The Jews knew they were supposed to observe Sabbath. They observed the seventh day. Sometimes they observed the seventh year, but biblical historians will tell us never once did Jews observe the year of Jubilee. They were Sabbath breakers.

The 61st chapter of Isaiah says this: “You people who never observed the Sabbath year—the year of Jubilee; when the Messiah comes, the Messiah will institute the Jubilee. You will know who the Messiah is, not because he performs miracles, you will know who the Messiah is because he will declare the Jubilee.”

Let’s move ahead to the fourth chapter of Luke. Jesus returns to His hometown, Nazareth. I’m sure the synagogue was packed that Friday night. Everybody He’s ever known growing up is there. He asks for the Scriptures. He opens the Bible. And what does He open it to? The 61st chapter of Isaiah. Now please understand, they knew their Bible in those days. They knew whoever declared the Jubilee was simultaneously declaring himself the Messiah—the Son of God.

He starts to read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has called upon me to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind, deliverance to the captives; to heal the brokenhearted. He has called upon me to declare the acceptable year of our Lord.”

The crowd is shocked. He sits down. The Bible says the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were upon Him. Do you understand why?

You say, “All He did was read the Scripture.” They knew it was more than that. They’re staring at Him because they knew whoever declared the Jubilee was calling himself the Messiah—the Son of God.

And then He says, “This day, this Scripture is fulfilled in your eyes.” It’s as though He was saying, “In case you didn’t get it folks, I’m it.”

By the time He finishes, they’re mad. They drag Him to the edge of town and they’re going to throw Him over the edge of a cliff. And then there’s this incredible scene where Jesus turns on the mob. He just turns and stares down the crowd. He walks straight at this angry mob, and as He does, can’t you see them just split?

Jesus came to declare the Jubilee. Jesus came with good news for the poor.

Please understand that there are a lot of issues to be raised. And the evangelicals have raised the abortion issue as it should be raised. But we’ve got to remember what Jesus says about abortion. Well, He doesn’t say anything. Well, what about homosexuality? That’s a big issue. What does He say about that? He doesn’t say anything about that either. Not that He didn’t know about these things, they just weren’t on His big ten hit list. Number one on His big ten hit list of sins were religious people who go around condemning everybody else—who condemn the gays—who condemn women who are frightened and don’t know where to go and have abortions. That’s who He condemns. He understands more than we understand. Not that He’s not against these things. I’m just saying, these are not His big ten.

The thing that really concerns Him is poverty. Is that not true? There are 2,000 verses in Scripture where we are called upon to respond to the needs of the poor. It’s funny the way we ignore that one. In fact, the only description Jesus gives of Judgment Day is in how we’ve responded to the poor.

I wish it were theological. I mean, I wish He would give me a theological test on Judgment Day, ‘cause if He did, I’m in. I’m what they call Orthodox Evangelical. I believe the Bible from cover to cover. I even believe the leather is genuine!

I just wish He would ask some theological questions, like, “Campolo, before we let you in .... The virgin birth—strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree—checkmark.” If they were the questions—I’m in. They’re not the questions. The questions are: “I was hungry—did you feed Me? Naked—did you clothe Me? Sick—did you care for Me? I was the stranger, the alien—did you take Me in?

You say, “It sounds like works salvation.” No. You’re saved because you have a personal relationship with Jesus. Having said that, what Jesus is saying is, “You can’t have a personal relationship with Me without having a personal relationship with the poor." You can’t love God without loving the poor. You can’t be connected to Jesus without being connected to the poor.

Saint Francis of Assisi said that the poor are sacramental. When you confront the poor, the same Jesus who died on the cross for you, the same Jesus who was resurrected and is coming again—that same Jesus mystically comes through the poor to you. It doesn’t make them Christians. They just become vehicles, sacramental vehicles, by which you encounter Jesus. That’s why when you reject the poor you are rejecting Jesus, because Jesus comes to you through the poor. You see, if He came to you any other way, you wouldn’t be able to do anything for Him.

So the Eternal Christ, the Lord of Lords, the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the wealth in every mine—that same Jesus says, “I will present Myself to you in a way that you can serve Me. I will wrap Myself up in poor people and whatever you do to them, you do to Me.”

Please grasp this. I worry about the Seventh-day Adventists. I travel in your circles, and you’re all getting rich. And you think that this tithing thing you do is going to get you off the hook. Why don’t you change the hymnbook? I’ve seen your hymnbook. Why don’t you change it? Why don’t you rewrite it so it says, “One-tenth to Jesus, I surrender. One-tenth to Him I gladly give.” All together on the chorus, “I surrender one-tenth … .”

Listen to me. When Jesus calls a man, when Jesus calls a woman, says Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “He bids him come and die.”

We spend all kinds of money on buildings to honor somebody who says, “I dwell not in temples made with hands.” If Jesus has a choice between a stained glass window and feeding some starving kids in Haiti, what do you think He would do with the money? You know what He would do.

We put an embargo on Iraq. The Red Cross tells us that a half-million children, under the age of 12, died as a direct result of that embargo. How could we, as Christians, stand by and let that happen? We should have mortgaged our buildings and forgotten the government. The church knows that if your enemy hungers, you do what? You feed him. If he’s naked, you clothe him. And if he’s sick, you minister to him. Doesn’t it say that? You say, “You don’t bring down dictators that way.” That’s exactly how you bring them down. According to Scripture, “For in so doing, you heap coals of fire … .”

You can’t kill off a half-million children and expect them to cheer you when you march into town. What if we had done the right thing? Would it have not changed the attitude of the entire country toward America? It’s as Chesterton said, “It’s not that Christianity has been tried and failed. It’s that Christianity has not yet been tried.”

We have to start living according to the Bible. We have to start living according to biblical truth. We have to become the peacemakers, and we have to start doing things God’s way. This is crucial to see. “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to Me.”

Keynote address by Tony Campolo at the first International Conference on Adventists in the Community, held October 14–16, 2004, at the General Conference. Printed with permission. Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania, the author of 32 books, and founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education.