OPEN: Chicago is just about to approve a new entitlement. They intend to give 1,000 unemployed families $500 per month with no strings attached (total of $6 million per year). The argument seems to be that automation is robbing people of jobs and so this is intended to put money in the pockets of the poor so they can buy more products – which will create more jobs and get the economy up and running in Illinois.
Now, there’s a serious problem with this plan: Among other things, Chicago is $71 billion in debt - not counting the $40 billion in pension commitments they owe. For that and various other reasons I doubt that this plan will work (I hope that it does, but I don't believe they have a "prayer").
But why would they do this? Why would they give this money away to 1000 families? Well… there’s a basic belief that the poor need help, and that belief is founded in the Bible’s teaching that God loves the poor, and He wants you to love them too.
Let’s take a quick look at this part of His sermon: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”
This sounds a lot like the words from the Sermon on the Mount – but this sermon in Luke is an entirely different message. The Sermon on the Mount was given BEFORE Jesus chose His 12 Disciples. This sermon (the Sermon on the Plain) was preached AFTER He chose them. In addition, there’s several other details that are different between these 2 messages.
In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus is stressing that people who experience poverty, hunger, sorrow and hatred are special to God… and He wants them to be special to us as well. So… that’s the point of the BLESSINGS Jesus talks about. But then He shifts His focus… from blessings to curses (or woes): "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
What’s Jesus talking about here? Well, he’s contrasting the rich vs the poor, He’s contrasting the well-fed with the hungry, He’s contrasting the entertained masses vs. those who weep and mourn, and He’s contrasting the popular with the hated. Essentially Jesus is telling the rich and well-fed and happy and popular to start paying attention to those who struggle with life. He's telling them to try to find ways of helping those who are poor, hungry and sorrowing... or else.
Now, this is a repeated theme in Jesus’ teachings. Jesus tells the story of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ "But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. Luke 16:19-25
Who’s sitting in hell? A rich guy who didn’t care for a poor beggar named Lazarus.
Then, in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus tells this story: "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."
What will make Jesus call someone an “old goat” and send them to eternal damnation? People who did not feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, cloth the naked, and visit the folks in jail.
WOE – says Jesus – DON’T DO THAT! If you’ve been blessed with any kind of wealth or influence or power use it for the poor, needy and sorrowing.
Now, as critical as this teaching is for us as Christians there are people who tend to WARP Jesus’ teaching on this issue and miss the point.
One group of people that warp Jesus’ teachings are called “Social Justice Christians”. Whenever you hear the term “Social Justice” in connection with Christianity… run the other way. Don’t pass “Go”, don’t collect $200… don’t listen to these folks – they’re nuts!
Now, they are often very well-meaning (but they’re still nuts) and the reason they’re well-meaning is because they believe that it’s hard to share the gospel with someone who’s worried about where they’re going to get their next meal. It’s hard to talk to someone about Jesus when they’re homeless. It’s hard to build a church in a nation where the government is corrupt and oppressive. So Social Justice folks pour almost ALL their energy into fixing those problems. In the name of Jesus.
Now, should those problems be fixed? Should we feed the hungry, help the homeless, stand against corruption? Well, of course we should! But the problem with the Social Justice crowd is that they too often believe that those problems need to be fixed BEFORE anyone is told about Jesus. Any Scripture that gets in the way of fixing those problems FIRST is either ignored or removed.
One very famous Social Justice leader is Tony Campolo. He is passionate about helping the poor and the needy… but he ONLY believes the words of Jesus in the Gospels (Red Letter stuff). ONLY Jesus spoken words (Red Letter stuff) are worthy of acceptance. He ignores the rest of the New Testament (which tells us how to live as Christians) – things about the need to stress morality and righteousness, etc. - because it gets in the way his objective.
ILLUS: Now, there’s another mindset that warps Jesus’ teachings on helping the poor. Stephen Colbert said: “If this is going to be a Christian nation (the USA) that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.”
