179 What Jesus Said About The Poor Among Us

How do you react when you see or pass a
homeless person?
With Pity? With Apathy?
Do you see it so often do you not see them
anymore?
Phil Collins wrote “Another Day in Paradise” to
bring the homeless to the world’s attention.

Jewish people were commanded in the Law of
Moses to care for the poor among them.
ESV "If among you, one of
your brothers should become poor, in any of
your towns within your land that the LORD your
God is giving you, you shall not harden your
heart or shut your hand against your poor
brother,

but you shall open your hand to him and lend
him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in
your heart and you say, 'The seventh year, the
year of release is near,' and your eye look
grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give
him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against
you, and you be guilty of sin.

You shall give to him freely, and your heart
shall not be grudging when you give to him,
because for this the LORD your God will bless
you in all your work and in all that you
undertake. For there will never cease to be
poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You
shall open wide your hand to your brother, to
the needy and to the poor, in your land.

Isaiah prophesied the anointed one would bring
good news to the poor.
ESV The Spirit of the Lord GOD is
upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to
bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to
bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives, and the opening of the prison to
those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and
the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all
who mourn;
Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy.
ESV And the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll
and found the place where it was written,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to proclaim good news to the
poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty those who are oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he
rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in
the synagogue were fixed on him. And he
began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has
been fulfilled in your hearing."

John the Immerser knew the Messianic
prophesies & was looking for the Anointed One,
the Messiah he came to prepare the way for.
Jesus essentially said, “I am fulfilling those
prophesies, look no further.”
ESV Now when John heard in
prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent
word by his disciples and said to him, "Are
you the one who is to come, or shall we look for
another?"

And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John
what you hear and see: the blind receive their
sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,
and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by
me."

Jesus knew God the Father’s passion for the
poor.
Had the rich young man seeking eternal life
overlooked God’s law to take care of the poor or
was he stingy when he obeyed it?
ESV And behold, a man came up
to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I
do to have eternal life?"

And he said to him, “Why do you ask me
about what is good? There is only one who is
good. If you would enter life, keep the
commandments.” He said to him, "Which
ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder,
You shall not commit adultery, You shall not
steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor
your father and mother, and, You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."

The young man said to him, "All these I have
kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him,
"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you
possess and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
When the young man heard this he went away
sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say
to you, only with difficulty will a rich person
enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you,
it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich person to enter the
kingdom of God." When the disciples heard
this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who
then can be saved?"

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With
man this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible." Then Peter said in reply, "See,
we have left everything and followed you. What
then will we have?" Jesus said to them,
"Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the
Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you
who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has left houses or
brothers or sisters or father or mother or
children or lands, for my name's sake, will
receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal
life. But many who are first will be last, and
the last first.

The disciples evidently realized how rich even
those of us who think we’re poor really are.
Peter couldn’t see the BIG picture yet, so Jesus
uses this opportunity to teach how greatly they
would be blessed.
Jesus had an opportunity to reiterate,
ESV For there will never
cease to be poor in the land…

A woman poured expensive ointment on Jesus.
ESV And when the disciples saw
it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this
waste? For this could have been sold for a
large sum and given to the poor." But Jesus,
aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble
the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing
to me. For you always have the poor with
you, but you will not always have me.

In the previous chapter what He said is not so
much about ‘poor people’ but how we should
respond to people in need.
ESV "When the Son of Man
comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before
him will be gathered all the nations, and he will
separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And he will place the sheep on his right, but
the goats on the left. Then the King will say
to those on his right, 'Come, you who are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was hungry and you gave me
food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was
a stranger and you welcomed me,

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you
came to me.' Then the righteous will answer
him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and
welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And
when did we see you sick or in prison and visit
you?'

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to
you, as you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say
to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. For I was hungry and
you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave
me no drink,

I was a stranger and you did not welcome
me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and
in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they
also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see
you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'

Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I
say to you, as you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And
these will go away into eternal punishment, but
the righteous into eternal life.”
This passage is commonly used to spur the
church on to helping people.

Notice Jesus is speaking to the sheep
on His right who will inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. After reviewing what they had done for
Him they asked when did we do these things for
you? He says in 'Truly, I say to you, as
you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me.'

