| Pity the Poor |
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Has it ever occurred to you that if He wanted to, God could wipe out all poverty in an instant? For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. - Psa 50:10 Why then does poverty still exist? Jesus gives us a hint in His reply to His disciples, when they questioned the extravagance of the woman who had anointed Him with the alabaster jar of perfume. His statement is an echo of a command given in the old Testament: For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. - Mark 14:7 For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land. - Deut 15:11 One of the reasons that there will always be poor people amongst us, I think, is that we may thus be able to pity them. Whilst our sympathy for the poor should move us to acts of charity to relieve their affliction, we should never despise them, or look down upon them, because, in the words of a saint of old, "There but for the grace of God I stand". Not everyone is poor because of laziness or stupidity or bad character, and it is not our place to judge these things. Many are poor because of simple misfortune, or, if you like, by God’s will. In fact, God has a special blessing for those who are poor in this world. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. - Prov 22:2 Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love him? - James 2:5 Make no mistake. It is no sin to be rich. Abraham and many of the patriachs were very rich men, because God blessed them. Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. - Gen 13:2 The danger of wealth lies in becoming proud, self-sufficient and secure in our wealth, and forgetting about God. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. - Rev 3:17 Beware lest you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. - Deut 8:17,18 By your wisdom and your understanding you have gotten wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth - Eze 28:4,5 The other great danger lies in ignoring the plight of the poor in the midst of our own plenty. A secular writer has observed: "Smelliness, like other people’s poverty, is merely a matter of getting used to". We, however, as Christians, must never get used to other people’s poverty. But if any one 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 speech but in deed and in truth. - 1 Jn 3:17-18 He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard. - Prov 21:13 Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. - Matt 5:42 This was the sin of the rich man, who ignored the plight of Lazarus, and eventually ended up in Hades. "There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." - Luke 16:19-21 To have compassion upon the poor, and to desire to relieve their affliction, and to act upon this desire, is to be very close to the heart of God. We, as Methodists have always had a very strong social service agenda, and this is a Good Thing. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1:27 Is it (fasting) not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? - Isa 58:7 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the LORD. - Jer 22:16 On the other hand, to disregard the suffering of the poor is to stand in sin and condemnation. He who gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. - Prov 28:27 Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - James 4:17 Then he will say to those at his left hand, "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, "Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?" Then he will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me." - Matt 25:41-45 In God’s economy, helping the poor results in rich dividends for ourselves, both on earth and in heaven. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again. - Prov 19:17 One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. - Prov 11:24 Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. - Luke 12:33 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." - Matt 19:21 After all, as they say, "You can’t take it with you". So why not give it away while you can? For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world - 1Tim 6:7 For you had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. - Heb 10:34 Our Lord himself is the best example of what we should be like. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. - 2 Cor 8:9 My fervent prayer is that this rebuke may never apply to us, as Christians and as Singaporeans: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. - James 5:1-5 In the midst of our abundance and prosperity, let us remember the poor, and resolve to live simply that others might simply live. There are many poor and needy amongst us, not just in our neighboring countries, but in our immediate neighborhood as well. There are many opportunities to help the poor, and as many excuses not to. I believe it was John Wesley who said that we should seek to earn as much as we can, so that we can give as much as we can. Most of us religiously follow the first part of this maxim, but conveniently forget the second part. May God help us to remember. |
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