Jesus is all about the poor

We all have our reasons for not reaching out to the poor and oppressed, "I'm not called to that ministry", "rich ppl. need Jesus too", or "I can't relate to them". I grew up in a church that at its roots took Mathew 25 very seriously "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matt 24:40). For some reason (and I have heard many) my church in many ways has moved away from this very basic calling. I believe strongly that if we are not helping the poor and the oppressed we are not fulfilling one of the greatest callings we have as followers of Christ. In an interview on the hour which Martin (my brother in-law) directed me to Rev. Tony Campolo stated that "there are 2000 verses [in the Bible] that talk about the poor, I don't care what else your into if you ignore what the Bible is really about you have misread the message of Jesus." Tony Campolo was stressing the words of Jesus in Mathew 25. I am not a turn or burn kind of a guy but I know one thing I don't want to stand before God and get this response, "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' (Mathew 25: 41-43) Jesus is all about Social Justice and clearly calls us to a ministry with the poor and the oppressed, if we are honest with ourselves we know that if we don't help the poor no one else will.