James 1:26–27 "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. " "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
James introduces a new subject to his first century Jewish believers as he exhorts them to KEEP the FAITH. So far in this epistle, James has addressed trials (1:2), wisdom (1:5), wealth (1:9), temptation (1:13), and the tongue (1:19).
Now, in James writes to these troubled believers and reveals the manner in which Believers should respond to the NEEDY. Dealing with this subject was vitally necessary, because many of these believers were suffering persecution for their faith. In spite of this, it appears from what James writes that some who suffered were finding little assistance from those who were not. A class division within the church had developed and James understands the destructive nature of overlooking the needy.
Poverty and wealth will be repeated in this Epistle.
2:2-5. Showing partiality to the rich and ignoring the poor
2:14-17. Faith without works (sends the hungry away hungry)
5:1-6. Sins related to wealth (false trust, oppression, over-indulgence)
But we are not living in the first century. There are few orphans and no orphanages in our community. Widows today do not face the financial isolation experienced in the first century.
QUESTION: What does Christian Compassion look like in 2014 in South Jersey?
There are three parts to our consideration of this question.
1 - How American Politics create a barrier to Christian compassion
2 - How All Believers Should Respond to the Needy
3 - Expressing Christ-like Compassion in our Culture Today
1- How American Politics create a barrier to Christian Compassion
What are your EXPERIENCES with HELPING the POOR?
This Christmas, Kim wanted to go to CAMDEN to help some friends with a clothing and food distribution for the homeless. She told me, “the Lord wants me to go to Camden.” I replied, “The Lord doesn’t want you to go to Camden.” She really wanted to go, until I reminded her of what happened on Choir Tour when we were in college.
During our college days at Word of Life we were part of the Collegian singing group. One of our performances was in a poor town and Kim was counseling a small group of girls who came forward to ask Jesus to be their Savior. After the counseling was over, Kim got on the bus but didn’t have her shoes on. We all asked her what happened. “One of the girls said that she didn’t have any shoes so I gave her mine!” That was great, I said, but weren’t those the only shoes that you had for the performances? She replied that she hadn’t considered that, so the next morning, our bus made a stop at the nearest K Mart and we all chipped in and helped Kim get a new pair of shoes.
So in any event, I wasn’t too keen on her taking our car to Camden!!! There’s no telling what condition she would have come home in!
In my years of pastoral ministry many people have come to me for financial assistance. I try to help when I can but I am not comfortable giving anyone money, lest it be used to purchase cigarettes, alcohol or drugs - the staple that many homeless people put above food, shelter or just about anything else.
One day at lunch time a woman came to the church asking for money to buy food. She said she was hungry. My mind kept replaying 1 John 3:17 "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?" I had to do something but I didn’t want to give her money.
I remembered that there were some hot dogs left over from a prior activity. “Maam, I can’t give you any money, but if you will wait here I will make lunch for you.” She was hungry enough to wait while I microwaved a couple of hot dogs.
I spoke with here for a short while and then left her alone in the kitchen to eat. Just about then, the pastors returned, passed by the kitchen and saw a rough looking woman eating hot dogs. “Who is that?” they asked. Well, the name “Hot Dog Man” has stuck ever since!
Perhaps you remember The NYC POLICE OFFICER who gave a HOMELESS MAN a PAIR OF SHOES this past Christmas. We were all moved by his generousity and compassion. But a week later, he was barefoot again! A newspaper did a follow-up story on the man who said “Those shoes are too expensive to wear out on the street”
According to the Post, the homeless man's brother, Kirk Hillman, lives in Allentown, Pa., and is a leader at the city's Greater Shiloh Church..... Kirk’s DAUGHTER, said “Uncle Jeffrey has his own life, and he has chosen that life, but he knows that our hearts and home are always open to him,' 'He knows that, he's well aware of that.' "
America has been engaged in a “war on Poverty” for 50 years. Current spending on “means tested government assistance” is close to 1 Trillion per year! Today’s welfare system of 70 programs, six federal departments, and many more state agencies and programs. A typical welfare recipient family could receive assistance from six or seven programs (Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, Head Start, and the Social Services Block Grant) administered by four different departments.[47] (The Heritage Foundation)
The War on Poverty has failed for several reasons.
1. Money is NOT the Answer. Our NATION is like the over indulgent parent trying to win the affection of a child.
2. Buying the votes of the poor. This does not lift people out of poverty - it enslaves them to generations of continued poverty.
