ARE YOU OKAY WITH THIS?

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote of good King Josiah, “‘He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know Me?’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 22:16)

United Nations health and food organizations calculate that twenty-five thousand people throughout the developing world die every day from starvation and malnutrition.  Are you okay with this?  There are a hundred thirty thousand children up for adoption at any given time in the United States, and millions more children worldwide are without families.  Are you okay with this?  A child dies from drinking contaminated water every twenty-one seconds.  Are you okay with this?  That question can be and must be asked of all suffering and every injustice.  Are you okay with this?

Most of us are okay with it.  And we’re okay with it simply because it’s an issue without a name or a face.  We’ve never held someone who is starving to death.  No one in our family has needlessly died from contaminated water.  We don’t know anybody who has been kidnapped and sold into slavery.  And none of our family members sleeps on the streets.  But once the issue has a name and a face, it changes everything, doesn’t it?  God knows each of those names.  God knows each of those faces.  And it breaks His heart.

So let me ask the question again: Are you okay with this?

If you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you cannot be okay with suffering or injustice or starvation.  Why?  Because His heart is in you.  And His heart beats for the suffering, the victim, the poor, and the needy.  If you are a Christ follower, then you have been drafted into an army of compassion that knows no enemy but those things that break the heart of God.  And it’s not okay to not do something about that.  

-- Mark Batterson in “PRIMAL: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity” (2009)

#6307

MOTIVATED BY FRUSTRATION

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”  (Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV)

Sometimes people in Scripture get motivated to trust God in remarkable ways when they grow frustrated with the brokenness of a fallen world.

Nehemiah could not tolerate the idea of Jerusalem being in ruins. He was moved to risk a king’s displeasure and lethal opposition to rally God’s people.

David could not tolerate a pagan Philistine giant taunting the God of Israel. He was moved to risk his life in the name of his God.

Elijah could not tolerate the barbaric practice of pagan idolatry. He was moved to take on all the prophets of Baal single-handedly.

Even in the world today, it is often at the point where we are frustrated by the gap between the fallen reality and our sense of God’s desires that we are moved to action in a cause greater than ourselves…

Maybe God is calling you to trust Him at some point of frustration in your life. Trust Him. No one ever regretted trusting Christ more -- ever. 

-- John Ortberg in “If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat” 

#6296

 

GOOD NEWS FOR ALL

“When Jesus came to the village of Nazareth, His boyhood home, He went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.’”  (Luke 4:16-19 NLT)

As we prepare for our traditional Christmas celebrations, let us remember those who will not be looking forward to this festival. Let us remember, too, how Jesus identified with the oppressed and the homeless. Let the joy of the season touch more of the people of our world this year than ever before. May God be glorified and may people of good will once again experience His peace. 

-- Denzil John

#6260

EMBODYING GOD'S LOVE

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35 NIV)

The earliest generations of Christians were known as a community that practiced sacrificial love. In a letter to the emperor Hadrian, a Christian named Aristides described the community this way:

"They love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the Spirit and in God." (Translated by D. M. Kay, www.earlychristianwritings.com)

At its best, the church continues to do these things today. Thousands of churches feed the poor, welcome strangers, and help those suffering from natural disasters.

Yet the church is composed of human beings who are sinners. We are all too familiar with the many ways we fall short of truly embodying God's love. Nevertheless, loving and acting on that love remain the church's purpose and calling from God. 

-- Scott J. Jones in “The Wesleyan Way: A Faith That Matters”

#6154

PRAYER LEADS TO JUSTICE AND MERCY

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.”  (Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NIV)

Prayer and action… can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive.  Prayer without action grows in powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation.  If prayer leads us into a deeper unity with the compassionate Christ, it will always give rise to concrete acts of service.  And if concrete acts of service do indeed lead us to a deeper solidarity with the poor, the hungry, the sick, the dying, and the oppressed, they will always give rise to prayer.  In prayer we meet Christ, and in Him all human suffering. In service we meet people, and in them the suffering Christ. 

-- Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) in “Compassion” [1982] 

#6151

TOUCHING CHRIST

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”  (Matthew 25:37-40 NKJV)

I’ll never forget during the Bangladesh suffering: we had ten million people in and around Calcutta. I asked the government of India to allow a number of other congregations to come to our aid, to help us, because we were working the whole time.

They allowed them to come: about fifteen or sixteen different sisters came to help us, and each one, on leaving Calcutta, said the same thing, “I have received much more than I have given and I can never be the same person again; because I have touched Christ, I have understood what love is. What it is to love and be loved!” 

-- Mother Teresa in “My Life for the Poor” 

#5565

THOSE TO WHOM THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE CAME

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…”  (Isaiah 61:1-2a NKJV)

Consider for a moment those to whom the Christmas message came. A poor, bewildered carpenter and his young bride far from home; a group of cold and hungry shepherds; a worn-out innkeeper; and a trio of travel-weary wise old men. And throughout this holy infant's life it was with the hurting and the broken ones He chose to spend His time; and He was crucified among them at the end. So if you feel a little weary, a little rushed, a little breathless at the manger, then take heart because this message is for you.

