The Poor

The Poor

Proverbs 14.31 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 14.21 It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,

    but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

Proverbs 19.17 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward them for what they have done.

I remember when I was in Bible College Paul Rees, who had been president of World Vision asked this, "How many genuinely poor people do you know?"

I remember being in Beijing, China, seeing a child with no legs and stubs for arms on what best described as a skate board which you could twist back and forth on to make it move. On the front there was a paint can with the words in English, "Please help me." I looked at him and said out loud, "We would never see anything like this in the United States!" I was astounded at the people who simply walked by this poor young man.

As followers of Jesus we are to be kind to the poor and needy, the genuinely poor and needy. Most people who come and ask me for help in the area of food and shelter.

On very few occasions have they accepted what I have offered them. If you are without food and you are offered a hot meal or without shelter and you are offered a place for a few days you will gladly receive it. When a person asks me for money instead, caution lights start to blink in my mind. Yellow flags go up. I have been taken advantage of, particularly when I was younger. The ministry is an education! As I have grown in the LORD I have become wiser so that now I am giving out without being taken in.

What do we need to be careful of when we are seeking to give to the poor?

Arrogance is a warning sign. Abusiveness should set off caution.

Look closely at the financial accounting (ask for it) with organizations who claim to feed the poor. Some use over 50% of what you give to self propagate! 

When asked to help others...

I examine as best as I can those who I listen to and read. 

I look for humility... are they willing to take what I have to offer?

Food

Lodging

Like I just said only on a very few occasions have I had people accept what  offer- usually they are asking for money. They want money to buy something other than what they say they need.

We have to use wisdom.

But we are called to help the poor. God will help us. He has helped me!

More than anything else in my life the work in Haiti has put me face to face with the genuinely poor. I have learned much from the people of that little village in the mountains. It has sensitized me to the plight of the poorest among us.

1. The Poor

14.31

poor, humble, afflicted, meek, needy, weak, lowly

19.17

low, poor, weak, thin, one who is low

Malnourishment is a sign of poverty as is humility. Theresa to me in Haiti, "All of these kids are malnourished or have parasites or both!"

The Hebrew translations of poor...

*So the poor are humble and meek and lowly.

They know who they are! There is no pretense.

Look at Jesus' words... 

Matthew 11.28 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Another version translates it meek and lowly in heart. It is all in this idea of being poor.

Jesus was poor.

Listen to His words to a would be follower...

"Foxes have holes  and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Luke 9.58

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. II Corinthians 8.9

The one time we see Jesus with money He had to ask for it.

When we give to the needy...

Matthew 6.1 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

So for the follower of Jesus giving to the poor is not if, it is when. It is understood that if you are following Him you will give to the poor. Obviously this practice was so common among the disciples that when Judas slipped out of the meeting to betray Jesus... 

John 13.29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

2. The Blessings of Helping Them.

There are many

*You honor God.  14.31

So our helping the poor is in direct relationship to our walk with the LORD1

*You are blessed. (A specific kind of blessedness- different from other blessings)  14.21

*You lend to the LORD 19.17

I really do not know all that this means except to say we know our God! He is a prodigal God... extravagant, excessive!

*You are rewarded by Him 19.17

Hudson Taylor the missionary to China from the 1800's said that if he could not trust God to meet in England (where he was born and raised) how could he trust Him in China?! 

He was ahead of his time!

One night after working at the hospital in England he was called to a person's house with a sick child and they were in need of medicine and food. He had only enough money to pay his rent and his food for the month. He struggled as he prayed for these folks, then looked at them ad was about to leave. That money was in his pocket. The man of the apartment said, "For God's sake if you can help us, please do!" He gave them the money they needed which left him with nothing. Not without struggle but God took care of him and he was able to pay all his obligations. At the end he concluded, "I am now ready to trust God in China."

3.Storing Up Treasures in Heaven/ Lending to the LORD. 19.17 / Matthew 6.19-21

Matthew 6.19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Is it the same thing?

Is it two different things?

Is it both?

I believe it is both!

God pays us back here on this earth in blessings.

I am glad He is keeping much of what heaven will be a secret1 

There is so much about heaven we will not know until we get home.

For instance Jesus tells us that we are to store up treasure in heaven. We are told we will be rewarded.  What a day that is going to be for the followers of Jesus1

Matthew 25.31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on His left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Now it is apparent that there will be things we do because of our love for Jesus and we don't let our right hand know what our left is doing. When we all get to heaven the books will be opened... like Karen Chavez who interpreted for me last fall at the Mission Encounter. I would have had no idea that her working with me that day would result in her and her sone heading to Nicaragua next month. We do get glimpses. When we get there everything is going to be revealed. I think we will be shocked to see some as Paul the Apostle said "barely escaping as through the flames." 

 I Corinthians 3.15

That is why I urge you to test the spirits and not believe every one of them! Be very careful who you listen to and what you read!

Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you and you can help them any time you want..." Mark 14.7

The poor:

reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms

destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour

lowly, afflicted

helpless, powerless to accomplish an end

poor, needy

Is this a totally optional thing?

Helping the poor anytime we we desire carries the idea:

to be able, have power whether by virtue of one's own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom

to be able to do something

to be capable, strong and powerful

If it is in our power to act then it ought to be in our heart to give.

This will have effects in heaven and on earth, both temporal and eternal.

Deuteronomy 15.11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.