Mothers who have children to get a larger support check. When they get too old to have children, they encourage their daughters to do the same. TODAY there are mothers who give their children back to the State, then become foster parents of their own children!!!
3. Removing personal accountability through “anonymous” Federal Programs.
HOWEVER, there are still HEARTBREAKING NEEDS all around us.
Stories from CODE BLUE.
Some were out every day looking for work.
Some were addicts who have been in and out of programs.
Some were men like Jeffery Hillman who choose to live in isolation.
2. How All Believers Should Respond to the Needy (James 1:26-27)
James uses the phrase “True Religion” We shy away from the word “religion” because it sounds too much like all the rituals that make up so much of false religion today. We distinguish our faith as a relationship with Jesus and not a religion. But James is using this word in a positive sense here. He is speaking about Christian compassion that follows salvation. NOTE 1:18 “brought forth by the word of truth.” Here, James is introducing a major theme of James..... true faith results in a life of good works.
Good works are “pure and undefiled” (1:27)
PURE. Katharos (English “katharsis”). Pure linen, clean water, pure gold, pure wheat
UNDEFILED. “Uncolored” Not tainted by anything added. “No additives or preservatives”
True Faith produces TWO THINGS
Christ-Like CONDUCT....... “Visit the widows and the orphans in their affliction.”
a. JESUS showed compassion on common people
i. A Samaritan woman
ii. A Centurions’s Servant
iii. A Gentile from the Geresenes
iv. An untouchable woman ceremonially unclean
v. The Lepers
vi. The children
vii. A Thief on the cross
viii. Jesus REJECTED those who minimized children. Mark 10:14 "But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
ix. Jesus taught that we will be judged on the basis of how we treat the “least of these” Matthew 25:40 "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.’"
b. Christ-like CHARACTER. “Keep onself unstained from the world”
“Unspotted” - used of JESUS as a spotless lamb (1 Peter 1:19 "but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."
True Faith is reflected in pure character.
3. Expressing Christ-like Compassion in our Culture Today
The NT WIDOWS had an even greater burden in the first century than widows do today. When their husband died with him died their financial means.
The NT ORPHANS were more numerous and destitute than orphans today. Children were abandoned Many parents died young or were sold into financial slavery
a. TODAY
i. Orphanages have been replaced with foster parents and adoption
ii. There are more parents WAITING FOR ADOPTION than there are children available.
Who are the widows and orphans of today?
The HOMELESS
Children in need of FOSTER PARENTS
Children of SINGLE PARENTS in the church
Prisoners
International needs
international orphans. While there are more adoptive parents waiting for children than there are children available for adoption, this is not a luxury enjoyed by the rest of the world. Today. Millions are Oppressed. They are sold as sexual slaves. A great international crisis exists.
According to Pearl Ministries and Acts 21 ministries, there are 27 million people in bondage to slavery in the world today. The highest number in human history. Every 30 seconds, a child is sold in human trafficking Most are sexual slaves. Predominant in Eastern Europe - Greece is the epicenter. The average age of a person taken into trafficking is 12 years old. The movie “Taken” was more common than most people realize, except that Liam Neeson isn’t coming to save these girls.
4. ACTION “visit the widows and orphans in their distress and keep ourselves unstained from the world”
a. Have the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," 1 Corinthians 2:16 "“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
b. Develop an Others First Lifestyle
i. With your TIME. How much time do you invest in others?
ii. With your FINANCES.
JOHN WESLEY lived modestly and was extremely generous. He attributed this to a lesson he learned while a student at Oxford. He had just finished paying for some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a cold winter day, and he noticed that she had nothing to protect her except a thin linen gown. He reached into his pocket to give her some money to buy a coat but found he had too little left. Immediately the thought struck him that the Lord was not pleased with the way he had spent his money. He asked himself, Will thy Master say, "Well done, good and faithful steward"? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid? What Wesley did Perhaps as a result of this incident, in 1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. Instead of letting his expenses rise with his income, he kept them to 28 pounds and gave away 62 pounds. In the fourth year, he received 120 pounds. As before, his expenses were 28 pounds, so his giving rose to 92 pounds.
Increase your standard of GIVING, not your standard of LIVING
c. Help without creating dependency. In 1935, President Roosevelt said: “Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” heritage.org/research/factsheets/2011/03/welfare-reform-the-next-steps
d. Constantly take steps toward economic self reliance.
e. A VISION to help ONE FAMILY break the bonds of government dependency.
