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Ending Poverty

Ordinary Time (Second Section)Sustainable Development and Global Goals Week 42 · Day 1

Scripture References

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Old Testament

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

⁷ If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother;
⁸ but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks.
⁹ Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing; and he cry to the LORD against you, and it be sin to you.

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¹⁰ You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because it is for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you put your hand to.
¹¹ For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.

New Testament

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹ “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
³² Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
³³ He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

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³⁴ Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.
³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?
³⁸ When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?
³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
⁴¹ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
⁴² for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;
⁴³ I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
⁴⁴ “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
⁴⁵ “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
⁴⁶ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Thought for the Day

In Deuteronomy, the poverty of a neighbour is treated not as an unfortunate statistic but as a moment of moral truth. God speaks about a hand that closes and a heart that hardens. He forbids the little calculations by which we talk ourselves out of mercy: the calendar is unfavourable; the need is inconvenient; the person is not quite our responsibility.

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Then Jesus places the poor at the centre of the last great assize. The Son of Man comes in glory, and his judgement turns on bread and water, welcome and clothing, attention and care. What is startling is not that God values the vulnerable, but that Christ so identifies with them that service rendered to the hungry becomes service rendered to him.

This is not a call to saviour-complex or to sentimental guilt. It is an invitation to truthfulness. Poverty is what happens when doors close: doors of employment, doors of protection, doors of patience, doors of fellowship. The gospel opens doors. It teaches us to see the person before the problem.

So let our prayers become an open hand. Let our giving become ungrudging. And let our public hopes be neighbour-shaped: that those who are poor might be met, named, and treated as people with faces, histories, and dignity, not as burdens to be managed.

Prayer Points

Respond

Soften our hearts where need has become background noise; make us attentive again.
Give daily bread, stable shelter, and fair provision for those living with scarcity and fear.
Strengthen those who serve the poor in charities and public services with wisdom, steadiness, and compassion.

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Guard communities from contempt and blame; cultivate policies and habits that protect the vulnerable.
Make your Church generous without pride, and practical without hardness, as we learn the mercy of Christ.

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