Ministry to the poor
1. God has ordained that there be the poor
2. The Gospel, The Kingdom breaking through
3. Commanded
4. In daily life
5. Engaging people
6. Motivation
7. Blessing
8. Practical
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Part 8: Practical
Part 8: Practical
Practical
Questions:
Where do we learn how to minister to the poor and destitute in a
practical way?
Reading:
Now the question
is, “How do I live this out in a practical way?” We discover the answer to this
question together as a body of Christ. Christ said that the world will know
that we are His by how we love one another. We live out the truths of scripture
together. We question and we listen and we share what God has taught us. We
encourage and challenge each other to keep pressing into the Gospel and God’s
Word. And we seek God together. And we
have a God, who is walking along side us, helping us to be the church. More
than helping, He leads the church. And He will lead us into practical ways to
serve the poor and downtrodden.
Scripture reading:
2 Timothy 3:16,17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the
man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Questions:
What
are some practical ways you can apply these lessons to your own life?
How
can you encourage these lessons in others?
How
does your life need to change to live these principles?
Who are some people in your daily life that you can minister
too? In your everyday life is God providing opportunities to minister to the
poor?
What is available in your neighborhood? What opportunities are there?
Part 7: Blessing
Part 7: Blessing
Blessing
Questions:
Have you found ministering to the poor in your life a hard thing and a
burden or has it been a joy and a delight and made you feel free? Why or why
not?
Reading:
In Acts 20, Paul leaves this thought to those he
has ministered among, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in
this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he
himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
God has promised a blessing to those who serve others in Christ. Those who get
this are generous in their service and giving. They get that the things of this
world are wearing away like an old cloth, but the things of the Kingdom and its
treasures never fade away. God offers us life and life abundantly. He offers us
joy to the full. He offers us the desires of our hearts. As we surrender our
lives and our hearts and our minds into His loving care, we are blessed. Jesus
doesn’t promise a fantasy world. He doesn’t promise homes or comfort. His
commands may seem hard in our flesh, but His commands are always for our good
and for our blessing and to increase our joy in Him. He offers something so
much more valuable than worldly possessions. Do we trust Him, who feeds the
ravens and clothes the lilies of the field? Do we trust His love? Are we
willing to step out in the adventure that He has laid before us? Do we trust
His embrace and His love for us? He is God and He is mighty. He will not let us
down. He will not choose second best for us.
Paul did not have
easy. He suffered. He had the burden of loving the churches he had helped to
start. But Paul had joy and he had it immensely. And he daily was ready to pour
out his life for the Gospel. Paul before His death wrote, “For I am already
being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also
to all who have loved his appearing.” Paul didn’t just see this just as a
future blessing, but it was a part of what God was doing in His life day to
day. He knew he was loved by God.
We are caught up in the most romantic love story – the
Gospel. It is a part of our day to day life. It is a joy and a blessing to be a
part of it. It is a joy and a blessing to be able to pour our lives out daily
as a drink offering as we follow Christ, our Beloved. . . .
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
Acts 20:35
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must
help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Proverbs 14:21b
blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
Questions:
Jesus didn’t do anything without the Father, where is God going in your
environment? What are the blessings of following Jesus?
Do you believe ministering to the poor is a blessing, or is it a
burden?
How is the interaction between the poor and rich a blessing?
In what ways is ministering to the poor a blessing for us for you?
Resources:
Part 6: Motivation
Part 6: Motivation
Motivation
Questions:
What is the scriptural motivation for mercy and social justice?
What things prevent you from being merciful?
Reading:
We
want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given
among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their
abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of
generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can
testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for
the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we
expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of
God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should
complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith,
in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you —see
that you excel in this act of grace also.
-- 2 Corinthians 8:1-7
By this we know love,
that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet
closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children,
let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
-- 1 John 3:16,17
The Gospel is commanding. It takes dominion in our lives. It is a
force that changes our hearts and our minds, conforming us into the image of
Christ. We preach the Gospel, because God has ordained the preaching of the
Gospel as a means of His grace. And he has established that His Gospel will be
preached through those in the church. That is us. But even though God has
ordained this, it is not mechanical. John doesn’t just say, we obey and do what
is right. John says that we love. We love God and we love to preach the Gospel.