Christmas speaks above all else to the poor and homeless, the hungry, oppressed, and friendless of our world. We must never let ourselves forget that, or our celebrations will be false as Santa's whiskers. But it also speaks to those who are burdened in any way, whether with regrets for the past, heartache in the present, or foreboding for the future. God says to us this night, "Be strong, fear not, for I am with you. I am for you and I will never let you go. Here is my Son to prove it." 

-- J. Barrie Shepherd in “Jubilee: Readings Through the Year from Alive Now”, published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN.   Used with permission.

#5237

A FRIEND OF THE POOR

A friend of the poor is a friend of God. When we choose to follow the way of God’s heart for the poor, we become friends with God. The Bible speaks very highly of those who serve on behalf of the poor and promises them good outcomes.

Proverbs 19:17 tells us that those “who [are] kind to the poor lend to the Lord.” And in Proverbs 14:31: “He who opposes the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” The Prophet Jeremiah wrote of good King Josiah, “’He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know Me?’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 22:16)

In the New Testament Church we are given a picture of believers who shared so completely among themselves that there were no poor among them (Acts 4:34). And in the same book we learn that Cornelius, searching for God, is found precisely because of his sensitivity to the poor: “Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.” (Acts 10:31) 

--  Gordon Aeschilman in an article entitled “God’s Heart for the Poor” in “Discipleship Journal”

#4870

SAYING YES TO THE SPIRIT

Many of our “tame hopes” are fulfilled on a daily basis: the hope that the sun will shine, or the pay check will arrive as planned, or that we will get sufficient nourishment for the day. Though one is disappointed once in a while, our anticipation of these “small” things, though not insignificant, is frequently realized.

By contrast, some of these same issues for people in other cultures are “wild hopes.” Many of our sisters and brothers do not receive a salary, nor do they get three meals a day, nor does the sun of freedom shine in their lives. Born to poverty or oppressed by social systems, these people find little joy and peace. If they are fortunate in avoiding violence they still must struggle with resentment and bitterness in their awareness of the consumption and materialism of the wealthy.

We must pray like Jesus that hope might be restored and that the earth might be recast. Only the gift of the Holy Spirit can empower us to trust in the future and to assume our rightful responsibility for the common good. Renewing the face of the earth is the work of the Holy Spirit through those people who say yes to being the Spirit’s agents of knowledge, love and kindness. Our hope, wild or tame, is grounded in God’s promise of presence. Herein is our joy and peace.

-- Bishop Robert F. Morneau in “Resurrection to Pentecost”

#4168

ONE FAMILY IN CHRIST – Part 3

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”  (2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV)

Another characteristic of the family is its willingness to share. The early church went so far as to have its members selling their property, each refusing  to claim as his exclusive property what had belonged to him before. They had all things in common. When the one part suffered the whole suffered with it and when one part prospered then the whole prospered with it. There was a mutuality in the relationship in which all gave and all received. Some gave more conspicuously in spiritual things while others gave in material gifts. Hence the collection for the saints was a deeply spiritual exercise. In a happy family you don’t receive in proportion to your input. You receive in relation to your needs, the ones who make the least material contribution often being the ones who are most cared for -- young and aged.

How I pray that in our church we can learn to emulate a true family, emulate the divine generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, although rich, for our sakes became poor that we through His poverty might become rich.

How I pray for the day when the… church would be marked by a membership that knows that all things come from God and all belongs to Him, that we have the privilege of being His stewards and that the very least we should give in thanksgiving for God’s abundant and limitless generosity is the tithe.

-- Desmond Tutu in The Rainbow People of God

#3962

THE HOMELESS MAN

It was a cold winter's day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked to the church. As I got closer I saw a man leaning up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep.  He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face.  He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck out. I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church.  We all fellowshipped for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man laying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A few moments later church began.

We all waited for the preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces.  He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit where he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank.

There stood our pastor... he was the "homeless man." No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand. "Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today." Then he started singing the words to this song. "If I can help somebody as I pass along.  If I can cheer somebody with a word or song…"

-- Unknown


#3384

THE INTERESTS OF THE POOR

The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and of the oppressed.  Down to modern times, no state has had a constitution in which the interests of the people are so largely taken into account; in which the duties, so much more than the privileges, of rulers are insisted upon, as that drawn up for Israel in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.  Nowhere is the fundamental truth, that the welfare of the state, in the long run, depends upon the righteousness of the citizen, so strongly laid down.  The Bible is the most democratic book in the world.

-- Thomas Huxley


#3305

ONLY MY DAILY BREAD

"Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."  (Proverbs 30:8b-9)

No amount of wealth will ever satisfy a person's basic needs for security and significance, which can only be met by God.

-- Ron Blue


#3256