He to talking to Christians who have provided
for the poorest, neediest of Christians who are
members of the body of Christ.
In He turns to speak to the goats on
His left, condemning them for not helping those
in need.
“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

He said, “as you did not do it to one of the least
of these, you did not do it to me.”
He does not say to the goats on His left "my
brothers," as He did the sheep on the right. (
) The evil acknowledge no such brotherhood;
they live for self alone, they own not their real
relation to the whole family of man.
(Pulpit)

Can you see how this aligns with the OT law?
ESV "If among you, one of
your brothers should become poor, in any of
your towns within your land that the LORD your
God is giving you, you shall not harden your
heart or shut your hand against your poor
brother, but you shall open your hand to him
and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it
may be. In the OT law & in this NT passage
God’s people are to take care of God’s people.

There are ample passages in Scripture that tell
us to help all people, but this is not one of them.
Jesus is saying that the sheep respond properly
to his messengers or fellow believers.

ESV So then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and
especially to those who are of the household of
faith.
Notice, good deeds are the fruit ( ) not
the root of salvation. You don’t buy your way
into heaven by helping others.
BUT your faith in Christ is made evident by your
service to your brothers.

Two things we learn from this passage that we
can take to heart:
1. The Righteous will help people
2. The Righteous are identified by their
benevolence
ESV 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.

It depends on how you use it. “The poor little
rich girl” doesn’t mean she has no money.
It means she is to be pitied.
But of course we don’t pity her.
To get specific, we use the word poor to
describe a certain group of countries and
people with a definition like: Shortage of
common things: Food, clothing, shelter, and
safe drinking water.

These are the primary things that determine
quality of life. So if you have those and you
compare yourself to the world,
YOU ARE NOT POOR!

Here in America we use the word poor to
describe people across a wide spectrum.
We use it to describe the homeless man on the
corner and we use it to describe a family that
has their basic needs met, but just barely.
The US Census Bureau in 2005 listed 37 million
poor people living in America.

For most Americans, the word "poverty"
suggests destitution: an inability to provide a
family with nutritious food, clothing, and
reasonable shelter. But only a small number of
the 37 million people classified as "poor" by the
Census Bureau fit that description.

In 2007 Robert Rector of the Heritage
Foundation wrote an article analyzing these
statistics.
He found, of the 37 million,
-- Forty-three percent of all poor households
actually own their own homes.
-- Eighty percent of poor households have air
conditioning.
-- Only 6 percent of poor households live in a
home that is over crowded.

The average poor American has more living
space than the average individual living in Paris,
London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities
throughout Europe.
-- Nearly three-quarters of poor households own
a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
-- Ninety-seven percent of poor households
have a color television; over half own two or
more color televisions.

-- Sixty-two percent have cable or satellite TV
reception.
-- Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens,
more than half have a stereo, and more than
a third have an automatic dishwasher.

Of course, the living conditions of the average
poor American should not be taken as
representing all the poor. There are people and
families that fit the definition of “poor” in
America, but the numbers are small compared to
the rest of the world – due to government,
church and para-church programs, people have
a lot of opportunity and help.

Greg Kaufmann’s report updated July 24, 2014,
U.S. poverty (less than $19,090 for a family of
three): 46.5 million people, 15 percent.

There are different types of poor people.
I’ve not seen this broken down anywhere,
though it may be, but this is how I categorize
poor people (people who have a need and can’t
meet it).

Cultural Poor – poor country situation
Situational Poor – lost job, lost income due to
illness, or injury
Disadvantaged Poor – Family issues, mental
illness,
Poor by Choice – Bad choices, poorly educated,
bad life-skills.

Most of the people who come to Christians
looking for help are of these two types;
disadvantaged and choice.
There is a 5th type of poor,
Voluntarily Poor – different than “poor by
choice.” These folks have the life-skills to
become middle class and even wealthy but
choose poverty.
These people are aid workers, missionaries, etc.

The Church
First the good news: You are RICH.
You may not feel rich, but that’s
because you are comparing yourself
with people who have more than you
do. If you make $25,000 a year you
are wealthier than 90% of the people
in the world.

There are 7,782,328,400+ people in the world.
Currently, the population of the world is
increased by 2.4 people every second.
You may say, “I don’t feel rich.”
Let’s compare our selves with folks around this
globe.

Where do you put your hope?
In Paul’s instructions to Timothy he said this:
ESV As for the rich in this
present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor
to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
but on God, who richly provides us with
everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good
works, to be generous and ready to share,
thus storing up treasure for themselves as a
good foundation for the future, so that they may
take hold of that which is truly life.
I know that even though most of our poor can’t
be classified as poor, many do have real needs.