So where does this love come from?
John lays out the heart of the believer and where our motivation
comes from to minister to the poor – the work of Christ in our own lives . . .
. He states, “By this we know love, that
he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brothers.” We know love, because He
first loved us. When we get this, when we get the depths of Jesus’ love for us,
our hearts will be moved to know and to love others. John demonstrates an
integral connection between being loved by God and walking in the truth of the
Gospel and the outward expression of the Gospel’s work in loving others. Our motivation for ministry to the poor comes
from the security of the redemption we have in work of Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about the church
in Macedonia. This church was going through “a severe test of affliction” and
“extreme poverty”. They had very little and were in need themselves. But in the
midst of this desperate state, they gave to the poor in Jerusalem. And they
didn’t give out of legalism, but in “their abundance of joy” their giving “overflowed
in a wealth of generosity”. Paul writes that they were so passionate about
giving, that they were “begging [Paul and those with him] earnestly for the
favor of taking part. . . .” Where did this church get their motivation? . . .
Paul writes, “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of
God to us.” Their motivation was from surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ.
In Deuteronomy 10, God points to His work as the motivation for
the Israelites to love others:
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord
your God require of you, but to fear the Lord
your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and
statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you
today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens,
the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose
their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,
and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the
great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the
widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were
sojourners in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall
fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and
hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He
is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying
things that your eyes have seen. 22 Your
fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord
your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.”
Also in Deuteronomy 17:
17 “You shall not pervert
the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's
garment in pledge, 18 but you shall remember
that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your
God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19 “When you reap your
harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to
get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your
hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you
shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless,
and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes
of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You
shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command
you to do this.”
God’s love for Israel was their motivation to love others, the
fact that He loved them first, that He chose them, and He had been mighty with
them. “He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things
that your eyes have seen.” The work of God in their own lives and understanding
the depths of it, that he took them as sojourners and rescued them was their
motivation to love the sojourner in their own land. The people of Israel were
to love well with open hands, because they were loved well with open hands. And
likewise we love those without the Gospel, because we were brought out of
slavery to sin into this great salvation.
But God has done so much more in the Gospel, than He did for
Israel. He is our God, who has done a mighty and powerful work in us. We have
been brought into the true Kingdom of God. And His work in us is far greater and
full of more glory than the work He did with the nation of Israel. For He has
circumcised our hearts when we could not circumcised our own hearts, turning
our stubborn hearts of stone into flesh. He has completed the demands of the
Law in our lives. Jesus completed this at the cross and as we come close to the
cross, we are changed. At the cross, we are “sweetly broken”. I like the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song,
Sweetly Broken -
At the cross you beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees
And I am
Lost for words so lost in love
I am sweetly broken holy surrender
You draw me gently to my knees
And I am
Lost for words so lost in love
I am sweetly broken holy surrender
Paul wrote of the Macedonians, “ they gave themselves first to the
Lord . . . .” This is the beauty of the Gospel. As we are beckoned to Christ,
we are “sweetly broken” and able to walk in “holy surrender”. It is no longer a
work. It is trusting in the work of Christ, having faith in His work, laying
all that we are down, and allowing His work to change us. In the Gospel, God
boldly works in us through sanctification, with all certainty and determination
to continue to grow in our hearts love for others. This is why John states that
loving others must happen if we are in the Gospel. He says this because the
Gospel is not weak, the work of Jesus is not weak, but certain to work love
into our hearts. So this love that we have growing in our hearts for others is
a work of God and not our own. And God is not thwarted . . . .
This fact gives me much encouragement, when I don’t feel capable
of evangelizing or loving others or even don’t feel like loving others. God is
at work in me and He will accomplish it, because it is about His work, not
mine. And even when I have those times I don’t want to love others, I know He
is at work in me.
