Good News to the Poor

One of the difficult things with hearing a bunch of sermons, and also of preaching a bunch of sermons, is that you can get somewhat immune to the message of them. You can just kind of assume that you know exactly how it’s applied and who it’s applied for…

There was a somewhat viral sermon quite a few years ago where this pastor—who was typically pretty hard-hitting—was speaking to a group of youth. They are used to pretty light messages, super cool phrases trying to connect with them---see kids, I’m cool, and something else that’s typical of this with big events is that somebody will usually be what is known as the hype man.

Come on everybody! Let’s give Jesus a big hand! Woop woop!! Let’s get excited about our Lord. Can you scream JESUS for us?!?!?! And something that is often part of this is that you’ll say something to connect with the kids and talk about how they are different from the world! It’s what we call throwing red meat.

And so, this preacher, again usually pretty heavy hitting. Not your typical fluff guy, gets up there and starts talking about Brittany Spears. The audience knows what they are supposed to do…this is just another Jesus hype man…so we start to clap and cheer! Yeah, take that devil. Yay Jesus!

But the pastor stops and says, “I don’t know why you’re clapping, I’m talking about you....”

You could hear a pin drop. We can get trained to hear a message a certain way and it keeps us from hearing what is actually being said. That’s part of what is happening in our text this morning…and it’s something that will end up riling up the religious leaders and causing them to get really mad at Jesus.

Let me show you this. We will read from Luke 4 in just a moment, and I think I’ve shown this to you before when we were in Luke 4. (That might have made you turn off…expectations…I’ve already heard it means I’ve already got it, right?)

I’m going to quick read Revelation 21:1-8…that means I’m going to skip through some of the words…summarize…I’m doing something here,

Revelation 21:1–8 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Why didn’t I read verse 8? What are you thinking? Are you troubled? Does it feel like I’m copping out? You know why we do that? Because we think Revelation 21:1-7 is our verse and verse 8 is for “them”. The outsiders. Be bold pastor. Tell those sinners that if they don’t repent they have no part in the kingdom.

And so if I leave it off it sounds like I’m just sharing a cushy gospel.

But can I show you something…I want you to read along in Luke 4:18-19. But I”m going to read straight out of Isaiah 61

Isaiah 61:1–2 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;

Sermon Introduction:

Did you notice the difference? Jesus didn’t mention “the day of vengeance of our God”.

So why leave that part out, Jesus? Because that’s part of what he’s doing here. That’s part of why this is so offensive. That’s why they celebrate at the beginning…because they are hearing “their verses”.

Good news to the poor. That’s not just economic. But it’s also not only spiritual. The poor in the Scriptures is a far-reaching term that points to all those of a disadvantaged status…those who would have been excluded.

Liberty to the captives. That’s going to be great news to those who are feeling the bondage of being exiles. Great to those In Jesus’ time who are under Roman rule. They are going to hear this as freedom from Rome.

Recovering sight to the blind. Again those who are disadvantaged…but has spiritual connotations as well. This should have been a clue even of Gentile inclusion. Those who are in darkness have seen a great light…that’s included here.

Liberty to those who are oppressed. Freedom. Ultimately freedom from sin. Freedom from Satan’s bondage.

All of those who are normally excluded now get to hear, “it is the year of the Lord’s favor. It is a year of Jubilee”. We love that message....for us. But what happens when Jesus turns that and instead he emphasizes this message of great and marvelous and endless grace to the outsider. That person you don't’ like.

I think far too often our message of the gospel would be more at home with the first century Jews than what Jesus is saying here. We are insiders..you guys can become insiders too if you’ll just....fill in the blank.

But Jesus is saying…go tell them they are free, go tell them liberty, go give them hope…go proclaim good news.

And that’s what I want to do for the month of April. I want to look at this verse and all that Jesus says here. Today we will focus on “good news to the poor”.

What does that mean? Who are the poor? What is the good news?

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When I say the word “poor” what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

Economic

Typically we think in terms of economics. A poor person is somebody who is lacking sufficient money to live up to a certain standard.

Now that gets a bit difficult. You might be asking, “Am I poor?” Well, I’m not get a large orange juice at McDonald’s kind of rich. But am I poor? Maybe. Maybe not. And so if it’s entirely economic how do I hear what Jesus is saying in this verse?

Good news to the poor. Upsize that orange juice, it’ll be alright.

2. Sub-Standard/Low Quality

That’s probably not it, is it. How else might the word poor be used. If I struck out 5 times in a baseball game someone might say, “that was a poor performance.” It means below standard.