When you’ve lost your job and your mortgage is
due… When you get that disconnect notice from
the electric company… People have real needs.
In fact the poor in America pay more to live than
the rich!
Articles from the San Francisco Chronicle, the
Washington Post and The Brookings Institute all
confirm, - The poorer you are, the more things
cost!

If you rent a home instead of purchase which
most poorer people do, you pay more in federal
taxes on your income. If you can’t afford a car
and you must walk, you’ll go to the corner
market instead of the grocery store across
town. Milk and bread will cost you up to twice
what the grocery store charges.

When you do go to the grocery store, you buy
the worst food in the building --- bologna and
chips are cheap.
The poor can’t afford fresh vegetables and fish.
So the poor’s health is usually worse than the
wealthy.

When you go to buy a car at a car lot the same
car will cost the poor as much as twice as much
as it did the wealthy. How? The FICO Score! You
don’t have to be a dead beat to have a low
score, because both bad credit and no credit
make for a low score. Let’s say a poor man and
a wealthy man walk into the same used car lot
to buy the same car.

The wealthy man is going to finance it from his
bank at a low interest rate. And the poor man is
going to have to use the car lot’s financing at as
much as 20% interest.
Both of you leave the car lot and walk into the
same insurance company.
The poor man will pay higher premiums on the
same car for the same coverage.

Why do the poor never seem to make that move
into at least the “middle class?”
Much of it has to do with poor decisions and
poor education but a lot of it has to do with
issues they just can’t overcome.
People still need a lot of help.

The second part of the good news is:
God has a plan
It’s called “The Church!”
God has called us to do good to all people and
match our mouths with our actions.
Now I hope you know that when I use the term
“The Church” I’m not talking about an
institution, but a body of believers who come
together for teaching, prayer, fellowship and the
breaking of bread. I’m talking about you and me.

God has designed a money flow that if followed
will feed the world. Here is how it goes:
God, Me, The Church, The World.
God gives to me. He asks me to give 10% of it
back to Him through the church, and the church
(you and me) to give it to the world through
services and ministry.

ESV In the same way, let your
light shine before others, so that they may see
your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven.

Here’s the scoop.
Those who know say, Universal primary
education for underprivileged children would
cost $6 billion.
To bring clean water to most of the worlds poor
would cost $9 billion.

Basic health and nutrition for everyone in the
world would cost $13 billion.
That totals $28 billion dollars.
The amount of extra money we would have if all
Church goers tithed?
$168 billion dollars.
(The Hole in our Gospel, Thomas Nelson, 2009,
Richard Sterns – pp.218)

The answer to the plight of the poor and the
total eradication of world hunger does not lie
with our government or any government.
It lies with you and me.
Think of the testimony, the revival, the numbers
of those turning to Christ when the American
church eradicates world hunger.

Don’t think you’re too poor to give?
ESV And he sat down opposite the
treasury and watched the people putting money
into the offering box. Many rich people put in
large sums. And a poor widow came and put
in two small copper coins, which make a penny.

And he called his disciples to him and said to
them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has
put in more than all those who are contributing
to the offering box. For they all contributed
out of their abundance, but she out of her
poverty has put in everything she had, all she
had to live on."

Tony Campolo was preaching in West Virginia
one night. Two young lawyers were part of the
congregation. Compolo’s sermon was on the
cost of discipleship. At the conclusion of the
service the invitation was given for people to
commit themselves fully to Christian service.
The two young lawyers did not come forward.

However, they did accept the challenge to
change their lives and seek ways in which they
could more fully serve Christ.
The two men practiced law together.
As a result of the call to discipleship these
lawyers decided to offer free legal services to
poor people in their county.

This was a decision that went beyond the
amount of free service that most law firms
provide.
These lawyers would help anyone in the county
who needed their help -- without cost.
People responded to their generosity.

Their commitment to helping the poor, changed
their lives in ways they did not expect.
They soon gained new paying customers.
Even more surprising a number of people who
had been delinquent with their bills suddenly
paid them in full.
“I suppose they didn’t want to cheat lawyers
who helped the poor,” one of the lawyers
explained.

These men have taken the first step in
becoming disciples of Jesus.
They still have their BMWs; they still vacation in
Bermuda. They still have a lot of the things that
“worldly” people make the essence of their life.
They haven’t given it all up.
But they’re headed in the right direction.

They are doing something significant for Christ
in their everyday lives.
They are no longer generic Christians.
They are on their way to being disciples.

179 What Jesus Said About The Poor Among Us

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179 What Jesus Said About The Poor Among Us