Here is the deal; we are motivated not through looking at
ourselves and working to muster up a love in ourselves. We are motivated,
because He first loved us. He loves us! Do you get that? Let me repeat that. He
loves us! He loves us so much that He brings us into His love for others. God
has chosen the Gospel as the means for this love to be made manifest. And as we
come to trust the Gospel, not just that He saves us from God’s wrath, but that
God also brings us into His Kingdom and conforms us into the image of Christ;
we will discover that love is growing in our hearts. We don’t look to ourselves;
we come and look to Christ, believing in His work.
What I mean is that He loves us so much, that we don’t have to
muster up love for other people, all we have to do is come to Him. And when we
come to God, He will take us up in His arms. We are His handiwork and as we lay
our bodies as living sacrifices in His loving and intimate hands, he will
carefully mold us into that love. And the work He does in us is faithful and
sure.
Our motivation comes from understanding with more clarity the
severity and intense sweetness of the gospel, the severity of the gospel for
those who do not believe and are enemies of Christ, just as we were once
enemies of God and the sweetness of being delivered from that state into this
glorious Kingdom of love. Ministering to the others comes out of a deep seated
understanding of the riches Christ lavished on us when we were undeserving and
deserved His severity. And we step out in these truths knowing it is not about
whether or not we fail, because God’s work does not fail and He has determined
to do a good work in us, because He loves us. When we understand what Christ
has done for us, we will have the freedom to give our lives to others and in “[our]
abundance of joy and [our] extreme poverty have [an overflow] in a wealth of
generosity.” As we give ourselves to Christ first, we too will, “[beg God]
earnestly for the favor of taking part” in
loving others.
Is this not grand! Oh, how vast the grace of God toward us, that
He brings us in to participate in His great Cosmic story of Grace! That He
allows us to love others and to be vessels for the proclamation of the Gospel. We
get to participate in this awe inspiring story, because He loves us. . .
because he loves us. God uses us as
instruments to proclaim the Gospel to the world. And this is evangelism – being
caught up in this grand story.
This is the power of the Gospel as it sanctifies our hearts and
conforms us into the image of Christ. The more we see the magnificence and
grandeur of what God has done for us and grow in our understanding of the
Gospel in our own lives, the more passion we will have as God takes us into His
story and uses us to reach out to others.
And
realize, yes, this is something we do as individuals in our everyday lives, but
this is not something we do as individuals. We do this together as a church.
The church is to work together in ministering to the poor, each person
contributing their gifts and skills to the work of the Gospel in a very
practical way. And we motivate each other in this. We
are motivated to speaking the Gospel to the world as we as a church speak the
Gospel to one another. We speak the Gospel to each other, just as the cherubim
cry out to each other “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts”
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
Acts 20:42
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if
only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord
Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Questions:
How do we know love?
How do we know love for others?
When God spoke to Israel about how to treat foreigners and sojourners
in the land, as motivation He told them to remember that they were foreigners
in Egypt. Also Jesus while preaching would say that because we are forgiven, we
should forgive others. How does this apply to our motivation for helping the
poor? How does motivating us to remember the Gospel , motivate us in
ministering to the poor?
What is the scriptural motivation for ministering to the poor?
Do you believe God can use you? What does this say about your belief in
the Gospel and His love for you?
God made a way across the sea for the Israelites, when there was no
way? How does this apply for this?
How can you encourage each other as a church, community group, family
to be caught up in the Cosmic Story and minister to the poor?
Resources:
Part 5: Engaging people
Part 5: Engaging people
Engaging
people
Questions:
The scriptures call us to engage in social justice, what does this look
like?
Reading:
Let
each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking
the form of a servant, being born in the
likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
-- Philippians
2:4-8
The Gospel is very personal. Christ was not aloof,
acting from a distance in order to bring about salvation for His people. He
came near, was born as a babe, and walked and lived among us. He “made himself
nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” God
came into our world. This means that obeying God in ministering to the poor and
catching His heart for the poor does not happen from a distance. There is no
aloofness. This is at the heart of the command of Christ,
“All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I
am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This command challenges us to engage people, because it
can only be fully obeyed by coming near and being involved in people’s lives.