Can we just go to the gas station and get some of the less expensive orange juice? No. That’s a poor excuse for McDonald’s orange juice. It’s not the same. It doesn’t past the test. It’s not as good. It’s below standard.

Good news to the poor. Hey, I know things are kind of substandard right now…but we’re going to rise up! You’re going to have some victory. Match up to those expectations. We’ll get you the good orange juice.

3. Poor guy

We also might use this when something is deserving of pity. “Poor thing”. A guy sells his kidney in order to buy a large orange juice from McDonalds. It was a painful operation, but totally worth it. As he’s walking out to his car to enjoy this nectar…he spills the orange juice all over the parking lot. “Ah, poor guy...”

Good news to the poor. God is giving good news to the one who deserves pity and sympathy. We’ll replace your orange juice with another one.

Which of these images does Jesus have in mind when he talks about the poor—and the good news coming to them? Well, kind of all of them—if the shoe fits. Let me show you.

At times “poor” definitely means those who are enduring economic hardship. Those who are in poverty. Consider just as a quick example Luke 19:8

Luke 19:8 ESV

And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

Zacchaeus is providing material goods to people who do not have material goods. But there is also a meaning that is added on top of this in Luke 14:15-24 in the parable of the great banquet. The beggars of the town are invited…(materially poor) but the meaning of the parable is about receiving the kingdom. So, “poor” ends up being those who are shut out of the kingdom—they are economically prosperous but spiritually poor.

In the Old Testament there is a ton to be said about taking care of those who are in material poverty and a weak social position. We would be overlooking much of the Scripture to make this “good news to the poor” completely devoid of meaning for those in material poverty.

But we’d also be making a misstep if we make it only about material poverty. When the Psalmist cries out to God in Psalm 86 that he is “poor and needy” he’s not talking about needing some cash. It’s far more expansive. The poor might be those who are persecuted, who are social outcasts. The poor might be those who are suffering from illness. And it might even be a reference to those who have sinned against God and are in need.

Just as we sang, “Come Ye Sinners....poor and needy...” We know that means far more than just economics. We know there is an element there about being spiritually poor.

If we look at the context of Isaiah 61, we see that it is a message of hope given to a people who are returning from exile. They were a people who were in desperate need of some good news. I like this summary definition by one theologian:

‘Poor’ here means ‘helpless’, dependent on others, unable to pay back. The recipients are in this word indeed described as beggars. But the word does not refer to their economic or social status. The tax collectors, the fishermen and the farmers in the fellowship around Jesus were certainly no beggars and could hardly be called ‘poor’ in a material or social sense of the word. They were able to sustain themselves by their own work. But they were beggars before God. They were dependent on his grace as it was proclaimed and demonstrated in the preaching and person of Jesus. The word is used in a transferred sense and describes the fundamental position of man before God.

What then does it mean to proclaim good news to someone who is helpless, who is dependent, and who is unable to pay back? Well, it means something similar to what we see in Isaiah 55:1

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

That which Jesus says will be ultimately fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth when he makes all things right. Revelation 21:6

Revelation 21:6 ESV

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

So how can you know if you are poor today?

It might mean that your economic and social standing, or even ways in which you have harmed others, has caused you to be outside of a community you want to be in. Then you are, in some sense, poor.

Is your life dragging along, not what you’d like it to be, not what God would want it to be. Maybe it’s covered up with the weight of all kinds of bad choices. Or maybe it’s been things entirely outside of your control. But you’re saying—this isn’t how life is supposed to be. Yes, in some sense you are poor.

Or maybe there are other things going on where you feel like an outcast. It could be health concerns. It could be depression puts you in that place—and has even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, in some sense you are poor.

Has your sin put you into a debt that you cannot pay? The wages of sin is death. Every sin carries with it this consequence. You are spiritually bankrupt. You don’t have what it takes to measure up to the holiness of God. Yes, you are poor.

Let me close with a story…one that is fitting on the Sunday before Easter. Palm Sunday. The triumphal entry, It’s when Jesus is arriving into Jerusalem. The big moment. Hosanna. Be enthroned, O King.

Let’s pause for a moment. Who has access to kings? Who gets to be in the room when it happens?

Who can ascend the hill....who gets access to God…who gets to be with this king of glory.

The poor? Nah. The powerless? No way.

It’s going to be the movers and the shakers. The leaders of society. The religious leaders. These are the ones who get invited to the big party. And so when Jesus comes into Jerusalem what does he see...

He sees the poor and powerless at the temple. But he doesn’t see them being given any kind of access…no, they have to get through the marketplace. The place where they are worshipping is turned into a Wal-Mart.

