currency accepted at the Jerusalem Temple. Using my estimate, Judas received about $3,000, more or less.
What I'm getting at in all of this is Jesus' comment about the poor. He said, "Leave her alone, she intended to keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me" (John 12:7-8).
In the OT we hear from Moses, "For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land' (Deuteronomy 15:11).
I wish it were otherwise, but it is not. Poverty is endemic to life in our nation and, for that matter, throughout the world. The reasons are multiple. Moses gave some practical counsel about how to deal with that problem. We who follow Jesus will do well to listen to that and to other guidance in the Bible as we seek to help those who are in need. Ultimately, however, we are aware that this is a sinful, fallen world. It is a world full of people who steal, lie, cheat, deceive and take from rich and poor alike. It is also a world of lazy, indolent, shiftless people who will not assume responsibility for themselves and others. It is a world in which people get caught up in drugs and alcohol, gambling and foolish waste. And it is a world of people without the knowledge and education to earn a living. Whatever the causes, we know that we will always have the poor with us.
In the USA we don't know what "poor" really is until one lives in a so-called third-world country, as we experienced in Africa in the 1950s and 9l60s. . Those who are labelled "poor' in our nation would be considered above "middle class" in many places in our world today.
ReplyDeleteAmong the "poor" in our country and in other places in the world are those of whom the apostle Paul says, "if any WOULD NOT work, neither should he eat" . My Dad always quoted that verse when, as a kid, my other 7 siblings and I didn't feel like working in the garden, cleaning the chicken coop, or shoveling out the stuff in the barn.
.... harold h.
The "would not" workers are the ones I refer to in the final paragraph.
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