In Jesus’ ministry, he didn’t just preach, he was involved in the
lives of those around Him. The Pharisees often used this fact as a means for
accusing Jesus. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing
near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man
receives sinners and eats with them.’” The Pharisees were upset because Jesus
engaged “sinners” in such a personal way.
This disturbed them. How could a righteous man associate with these
“sinners”? This truth doesn’t just strike and disturb the heart of the
Pharisees, it disturbs my heart as well. I prefer being aloof, distant, and
safe. I don’t want to touch someone who
is dirty or smelly. I don’t want to bring someone who is needy and annoying
into my life. . . .
But God loves us, and He knows the richness of what
it means to minister to the poor. And He knows that these riches cannot be
gained from being far away from the poor. He knows the joy of what it will be
like in our lives if we love as Christ loved. If we engage people as Christ
engaged people. And this is why He commands it and why He has ordained that
there will always be the poor in the land. There is richness as the poor and
rich interact with each other. They both desperately need each other, neither
one being better than the other, but both being richer for the other. James
writes,
“Let the lowly
brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like
a flower of the grass he will pass away. For
the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls,
and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of
his pursuits. . . . My brothers, show no
partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly,
and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to
the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,”
while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my
feet,” have you not then made distinctions
among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved
brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in
faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress
you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme
the honorable name by which you were called?”
Where do we find our riches in how we interact with people - are
we seeking prestige and comfort or are we seeking something that far outweighs
the riches of this world? We need the poor, the physically, emotionally, and
mentally challenged, the orphan, the unwanted, and the downtrodden in our
lives. These people are not people to be sat down at our feet, they are to sit
with us and near us. Do we realize that what we have from this world is so
fragile and fading, but it is in these interactions with others in the church
both rich and poor that we gain something that is eternal? This happens as we
in a very personal and engaging way preach the Gospel to one another and come
together as the Body of Christ.
So we don’t see ministry to the poor as something we do for others
to help them. We do pursue relationships because we desperately need them as a
part of our lives, and we need them to speak the Gospel into our lives,
reminding us of the love of Christ. Therefore aloofness or setting the poor at
our feet or in the back of the room is not ok with us. We see them as a
treasure and desperately want them to be a part of our lives, so that in their
riches, they can serve us. And my hope is that those who are poor materially in
this world, but rich in faith, will also not stand aloof and keep their
distance from those of us who need the riches of faith that they have to
offer. Because when it comes down to it,
we are all poor and in need of one another in the body of Christ, and we must
engage each other and be involved in each other’s lives.
Paul
writes,
“So
if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any
participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by
being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one
mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself
nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
We have to remember, we are not equal with God, our
kingdoms are not what we live for. We no longer live for ourselves. We live for
something far better. We have laid our lives down for the Gospel. When it comes
to the poor, the destitute, the broken, our purpose is not to just address a
physical or social need or injustice (although this is important), but to
address and engage the person and show them Jesus, because God in such a mighty
and personal way engaged us with a powerful love.
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise
according to worldly standards, not many were
powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are
not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of
him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us
wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as
it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Luke
6:32-36
“If
you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love
those who love them. And if you do
good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners
do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you
expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to
get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and
you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Questions:
Jesus didn’t just preach he met physical needs as well, why?
When is giving a handout engaging the poor and when is it only making
our consciences feel better, but in reality not engaging the person? When is it
showing the Gospel?
Who do we value in this world? Are the poor and destitute, people that
we desire as a treasure?
In ministering to the “undeserving poor” what does it mean to engage
them?
Do you engage with people that are different from you, awkward,
or make you feel uncomfortable? Why? What is your view of this attitude?