What was Colbert saying? He was saying it is the job of the government of the United States of America was to help the poor… and that the US wasn’t doing their job!!! But Colbert is misinformed. It is NOT true that America doesn’t help the poor. In the Old Testament, (depending on which scholar you talk to) God commanded the nation of Israel to tithe between 15 and 33% of their national income to take care of the poor.
Comparatively, in the US in 2011, fifty-one percent (51%) of our nation’s budget - dedicated to helping needy: 20% went to Social Security, 13% to Medicare, 8% to Medicaid, and 10% to Safety net programs.
And that doesn’t even take into account the money that religious organizations dedicate to help the poor. According to Mark Hemingway of The Weekly Standard “… the budgets of American religious charities, schools, hospitals and other nonprofits are tabulated in the tens of billions (of dollars). In addition, 70% of U.S. food pantries are run by faith-based nonprofits…”
So, Colbert was WRONG about America’s commitment to help the poor. But he was also misguided because Jesus’ command to help the poor wasn’t focused on governments - Jesus commanded INDIVIDUALS to help the poor. I found this cute little meme on the internet that shows Jesus teaching His disciples “Help the poor and helpless.” Someone in the crowd asks: “But Jesus, can’t we just give our money to the Romans and let them do it for us?” To which Jesus responds: “Okay, I’m going to start over from the beginning. Let me know where I lost you.”
You see, you and I are the ones commanded to help the poor (not the government). That was the point of the story of the Rich and Lazarus. That was the point of the story of the Sheep and Goats. You can’t wait on the government … or EVEN the church to do this. Jesus is looking to you and I to step up and be His hands and feet to the needy.
Now one last thing here: when Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor… Blessed are you who are hungry now… blessed are you who weep now…blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!”
What He was telling them is this: if you follow Jesus you are likely to experience poverty, hunger, sorrow and hatred in this world. In fact, Jesus explicitly SAID that this was going to happen: “All men will hate you because of me.” Luke 21:17
Peter echoed Jesus’ words in I Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
Whoa… that’s not what I signed up for!!! I don’t want to face those difficulties in life. But Jesus was saying that I will be blessed if I follow Him, and my blessings will come in spite poverty, hunger, sorrow and hate. You see, everything in THIS world is temporary. You can be as rich as you want. But when you die – you can’t take it with you. You can be as powerful as you like, but when you die–your power dies with you. You can be as beautiful/handsome as you like. But when you die… eventually you’re not going to be all that attractive.
Jesus said it this way: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20
ILLUS: The story is told of a tax assessor was interviewing a man attempting to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay. The assessor asked him: "What property do you possess?" The man replied "I am very wealthy" (you don’t usually want to tell an assessor that. "Well then tell me what possessions you have," the assessor instructed.
The man, who was a Christian, replied: "Well, I have everlasting life (John 3:16); I have a mansion in heaven (John 14:2); I have peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7); I have an unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:8); I have the love from God that will never fail me (1 Corinthians 13:8); I have a faithful and pious wife, healthy, happy and obedient children, and true, loyal friends. And I have a crown of life (James 1:12).”
The assessor closed his books and said – “You are indeed a wealthy man. But your wealth isn’t something that I can tax.”
CLOSE: A few years back, several of the members of our church took a mission trip to Haiti. When they arrived, they were shocked at the abject poverty in which people lived. Most of the people there have little in the way of “personal property” (in fact, it’s a privilege when one of them has a suitcase that way they can store what few items they own in it).
Homes were generally ramshackle affairs that were smaller than really small bedroom. There’s little food to be had and little work that a person can do for money. And yet the believers there are extremely happy people.
There are people in the US who would look at Haitians and pity them because of what these folks don’t have. In the US, the goal is to have all the health, wealth and wisdom. But when Dave (one of our Elders) returned from Haiti, he made mention of something a Haitian evangelist had told him:
“There are people in this world that say we are poor people here. But no one is poor who has Jesus.”