The religious leaders have turned a place of prayer into a place of business. There isn’t fruit being produced. I don’t know if I can say it any better than Jonathan Parnell has:

The co-op for commerce was a problem, but that wasn’t the only thing, or even the main thing, that Jesus was addressing. The real fiasco was how out of sync Israel’s worship was with what Isaiah 56 prophesied. Jesus quotes a portion of that vision from Isaiah 56: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

The context of Isaiah 56 tells us more. According to Isaiah’s vision, eunuchs would keep God’s covenant (Isaiah 56:4), and foreigners would join themselves to him (Isaiah 56:6), and the outcasts would be gathered with his people (Isaiah 56:8). But Jesus approached a temple pulsing with buying and selling. The court of the Gentiles, the place designed all along for foreigners to congregate, for the nations to seek the Lord, was overrun with opportunists trying to turn a profit. And the Jewish leaders had let this happen.

Their economic drive, and their false security in the temple as an emblem of blessing (Jeremiah 7:3–11), had crowded out space for the nations to draw near, and therefore Jesus was driving them out. The great sadness of this scene wasn’t so much the rows of product and price-gouging, but that all this left no room for the Gentiles and outcasts to come to God. This place of worship should have prefigured the hope of God’s restored creation — a day when “all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob’” (Isaiah 2:2–3).

In other words what was supposed to be a lighthouse was turned into a business. And so many people were harmed because of this. This is why Jesus overturned the tables in the temple. This is why he cursed the fig tree, This is why he sat opposite of it.

But Jesus says that he has come to give good news to the poor. Gospel. What does that mean? What does that good news look like?

I don’t think we’re supposed to go quite so quickly to just a spiritual application of what Jesus is saying here. Because part of this good news is overturning the fallen and broken way in which the world typically works. Outcasts are given access. They get a seat at the table. The poor and powerless are finally given the ability to make choices in their life—rather than their life being dictated for them. There is a freeing to the gospel that Jesus is talking about here.

No, it’s not saying that because of the gospel you’ll be given enough cash to buy that large orange juice at McDonald’s right here, right now. That’s new heavens and new earth type stuff....when all the blessings of heaven are given, not because you are wealthy, powerful, etc. but granted access because of the Lord Jesus.

And so, an entirely social understanding of “the poor” isn’t exactly correct. It’s about access. It’s about dependence upon God. If you have nothing to offer and you realize that—if you’re poor (materially, spiritually, etc.), if you’re an outcast---there is good news for you. You have access.

Earlier we sang these words:

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy Weak and wounded, sick and sore Jesus ready stands to save you Full of pity, love, and pow'r

Come, ye thirsty; come and welcome God's free bounty glorify True belief and true repentance Every grace that brings you nigh

I will arise and go to Jesus He will embrace me in His arms In the arms of my dear Savior Oh, there are ten thousand charms

Come, ye weary, heavy laden Lost and ruined by the fall If you tarry till you're better You will never come at all

Let not conscience make you linger Nor of fitness fondly dream All the fitness He requireth Is to feel your need of Him

Is that you? Are you weak and wounded. Heavy-laden. Sick and sore. Poor and needy. Come to Jesus.

One more thing to say, though, and then we’ll be finished. You might be here thinking, “That seems rather weak, or even counter-discriminatory. What if I’m not a failure? What if I’m not poor and needy, thirsty, weak, wounded, sick, sore?

Christianity is just like a crutch. You mean to tell me that I can’t come to God unless I’m groveling.I am successful. I am a basically good person. Why in the world is God not going to accept that? Why do I have to come like a beggar when I’m NOT a beggar?

Well, here is why. God can’t…God doesn’t…relate to a person that doesn’t exist. God only relates to who you actually are. Sure, compared to other people you might not be a beggar. You might not be weak and wounded. You might be big super tough guy. You might be the lady that has it all together, not an ounce of brokenness around you.

And you can also be delusional and not actually looking at your real self. Who you really are. You see that is the one who God relates to. And that’s good news. God relates to who you actually are. We can drop the facade. We can stop playing the game.

When it comes to standing before a holy God, a consuming fire with unflinching holiness, we’re all beggars. If I don’t acknowledge this it doesn’t make God unfair—it makes me delusional. God will only relate to who you actually are.

And so if you come to Him with all your machismo, all your accomplishments, all your self-righteousness, etc. it’s not going to amount to anything—because this isn’t who you actually are. These are your fig leaves. This is what you’ve propped up to cover your nakedness.

Come ye sinners...