Johnathan Edwards wrote,
in many cases, we may, by the rules of the gospel, be obliged to give
to others, when we cannot do it without suffering ourselves. As if our
neighbor’s difficulties and necessities be much greater than our own, and we
see that he is not like to be otherwise relieved, we should be willing to
suffer with him, and to take part of his burden on ourselves. Else how is that
rule of bearing one another’s burdens fulfilled? If we be never obliged
to relieve others’ burdens, but when we can do it without burdening ourselves,
then how do we bear our neighbor’s burdens, when we bear no burden at all? Though
we may not have a superfluity, yet we may be obliged to afford relief to others
who are in much greater necessity. As appears by that rule, Luke 3:11, “He that
hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat,
let him do likewise.” — Yea, they who are very poor may be obliged to give for
the relief of others in much greater distress than they. If there be no other
way of relief, those who have the lightest burden are obliged still to take
some part of their neighbor’s burden, to make it the more supportable. A
brother may be obliged to help a brother in extremity, though they are both
very much in want. The apostle commends the Macedonian Christians, that they
were liberal to their brethren, though they themselves were in deep poverty. 2
Cor. 8:1, 2, “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia: how in a great trial of affliction, the abundance
of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their
liberality.”
What do you think
about this statement?
Resources:
Part 4: In the daily life
Part 4: In the daily life
Daily Life/The Challenge
Questions:
Do you see the Kingdom of God as physically or spiritually present, or
both?
When do you minister to the poor? Under what settings?
Reading:
“Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified,
self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in
behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is
good, 4 and so train the young women to love
their husbands and children, 5 to be
self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise,
urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show
yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show
integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot
be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to
say about us. 9 Slaves are
to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be
well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not
pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the
doctrine of God our Savior.”
--Titus 2:2-10
You might be wondering
what this verse has to do with poverty, well, quite a bit actually. Here Paul
is describing daily behavior in the church – being sober minded, homemaking,
good works, speech, and service – and he states “that the word of God may not
be reviled.” It is the everyday life of the believer, his everyday actions, and
his everyday interactions with others that “adorn the doctrine of God our
Savior.” In the Law, ministering to the poor is described as something that is
done in the everyday life of a righteous man. It is not this separate grand act
committed, but a natural outgrowth of the life of the righteous. Ministering to
the poor is an everyday life thing because, “the poor will never cease to be in
the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You will freely open your hand to
your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’” This understanding is
evident in Job, when he cries out,
“If I have
withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
Job was not talking about grand
ministries to the poor or social agendas, but an everyday caring for people
that God placed in his life. The scripture states, “If there is a poor man with
you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD
your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand
from your poor brother . . . .” The Christian is to be aware of the needs
around him, and in the ability that God has given him, he is to reach out to
meet those needs.
This
brings a lot of comfort to me. Why? Ministry to the poor does not have to be
this grand overwhelming all consuming ministry in my life. I can minister to
the poor as I go about my every day, and sometimes boring life. All I have to
do is keep my eyes open and take the opportunities that God places in my life
to love on people. So this message is not for those who have given every aspect
of their lives to the poor (and thank God for those people, we need them in the
body of Christ). This message is for me and for all of us in the body of
Christ, no matter what the circumstances may be.
The
Gospel is pervasive and engages the whole of who we are. In Christ, the Kingdom
of God has broken through into this world and our everyday lives. And how we
live our everyday lives demonstrates what type of Kingdom this is. When Christ
came to earth, He not only preached the gospel, but demonstrated what the
Kingdom of God was like by meeting fleshly physical needs. He healed the sick
and fed the hungry. He even saved men from a storm. Christians are not mystics, who see that the
only things that matter are the spiritual. The Kingdom of God is not this
mysterious mystical aspect of our lives.
The Kingdom of God is not a fantasy, but very real and very real in the
way it is manifested in our lives. The Kingdom of God acts on this world. This
Kingdom does not look on poverty and injustice and ignore it or walk away, but
instead acts like a Kingdom that is meant to rule and engages injustice and
brokenness. Early in the church, this aspect of the physical manifestation of
Kingdom of God is evident in the fact that a Church office was dedicated to
this fact – the deacon.
How
that plays out in mine and your life, is my asking God to keep me from
hardening my heart or turning a blind eye to the needs of others and asking God
to teach me to live with my hands opened wide to those God places in front of me
in this world. I am still learning, but that too is the Gospel as God
sanctifies me and helps me to grow.
