Wealth and Poverty in Christianity

This sermon was preached at the 2019 Easter Vigil Service held by All Saints and San Andres Church in Brooklyn.  “Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery, I will rise up, says the Lord.” This line happens to be from Psalm 12, but really, it could be from almost any book of Bible. The sentiment is woven throughout the Old and New Testaments because over and over again we hear God expressing a special love, a protective concern for the poor, the outcast, the refugee, the widow, the orphan -- the people, in other words, who have always been pushed to the edges of society. Now, I have to admit that I particularly love the King James Version of this line which reads, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, saith the Lord; I will keep him in safety from him who puffeth at him.” There’s a lot there, obviously, but it’s Easter so let me focus only on when God says “I will rise up.” ---- "Porque los indefensos están oprimidos...