“Taking Good News to the Poor”
Evidence of God’s presence
Introduction
For some time now the issues concerning our partnership with Abraham’s house ministry to the community have been discussed and even debated among us. On this issue we have been a divided house. I have wrestled over the issues over these past several months.
I have searched for God’s heart on the subject. What I share today is what I have learned from my study concerning our responsibility to the needy around and among us. What God thinks about the issue is very clear. How we as a church should specifically apply what God instructs is perhaps not as clear. I have summarized my findings under four general principles.
Ministry to the poor and needy is the passion of Jesus.
Ministry to the poor and needy reflect genuine heart change
Ministry to the poor and needy determine blessing of cursing.
I.Ministry to the poor and needy is the passion of Jesus.
Taking the good news to the poor was the core of Jesus’ ministry authenticating his person and validating his anointing.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR."
And He closed the book, 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." And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph’s son?" Luke 4:16-22
Anointed = appoint, assign, give a task,
Jesus took on a pretty awesome mandate.
Preach the gospel to the poor
Proclaim release to the captives
Proclaim recovery of sight to the blind
Set free those who are oppressed
Proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
While in prison John wondered if he had pointed in the right direction when he told people…
“This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." Matthew 11:2-6
Notice the impressive list of accomplishments Jesus told John’s disciples to report back to him.
The blind receive sight
The lame walk
The lepers are cleansed
The deaf hear
The dead are raised up
The poor have the gospel preached to them.
Of all the signs pointing to the authenticity of Jesus and his ministry, preaching the gospel to the poor ranks right there with raising the dead. Ministry to the poor authenticated the heart of God on earth. How do we know Jesus still works among us? His works became our works. His anointing became our anointing. Why would someone take offense at Jesus’ ministry to the poor and needy? It appears that many took offense at Jesus’ own state in life.
Mark 6:1-6
Just a carpenter? The good Shepherd?
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 Cor. 8:9
They also were offended because he dared actually touch the untouchable and associated with the undesirable.
Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means: ’I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 9:10-13
John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ’He has a demon!’ "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ’Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." Matthew 11:16-19
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:1-2
Jesus proceeded then to speak three parables.
The Lost sheep – the priority reaching the lost
The Lost coin – the passion of reaching the lost
The lost sons – the patience of reaching the lost
We must exert all diligence to reach out to those who are lost both in and out of the fold.
"Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house." And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:1-10
Jesus’ passion was to seek and save that which was lost.
What is our passion? Satisfy and salve those who have been found? Associate only with those we find compatible of comfortable? Give only to those who can give back?
"If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. "If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive 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 Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:33-36
II. Ministry to the poor and needy reflects genuine heart change
The instruction of John the Baptist
So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ’We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." Luke 3:7-11
As disciples of Jesus we must feel his passion and carry our His purpose.
The early church passion Acts 4:32-37
James identified genuine life change James 1:26-27
Jesus tested the true heart of the rich man by asking him to give to the poor. Matthew 19:21
The final test = Matthew 25:31-46
The evidence that Messiah had come among us was ministry to the needy.
The evidence that we are truly his is our ministry to the poor and needy.
III.Ministry to the poor and needy determines blessing or cursing
Deut. 15:7-11
There are blessings for ministry to the needy.
There are consequences for neglecting or despising the needy.
2 Cor. 8:14-15 Hebrews 13:15-16 Proverbs 14:20-21 Prov 14:31;17:5;19:17; 21:13; 22:2; 22:9; 22:16; 28:27; 29:7; Ezekiel 16:49; Zech. 7:9-14; Luke 14:12-14; Leviticus 23:22; 1 John 3:17-22
Conclusion
In light of God’s heart, I have concluded that our energy should be directed to exploring every means to pursue ministry to the poor and needy rather than seeking reasons not to pursue such ministry to the community; especially the poor and needy. I believe that even though it is good to financially invest in many efforts to touch the needy of our world, the greatest benefit comes when we are challenged to sacrifice our own comfort levels. It is easy to keep such ministry at a distance because it is uncomfortable, confusing, and sometimes outright messy.
But…It causes us to search our own heart. It exposes prejudice. It exposes self-centeredness. It scrutinizes our passion for the lost. It encourages thanksgiving. An inward rather than outward focused people becomes weak and dysfunctional. A healthy body first focuses upward then inward, then outward. A purpose driven ministry balances energy between ALL the purposes.
Cultivating dynamic relationship with God.
Pursuing meaningful community with each other.
Resisting evil and restoring obedience.
Touching a lost world in the name of Christ.
An inward focus spends more time arguing over the club house than how we can best accomplish our divinely mandated mission. We should not be focusing on all the reasons and difficulties why we can’t be involved but rather the reasons why we should set our heart to do everything possible to take the good news to the poor and needy of our community. We flounder for lack of a unified mission. We have sought God for several years for a way to impact our community. Henry Blackaby who wrote, “Experiencing God” urges churches to discover where God is working and then join Him rather than start some ministry and then ask God to bless it. He advises churches to pay attention to the people God brings in the door. He suggests we look for what ministries pop up among us and cultivate them. Well, we did not go looking for Abraham’s house and Abraham’s house did not go looking for us. Through a long sequence of circumstances both find ourselves struggling to serve God through ministry to the lost. Meeting the needs of the needy is a responsibility placed on the people of God. Giving away stuff that meet needs just happens to be a bridge to take the good news to the poor which is as powerful as raising the dead. It is not about the stuff! It is about taking the good news to the poor. The stuff just so happens to open doors to share the gospel. The “stuff” stacked in the gym for now just happens to be a tool to an end. Yes other ministries provide help to the needy.
Few do it to share the gospel. Yes we could support such a ministry at some other location but we would miss the blessing and benefit for those who personally engage in such ministry. Whether it is Abraham’s house or some other ministry, I feel we must follow God’s heart.
What price are we willing to pay? For now, we have an opportunity to partner with a ministry that has effectively ministered to the needy of the community for the past several years. Out of the 54 surveys returned, 45 felt we should continue such a partnership at this location. Such a partnership, like any relationship, requires give and take and communication. My hope is that rather than continue to discuss why I can’t work is to expend our energy finding a way to make it work. It is not the only ministry God requires. There may be others God directs later but for now we have a wonderful opportunity for God’s blessing.