God has ordained
poverty, and He has ordained that we love the poor. And so we know there will
be opportunities to minister to the poor in our lives. We can’t get away from
that fact. And as we understand this truth, we will also understand that God
enables what he commands in our lives. This is not an overwhelming burden God
has placed on us, but an overwhelming joy that God delights to bring us into.
God wants us to experience His heart and His excitement and delight as we
minister to the poor. This is a blessing that God brings us into.
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
Micah 6:6-8
“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Psalm 72:1
Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
and your righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
Luke 3:11
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who
has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
Luke 10:9
Heal the sick in it and
say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
Luke 9:11
When the crowds learned
it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of
God and cured those who had need of healing.
Questions:
Under what conditions in our lives are
we to minister to the poor?
God starts off angry at Israel, even
though they claim to seek Him daily.
1“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God. . . .
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God. . . .
And
then God calls them to a true fast that is worked out in their daily life.
7 Is it not to
share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
What do these verses
in Isaiah 48 mean to you?
What does the Kingdom
of God look like in our world? Does it have physical ramifications?
Who has all authority
and power and rule? How is this displayed?
Jesus didn’t just preach he met physical needs as well, why?
How might this concept look in your
life?
Who are some people in your daily life that you can minister too?
Are there ministries that you can support?
What does the scripture mean when it says to not harden your heart and
to have your hands open to the poor?
Jonathan Edwards wrote,
Your money and your goods are not your own. They are only
committed to you as stewards, to be used for him who committed them to you. 1
Pet. 4:9, 10, “Use hospitality one to another, as good stewards of the manifold
grace of God.” A steward has no business with his master’s goods, to use them
any otherwise than for the benefit of his master and his family, or according
to his master’s direction. He hath no business to use them, as if he were the
proprietor of them. He hath nothing to do with them, only as he is to use them
for his master. He is to give everyone of his master’s family their portion of
meat in due season.
But if instead of that, he hoards up his master’s goods
for himself, and withholds them from those of the household, so that some of
the family are pinched for want of food and clothing. He is therein guilty of
robbing his master and embezzling his substance. And would any householder
endure such a steward? If he discovered him in such a practice, would he not
take his goods out of his hands, and commit them to the care of some other
steward, who should give everyone of his family his portion of meat in due
season? Remember that all of us must give account of our stewardship, and how
we have disposed of those goods which our Master has put into our hands. And if
when our Master comes to reckon with us, it be found that we have denied some
of his family their proper provision, while we have hoarded up for ourselves,
as if we had been the proprietors of our Master’s goods, what account shall we
give of this?
What do you think
about what he said?
Jonathan
Edwards wrote,
Many persons are ready to look upon what is bestowed for
charitable uses as lost. But we ought not to look upon it as lost, because it
benefits those whom we ought to love as ourselves. And not only so, but it is
not lost to us, if we give any credit to the Scriptures. See the advice
that Solomon gives in Ecc. 11:1, “Cast thy bread upon the waters, for
thou shalt find it after many days.” By casting our bread upon the waters,
Solomon means giving it to the poor, as appears by the next words, “Give a
portion to seven, and also to eight.” Waters are sometimes put for people and
multitudes.
What strange advice would this seem to many, to cast
their bread upon the waters, which would seem to them like throwing it away!
What more direct method to lose our bread, than to go and throw it into the
sea? But the wise man tells us, No, it is not lost; you shall find it again
after many days. It is not sunk, but you commit it to Providence. You commit it
to the winds and waves. However it will come about to you, and you shall find
it again after many days. Though it should be many days first, yet you shall
find it at last, at a time when you most need it. He that giveth to the poor
lendeth to the Lord. And God is not one of those who will not pay again what is
lent to him. If you lend anything to God, you commit it into faithful hands.
Pro. 19:17, “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and that which
he hath given will he pay him again.” God will not only pay you again, but he
will pay you with great increase. Luke 6:38, “Give, and it shall be given you,”
that is, in “good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over.”
What do
you think about what he said?
Resources:
Part 3: Commanded
Part 3: Commanded
Commanded
Questions:
Do you believe God commands us to minister to the poor? Why or Why not?
