Responding to Suffering and Need
A Bible Study in Matthew 25
by Jeff Barneson
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It is nearly impossible to live, work, and study in modern America without being confronted by the suffering and needs of the poor. Whether in urban or rural environments (or merely through the media), we regularly come face to face with people who are homeless or hungry, ill-clothed or in distress.
When we turn on the television we are exposed to countless millions of persons who face even more desperate conditions on every continent of the globe.
In 1986 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops drafted a document titled, Economic Justice for All. In it they identified several principles of a just economy. Probably the most memorable phrase which came from that document is "the preferential option for the poor."In brief, that phrase means that we ought to evaluate economic systems from the perspective of those at the "bottom" rather than those at the "top." |
The Scripture and Background
Read Matthew 25:31-46. Here are some of the facts:
The nations are gathered before God for judgment.
Christ is somehow hidden in the poor. Neither the persons who help them nor those who neglect them are able to recognize him.
Perhaps the most striking thing about this passage is that the judgment which God pronounces is based solely upon people's response to the poor, naked, and hungry.
Issues Raised
How is Christ present in the poor and broken?
In what sense is our service to "the least of these brothers" to be considered service to Jesus: literally, symbolically, mysteriously?
How would we bear up to the judgment individually? as a society? as a university? as a fellowship?
Discussion Questions
What is your response when confronted by persons seeking spare change? What do you feel inside? Do you give always? Never? How do you decide?
How does life in business school encourage or discourage (or both) our understanding of and response to people who are poor and economically marginalized?
Is it possible for us, as we are encouraged to do by the Catholic Bishops, to view issues from the perspective of the poor and powerless? How?
Another passage allows us to measure objectively our love for God by measuring our response to the needs of those who are without resources:
"We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us Ñ and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." (1 John 3:16-18).
Given the constraints we face in business school, what does it mean to "lay down our lives for our brothers"?
Note: This study is intended to be followed by the two-part Bible study, Money & Lifestyle.
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