How Are You Moved To Respond to the Poor?
Good Morning Friends,
The most enduring of prejudices is undoubtedly against the poor. And this is rather strange because God loves the poor. There are four categories into which the poor fall in the Bible. For some poverty is chosen for righteousness’ sake. Perhaps you are familiar with those that take a vow of poverty. Think of Jesus’ direction to the rich young ruler and the life of the early church and of Catholic orders. Others come to poverty as a result of a calamity or disaster. Think of Job. But injustice is by far the predominate reason for poverty. Scripture tells stories of poverty as a consequence of oppression by the powerful. The smallest group of those in poverty are those that are poor as a result of sin or laziness. So today we explore what it might mean to repent of our disdain and disgust toward the poor when we realize that the poor are poor typically not because of laziness but because of systems of exploitation. Friends, today we face the reality that frankly most of us have what we have by privilege of birth….We are rich because our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers and great grandfathers and great grandmothers pasted on an inheritance that lasts through generations. How Are You Moved To Respond to the Poor?
Scripture: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Matthew 6:19-24 (NRSV)
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Hebrews 13:16 (NRSV)
The good leave an inheritance to their children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
Proverbs 13:22 (NRSV)
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
Amos 5:24 (NRSV)
Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
Psalm 72:1-4 (NRSV)
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NRSV)
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3-12 (NRSV)
Message: You cannot serve God and money both. So think to the future in setting your priorities and serve God. The ways of work have forever changed. Fewer and fewer make money in hard labor manufacturing and in farming and fishing. We have more time than ever to set our sites on heaven. So set your sites on eternity and look to serve the poor each day as an act of worship and thanksgiving to complete the work God has set before us. Friends, money is trapped energy waiting to be released for God’s purposes. It is released when we release our will to God….released when we open our eyes to the wide wonder of the world. The message here is more transformational than writing a check. This is not a message about stewardship giving. It is about embracing a life of worshipping God. It is about integrating our service to the poor as an act of worship. You can have it both ways and should, because when you do, you store up wealth on earth as in heaven. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if you took the words of Jesus serious. It is obvious to the poor and yet difficult for those with wealth to see. That is one reason that Jesus says to help the poor. We can never ignore these words. But don’t think it a burden. We are expected to already know that this is God’s will for us to give to the poor so we might learn. He wants us to help them as an act of worship, as an act of releasing our will to His. Indeed the challenge is that of an Ebenezer Scrooge and his money. Joy is only found in the giving not the keeping. That is why people that have not learned this lesson fall. That is why there needs to be a ministry to the poor that responds to the miseries of the rich. Jesus is the example. Though He was rich he became poor. Here in today’s Old Testament wisdom we learn not to judge a person’s financial success as a sign of maturity in the faith. We learn that the real poor are those that have yet to find riches in Jesus Christ. We are to meet the poor, who are in need of food and shelter and comfort, are often more willing to admit that they need a Savior and Lord than a wealthy person filled with the arrogance of self-sufficiency. At the bottom of the social-economic barrel are often people ready for deliverance. But when financially wealthy people become poor in their brokenness even they may be willing to ask for help and the Holy Spirit can provide exactly what is needed…. Selfish human nature does not like to admit its weakness but when it does something very special happens. When the wealthy become broken and are restored, when we out of pain and suffering they see Jesus in the lives of others who are in need…we all receive a double blessing for the Kingdom. The poor and broken sharing the Good News of Christ contains the hope the real poor need. We live in a paradox…that the wealthiest nation on earth is also the poorest… that the poorest can be the wealthiest when we show love for one another. And here we share a wonderful experience; for God has promised those who are poor in the eyes of the world and love Him to become rich in faith.
Pray that we answer the call to serve the poor. Pray that we become examples of God’s blessings before others. Pray we understand that giving to the poor is lending to God. Pray we hear the cries of the poor and give.
Pray that we realize that the poor in spirit will always be with us even as we work to eliminate financial poverty. Pray that we be good stewards of the resources we have been provided. Pray that we realize that we have all the stuff we need, the talk, the smarts, the love and the desire but too often fall short when it comes to taking action. Pray that we not be sidetracked when it comes to the grace of giving. Pray that we give because we find great joy in being obedient to God’s call on our lives. Pray that we have a heart for the poor. Pray that we discover we are ministering to Christ when we respond to the poor with the dignity, intimacy and knowledge that we are serving…suffering with Christ himself.
Pray that we teach others how to handle suffering and poverty (both financial and spiritual) by not relying on ourselves but by working together. Pray we embrace the economic faithfulness of the grace of giving generously. Pray we realize that we cannot separate the secular and the sacred when it comes to giving seed to the sower and bread to the poor.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 