What scriptures do you know, where God commands us to minister
to the poor?
Why is God so passionate about the righteous caring for the poor?
Why does God get upset when the poor are not being ministered to?
What is at the heart of God commanding us to minister to the poor?
Reading:
Not only has God ordained that there be poor, but there
is another side of that - He has also ordained that we minister to the
poor. Don’t go by this too quickly – God
has ordained that we minister to the poor. The scripture is wrought with
scriptures declaring that the righteous regard the poor. This is not just an
afterthought. God over and over again speaks of His concern for the poor and
downtrodden. One cannot read through the whole of scripture without finding
this theme. James states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the
Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep
oneself unstained from the world.” Christianity is associated tightly with
ministering to the poor and downtrodden. Why is God so passionate about this?
God is even seen getting angry at those who ignore the poor. In Isaiah 58, God
rebukes Israel, telling them they have not truly fasted nor found Sabbath rest:
1“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn
back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
God associates caring for the poor and downtrodden with
worship, fasting and Sabbath rest. James
associates it with pure religion. This
is not a “maybe” part of a Christian walk, it will be part of the Christian walk.
When we begin to understand what the depth of the Cosmic Story is about how God
pursued and loved those who were poor, destitute, crazy, rebellious, and
undeserving, how he loved us, we begin to get a glimpse of how important this
is to God, and why God commands us to minister to the poor. God is so
passionate about the righteous loving the poor, because He is so passionate
about loving us, passionate enough to send His son to die. And God gets upset
when we don’t love the poor, because as Christians this violates the image of
the Gospel that God ordained when He stated the poor will never cease from the
land. Portraying the Gospel in a very real way is at the very center of
ministry to the poor, therefore God commands us to minister to the poor and
destitute.
Scripture reading:
Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to
ministering to the poor.
Micah
6
He
has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
1 Corinthians 6:19b,20a
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.”
Proverbs 21:13
Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
will himself call out and not be answered.
will himself call out and not be answered.
Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not want,
but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
Questions:
Why is God so passionate about the righteous caring for the poor?
W Proverbs 21:13 states, “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of
the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” Proverbs 28:27 states,
“Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get
many a curse.” Why does God get upset when the poor are not being ministered
to?
What is at the heart of God commanding us to minister to the poor?
Are you ministering to the poor? Is this occurring in our own church?
Jonathan Edwards wrote,
THE duty here
enjoined, is giving to the poor. “If there be among you a poor man of one of
thy brethren, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy
poor brother: — Thou shalt surely give him.” Here by thy poor brother is
to be understood the same as in other places is meant by neighbor. It is
explained in Lev. 25:35 to mean not only those of their own nation, but even
strangers and sojourners. “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in
decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger,
or a sojourner.” The Pharisees indeed interpreted it to signify only one
of their own nation. But Christ condemns this interpretation, Luke 10:29, etc.
and teaches, in contradiction to their opinion, that the rules of charity, in
the law of Moses, are to be extended to the Samaritans, who were not of their
nation, and between whom and the Jews there was the most bitter enmity, and who
were a people very troublesome to the Jews.
What do you think
about what he said?
Jonathan Edwards wrote,
God gives us
direction how we are to give in such a case, viz. bountifully,
and willingly. We should give bountifully, and sufficiently
for the supply of the poor’s need. Deu. 15:7, 8, “Thou shalt not shut up thine
hand from thy poor brother; but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and
lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.” And again, in
verse 11, “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and
to thy needy, in thy land.” Again, we should give willingly and without
grudging. Deu. 15:7, “Thou shalt not harden thine heart from thy poor
brother,” And verse 10, “And thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest
him.”
What do you think
about what he said?
Jonathan Edwards wrote,
This is a duty to
which God’s people are under very strict obligation. It is not merely a
commendable thing for a man to be kind and bountiful to the poor, but our bounden
duty, as much a duty as it is to pray, or to attend public worship, or anything
else whatever. And the neglect of it brings great guilt upon any person.
What do you think
about what he said?
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