Blessed are the Poor

James 2: 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

I first met George Baldwin in the 1980’s when I was in Seminary at Drew Theological School in Madison NJ. At that time in his life he was living in Nicaragua with a farm co-op. Because he as American and spoke good English he had been sent to lobby congress to stop funding the Contras in their terrorist war against the people of Nicaragua. While he was in the area he toured the local seminaries telling his story of life and ministry.

Rev. Baldwin had been raised in Montana and served in local churches there for a few years before going on to teach at the seminary level. A spiritual crisis hit him in his midlife and he began to see that his faith and his life were not in harmony. He decided that he needed to be the rich young ruler who sold all his possessions and gave them to the poor. So he moved to live and work with the poor of Central America.

"It’s easy being a Christian in Nicaragua. It’s up here in the U.S. where it is hard. In Nicaragua no one has much of anything and what they do have they share freely with their neighbors. It is only up in North America that we are so protective of our wealth that we can’t live into the Kingdom of God."

Luke 6:20 20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.