God’s Heart for the Poor
Poverty • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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When is the last time you considered the oppressed in our community?
When is the last time you considered the oppressed in our community?
Oppressed:
Without property; poor, wretched, needy
When is the last time you considered those without property; poor, wretched, needy in our community?
When is the last time you considered those without property; poor, wretched, needy in our community?
I remember a neighbor who once lived in my neighborhood in Boys Camp Road. He would say that the saying of the neighborhood was when you get to the stop sign at the top of the hill ALWAYS turn left.
DON’T turn right. If you turn right you have to go through town and going through town you have to consider the oppressed in our community.
Turn left so you don’t have to think about it.
I am not sure when it happened but it seems as though it has became normal in the Christian community to turn left on the oppressed in our communities.
I have shared this many times but when Nik Ripkin was called to the mission field they asked him when did God first call you to missions? He responded with, “Um, I read Matthew 28 the great commission and after reading my Bible I was called”
They responded with thats great but when did you first receive your calling?
Um I read Matthew 28 and it says Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
They asked him again when was you called to missions.
He said I read Matthew 28.
I often share with others that when it comes to the oppressed in our community if you read your Bible, then you will have to consider the oppressed in your community.
1 God has taken His place in the divine assembly; He judges among the gods:
King of kings and Lord of lords takes His place in the divine assembly; He judges among the gods
Should we be concerned about His judgement?
YES
2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Retorical question
How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless
Justice:
Decide, settle; help, get justice; make decisions, give legal aid to, make decisions, act as judge, go to court, plead, seek one’s claim.
I wish my friend Steve Donaldson with Rural Compassion was here to share with you his recent experience in court. He recently shared with me that he had to go to court for something and as he was there in Springfield.
He said his heart was broken because the halls were filled with the oppressed in the community
He shared with me the hurdles in our judicial system that the oppressed are often jumping through. It becomes an endless cycle.
My experience is the oppressed in the community have to follow all the rules that are made by the people who have the stuff.
They often have to follow the rules to get the stuff.
I was super impressed this Summer with Amy. She joined me for some growth conversations with a few of our students. She was teaching the students how to read through things and agree or disagree with what they have read.
She was teaching them how to stand up for themselves.
Observation from coaching:
The kid whose father is present at every practice and every game gets more opportunities than the one whose father is not present.
It is easier to have the kid who does not have a father or parent present at a game sit the bench.
This kid sits the bench then no one is there to stand up for them.
What develops from this is often a combative spirit for the kid. The kid will often grow up as adult who thinks everyone is out to get them because no one else advocates for them so they have to advocate for themselves.
4 Rescue the poor and needy; save them from the power of the wicked.”
8 Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. 9 Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.
We are often good at defending the cause of ourselves or our own families.
As a family, we are pretty good at speaking up for ourselves.
Someone does you or your family wrong then we will take care of it.
Sometimes I do this a little too well when my kids are playing a sport. I advocate for good rules and find myself trying to get justice through the refs. Ugh.
(I am one who has been thrown out of an old man softball game)
Point is that it can be easy to defend the cause of our own family.
Scripture calls us to defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.
When is the last time you have advocated on behalf of the needy?
31 The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors Him.
The one who oppresses the poor
I love this because it speaks to those who oppress the poor
This oppression insults his Maker
Careful how you treat the poor among you.
One major influencer on how we function as a church here at Bridge of Faith is that we believe that everyone in our community was created in the image of God.
Here's why this matters so much to us at Bridge of Faith.
We don't serve the poor because we think we're better than them.
We don't serve the hungry because we're the people who have it figured out.
We don't serve kids because they are a project for us to fix.
We serve them because they bear the image of the God we worship.
The enemy has distorted this image and in the ministry of reconciliation we want to help people be reconciled back to this garden of Eden image.
So programs and help that work to not oppress the poor further but help them restore their identity of made in image of God so that we don’t insult their Maker is vital.
Our desire is to be kind to the needy.
