Weekend Sermon

     I am glad to be here posting another edition of the Weekend Sermon.  It is my hope and prayer that everyone is doing well physically and spiritually. 
     Everything seemed to be much better at work this week.  Thank you for all of your prayers about this matter.  I would ask that you pray that my health would improve some.  I've been having a lot of trouble breathing lately.
     Let us all continue to pray for those who are affected by the Ebola virus.  Pray that this epidemic will come to an end.  Let us also pray for peace in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Israel, Gaza and Ukraine.  I heard yesterday that the forces in Ukraine have signed a cease fire agreement.  I pray that it will hold, and peace can come to this region of the world.
     This past week, I heard a sermon that caused me a great deal of distress.  In this message, the minister was speaking about what the Christian's attitude to the poor should be.  I found his thoughts on the matter to be completely at odds with what is found in the Old Testament and in the teachings of Jesus.
    The basic idea of this particular man's teaching was that no Christian should give a poor person charity without expecting the poor person to earn it.  For instance, he said that if a poor person or homeless person came to the church for aid, they should only receive that aid if they first performed some type of work at the church or in the community.  He also was highly critical of the food pantries and other works carried out by so many churches here in the United States.
     This caused me to think about what the Bible says, what Jesus says about our response to the poor and needy.  This is what I would like to focus on in my message today.
     One of the most interesting references about the poor in the Bible is found in the book of Deuteronomy.  In chapter 15, the Lord God lays down the rules for cancelling of debts.  In verse 4, the Lord God says that there should be no poor person found in the land.  The people were to freely lend to their brothers and sisters even if the Year of Jubilee was near when all debts would be cancelled.
     Also in the Old Testament, God makes many provisions for the poor.  One of these is very interesting.  Those who owned fields and orchards were not to harvest all of the grain or fruit.  They were commanded to leave some so that the poor people might come and get the grain and fruit for themselves. 
     A comparable instance of this today would be the fact that corporations and the rich should not seek to maximize wealth and profits.  The needs of the less fortunate should always be paramount.
    These two instances tell me that God wanted His people to care about each other and help each other.  He didn't want people to worry about what they were going to get out of helping someone else out.  God didn't want there to be any poor people.  If those who had plenty would be generous, no poverty would exist.
    This holds true today.  There is a vast amount of wealth in this world held in the hands of a few individuals and multinational corporations.  They exploit the poor workers by paying ridiculously low wages.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer while few in the Christian community say anything about it.
     In Ezekiel 22:29 the Lord says, "The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery, they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien denying them justice."  In God's view, not treating the poor right is the same as being a thief.
     There is too much exploitation of the poor going on in the world today with the church doing little.  The church should speak out against the exploitation of the poor that occurs through substandard wages and horrendous working conditions.  The church should speak out against the exploitation of the poor that occurs through predatory lending and exorbitant interest rates on short-term loans.  Instead of criticizing the poor and homeless, the church should be assisting the poor.  Food pantries, shelters and clothing ministries are great.  However, there needs to be systematic change in order to make a difference. 
    In the Old Testament, God instituted the Year of Jubilee and the cancellation of debts.  This would be a great place to begin in bringing about a Scriptural solution to the problem of  poverty.
    Now, let us look at what Jesus had to say about the poor.  In the Beatitudes, Jesus said that the poor where blessed and that they were the salt and light of the world.  Jesus also said that He came to preach the Gospel to the poor.
    Jesus wanted the poor to be assisted.  When Jesus had His encounter with the rich, young ruler, Jesus told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor so that he might have treasure in Heaven. 
    Jesus also spoke about helping the poor and needy and how we should do it without expecting anything from them in return.  Luke 14:12-14 states, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives or your rich neighbors.  They may invite you back and you will have been re-payed.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed.  Although they cannot repay you, you will be re-payed at the resurrection of the righteous."
     Finally, I would like to add a few comments about teachings in the church that are similar to what Jesus faced and opposed while He was on earth.  In Jesus' day, the religious leaders believed that if you were rich, it was a sign of God's favor.  If you were poor, you were out of favor with God.  Something similar to this is often taught today.  The teaching says that God wants you to be rich and if your not you lack faith. 
     Jesus turned this whole way of thinking upside down when He told the story of the rich man and Lazarus.  As far as the religious leaders of Jesus' time were considered the rich man should have gone to Heaven and the poor man being licked by dogs should have gone to hell.  However, Lazarus went to Heaven while the rich man lifted up his eyes in torment.
     Jesus' definitive teaching about helping the poor is found in Matthew 25: 31-46.  Those who gave to the hungry, clothed the naked and took care of the sick were invited by Jesus into His eternal Kingdom.  To those who refused to help those in need and those who were oppressed Jesus said "Whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do it for me."
     I have a lot more that I could say about this subject, but I will leave it for another time on down the road.
     On Monday, I will post a verse for the week.  On Wednesday, I may have a review.  It depends on how I get along with my reading.  Lord willing, the Weekend Sermon will return on Friday or Saturday.  May God bless you.  Amen.