The Least of These

Nancy Ortberg (former teaching pastor at Willow) has a great little article TCW answering the question, "In Matthew 26, Jesus says the poor will always be with us. Does that mean efforts to wipe out poverty are pointless?"

Throughout the gospels, Jesus speaks more about serving the poor than he does about what it means to be born again. He talks more about our response to the poor than he does about prayer. Jesus' reference to the poor in Matthew 26:11 comes on the heels of his final sermon in Matthew 25. He finishes his discourse with the story of how the King separates the sheep (believers) from the goats (unbelievers); his criteria is how well they cared for him when he was poor and needy.

For the rest, check out the link in the title.