6 Isn’t the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?
I like verse 7 because it says to share your bread with the hungry
and it goes on to say to bring the poor and homeless into your house…
The picture I get here is that eating with them. This is not you have bread that is going bad so you donate it to them.
This is more personal. This is sharing a meal with the hungry.
It is bringing the poor and homeless into your home for lunch with you.
I have been turned down when I have invited others out to eat. They have told me. I would love to share a meal with you pastor but I am embarrassed by my teeth when I eat.
I have had others over to the house and they have told me that I didn’t think I was worthy to eat at your house and that you guys are just normal people.
(hot dog picture)
Tell the story
I believe that the Wednesday night meal is essential at Reach, but if you think that the meal is the only reason students and adults come then you will miss it.
I will never forget the young mom that approached me after speaking at Southgate in Springfield.
She said I grew up in Forsyth and went to church at the River. They had a Wednesday night meal. She said don’t stop serving meals at Bridge of Faith.
She said the reason why is because at the food pantry my family was the only family in line. None of my friends were there. She said on the weekend, I was the only one who would get a special back pack of snacks. None of my friends had extra backpacks.
Did you know that kids with backpacks will give a lot of their food away on the bus because they care more about having friendships then they do about having food in the house for the weekend.
The young lady went on to say. The only place that I was not the only one eating was at church. She said we all ate and fellowshipped together. It was just the poor kids eating. It was us all together.
This meal time is crucial and we are making some changes to make it better and allow for more kids to come. (Explain the changes coming to Reach)
We are barely scratching the surface of all that scripture has to say for how we treat the oppressed among us.
This is Jesus Speaking
35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’ 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
This year at Reach I want to encourage students and adults to take a moment to look around for the stranger who came to church and feels lost. Take them in and help them through the night.
See someone who has a bad shoe. We got access to the thrift store.
Offer to go get seconds for the person you are sitting with. Maybe share something with them from your plate.
So I began by asking this question
When is the last time you considered the oppressed in our community?
When is the last time you considered the oppressed in our community?
So I started with a question:
When is the last time you considered the oppressed in our community?
And maybe for some of us, the honest answer is, "It's been a while."
Maybe we've gotten pretty good at turning left.
Not because we don't love Jesus.
But because it's easier.
It's easier not to know their name.
It's easier not to hear their story.
It's easier not to sit at their table.
It's easier not to notice the kid sitting alone.
It's easier not to notice the person who doesn't have enough food.
It's easier not to notice the person who doesn't have anybody advocating for them.
It's easier to drive around the problem than to drive through it.
But here's what I know about Jesus:
Jesus keeps asking us to look.
Look at the hungry.
Look at the stranger.
Look at the lonely.
Look at the person without a voice.
Look at the person sitting alone.
Look at the person who doesn't think they're worthy of sitting at your table.
And when you see them, don't turn left.
Move toward them.
Because when you feed them, Jesus says, "You fed Me."
When you welcome them, Jesus says, "You welcomed Me."
When you speak for them, Jesus says, "You spoke for Me."
When you sit with them, Jesus says, "You sat with Me."
So maybe this year at Reach, the question isn't simply, "How many people came?"
Maybe the question is:
Who did I see?
Who came through those doors that needed somebody to notice them?
Who needed somebody to sit beside them?
Who needed somebody to get them seconds?
Who needed somebody to say, "Come sit with us"?
Who needed somebody to advocate for them?
Who needed somebody to remind them that they were made in the image of God?
Because church, we don't just want to have a ministry that feeds people.
We want to be a church that sees people.
And when we see them, we move toward them.
So this Wednesday night, when you come to Reach, don't just come to serve.
Come looking for somebody.
Look around the room.
Find the person who looks like they don't belong.
Find the person who is eating alone.
Find the student who doesn't know anybody.
Find the family that looks uncomfortable.
And sit with them.
Share your bread.
Break bread together.
Because you never know...
you may think you're sitting down with one of the least of these.
But according to Jesus,
you may have just sat down at the table with Him.
