God’s priority to the poor

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 21:13

The Bible has plenty to say about God’s care and priority for the poor (see link above). God holds his people accountable for how they help the poor. And by poor, I mean those who are low on resources to the breaking point that their lives are at risk.

And this is not just a political, governmental issue. Regardless of what our position might be on that, God holds his people, and today that would be the church, as well as us individually who are a part of it, accountable. We need to be openhearted and open handed to those in need. There is no question that we will have plenty of opportunities to do so, just as scripture says.

I think my tradition, the evangelicals have done well at this in many places, but it hasn’t had the emphasis in our teaching, and probably therefore in our practice overall, as much as in other Christian traditions. There is no doubt that it was a major emphasis in Jesus’s teaching. Therefore if we’re to be Christian, we must follow suit.

We may not be overflowing with material wealth ourselves. But that doesn’t take us off the hook. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is clear on that. A great example.

We need to first open our hearts to the Lord, and then to those in need. To be much in prayer over this. To help by doing what we can, and growing in the grace of giving so that we become more and more generous in doing so. Given the struggling, broken down health care in the United States, so that basics are not always affordable for all, we who live there will have plenty of opportunities. Any church which doesn’t make helping the poor a priority in their community, and throughout the world where they can, is missing something of the very heart of their mission. And really in any nation there’s opportunity to help those in need. Not to mention helping the poor in the rest of the world.

And not to be overlooked, already touched on, is that this is an important aspect of our growth in grace in and through Jesus. Of course we need to be wise in this. To help the poor on their feet, and toward the means they need so that they in turn can help others. Thankfully much of this is happening in the world today, so that global poverty is on the decline as infrastructures are set in place. Beginning with basic needs met, but also helping others to be able to support themselves and their families through the goods they can help bring to others. Of course sin gets in this because of greed in the world, but we have to keep working on what can be helpful and good toward a win win situation for all.

But back to our mission, the mission of the church. It’s in the gospel, in Christ. And part of that is to help people in whatever way we can. Giving them money where needed, and helping them find their way, so that they in turn can help others. In and through Jesus.

 

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accepting one another, living in grace

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:7

There is nothing quite like a genuine acceptance of each other in Christ because of grace. And there is nothing quite so stifling and cold as when we refuse to do that, or do it with strings attached.

Everyone alive has their issues. No one has arrived, of course. And we all have our particular struggles, not to mention our blind spots. We are all in process. And in the passage quoted above, it is in the section in Romans 14 and 15 about disputable matters in which Christians can differ. In the context of that day with reference to what was actually clean and unclean in terms of the new covenant replacing the old. And it’s a bit complicated.

But fast forward to where we live today, and it can be in terms of all kinds of things, but at the heart of it is an attitude of judging someone else, so that we hold them at arm’s length, and likely see them somehow as inferior to ourselves, either in their character, or in their faith.

What we need is quite the opposite. If we focus on what’s negative about ourselves or others, then we will likely miss what God is actually doing. And the well is poisoned. Instead we need to accept both ourselves, and each other, just as God in and through Christ accepts us. So that we can be open to the goodness of what God is doing even in us, as well as our brother and sister in Christ. And so we can be hopeful of God’s movement of grace in others.

The only way we can live and go on well ourselves. And something we must apply in our attitude to others as well, in and through Jesus.

God’s warning and provision in the face of temptation

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation^[c] has overtaken you except what is common to humankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[e] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:11-13

1 Corinthians 10 is an interesting passage in considering how the Old Testament relates to us today. It is pretty drastically direct, actually. Of course there are important differences. The baptism of God’s people of old was through the Red Sea, their God-given escape from the Egyptians through that miracle. Our baptism is by water accompanying our faith in Jesus, or in infant baptism, anticipating such faith. They also ate the same spiritual food and drink, probably meaning all of them at that time, but maybe including us to some extent, since Christ is said to have been with them. But God was not pleased with most of them because of their sin. And they suffered the consequences of that sin.

And then our passage quoted above: We are not above this possibility, even though we live in a different time, and we could say the time of grace as opposed to law. But while the law was given during that time, grace most certainly was with God’s people as well. And it’s not like we live without boundary lines set, if I read the New Testament correctly, even considering Paul’s letters alone.

The crux of the matter is that we need to not only take sin seriously, but refuse to think we’re above giving into whatever temptation may come our way. Of course God could block every such occasion, but chooses not to. We would have to be removed from the world, or lose our respect from God as being moral agents at least as it seems required at this present time, for that to be the case.

But the promise seems to be that God won’t let it become unbearable, but will provide the way of escape for us, that we might be able to endure such. This suggests to me that escape is an important, even critical way of dealing with temptation, if we are to avoid falling into the sin that would ensnare us. We look to God, to God’s faithfulness, and while doing so, find our escape from that the allure of that temptation. And not just once, but the rest of our lives.

Nothing fancy here, but clear enough I think. And critical for us. As we remain in the word and press on together in the grace and truth that is ours in Jesus.

faith and money

Looking at life and the Bible might make one wrinkle up their nose and shake their head. It seems like some things are irreconcilable, or don’t make sense. But then one needs to step back and look at the whole, and try to process it all as much as possible. And then simply trust God. I am thinking right now about faith and money.

Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount about treasures in heaven and not worrying about one’s life (Matthew 6:19-34) are classic in trying to understand and sort through this. And then we have passages that encourage us to not get into debt and save, although in the Biblical world, when one could save, that is taken for granted that they should. But that they shouldn’t hoard, meaning store more than they needed, and that they should be generous to the poor and needy.

Jesus in the passage referred to above suggests that we can end up serving God or money, but not both. The idea is that money can become an idol, money itself not being an evil, but the love of money a root of all kinds of evil, as we read in 1 Timothy (6:10).

I have to wonder at the Christian leaders who actually are worth millions and millions of dollars. I don’t try to judge them for a second and I’m not critical, except when their life styles are exorbitant. Or when their teaching ties one’s material wealth to one’s spirituality. This has been a problem with the health and wealth preachers who seem to suggest that material wealth is indicative of the faith one has. They have great faith, therefore they have the material wealth. And people are to follow their example, especially, too often, by giving to their ministry. I take it for granted that we should give regularly to our church both for the continuation of the ministry in the gospel and in teaching, and in outreach for those who are in need.

Jesus himself said that he had no place to lay his head. And he taught us to pray that the Father would give us our daily bread. Translated for us today in America, that doesn’t mean we have to live from paycheck to paycheck. But that we should be devoted to God in how we handle money, and be generous in giving, and not trust in our material wealth. And a big trap for us here in the United States is debt, whether through student loans, or even through credit cards which we mean to pay off right away, but all too easily accumulate with interests which even if on the lower end then make them hard to pay off.

Faith looks to and depends on God, and what God gives us we are stewards of, in other words we’re responsible to handle that money in a way that honors God. Helping the poor and needy is central to honoring God (Proverbs 14:31). We want to do well with the money we have, but we don’t want to be devoted to money and making more of it, but only to God. All of this requires faith and wisdom, prayer and dependence on God.

Our Father is the one we count on to meet our needs, and that together, as we continue to grow and mature in and through Jesus.

why we do what we do

I find it not encouraging (rather than discouraging, which I try to avoid) when people who don’t know you judge you. In my case the idea that I’m promoting myself and giving my thoughts which I’m not authorized (like by any church, religious or educational institution) nor asked to do. This makes it difficult for me to take them seriously since they don’t know me at all and what I’m about.

There are too many places to go on this one, and not enough time for anyone. We could cite the priesthood of believers for one thing. That the Spirit is on us all in Jesus, and gives each one of us something special from God to do, as simple as that might be. I’m not sure why it is, but I’ve rarely felt any encouragement to carry on and keep doing what I’m doing, but at some key junctures of doubt I asked people I respect and they encouraged me to continue on.

Sometimes I feel like God has let me down, that God never believed in me. Of course I don’t actually believe in myself at all, except for the grace God puts in me in that original creation of his through the new creation in Christ. I know better, but just the same I can ask that hard question when I see the life of loved ones falling apart, or precariously on a precipice. Not to mention my own struggles, and simply survival mode I often seem to find myself in.

Of course we do what we do because of the grace of God in Jesus, and therefore in response to that great never ending, always present love of God in Jesus. And hopefully by the Spirit, we do it out of love. Even if much of what we do in the course of a day is done to simply fulfill the immediate task in front of us, while we do try to maintain some kind of interactivity with God and others.

My plea is for people to not judge others, and not think this or that about them, but instead get to know them. And think the best of others, not the worst, not because people are so great, because we’re all flawed for sure, and broken. None of us have it all together. But God is faithful. And God is actually exalted in his servants through Jesus, something God chooses to do. Which is why I can celebrate others (Psalm 16:3) even while knowing that none of us are any better than the other, that we’re all completely dependent on God’s grace and gift to us in Jesus.

So why do I do what I do, like write this blog, etc.? I don’t completely know. There’s plenty I suppose to say on that. But hopefully in the end it’s all for Christ and the gospel to the glory and praise of God. That is what I aspire to, and by God’s grace want to be passionate about. As together with others I want to carry on in the race marked out for us in and through Jesus.

the grace of God, the word of God

Two themes coming out, as I’m reading Acts, besides the gospel are the grace of God and the word of God. We can rightfully say that the word of God is often shorthand for the gospel, but it includes the full scope of all of God’s written, breathed-out revelation (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  This seems to me to be essential for the church, the Christian life and witness in the world.

Grace can be misunderstood and must be read in its full context and usage in scripture. The gift of grace is never a license to sin, nor does it simply ignore sin. Grace includes both the judgment and correction of the sinner through Jesus and his death. Repentance and faith are involved in that, repentance simply meaning a change of heart and direction of life. Faith is the essential, faith in God’s word, the message of the gospel, as well as all that God gives us in his word through the gospel. We can say and rightfully so, it is a submissive faith.

The word of God is essentially the message of Christ. And all of scripture comes across to us as God’s word written. If we want to know God then we’ll have to be in the word. And through it we can come to know God’s grace through the gospel, and in our daily lives. A grace which forgives and helps us to live in the new life in Jesus.

Simple, yet profound, and indeed life changing. The only way and place we can find and live in that life. In and through Jesus.

grace is the answer, period (in Jesus, of course)

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:11-14

Much much Christianity, I’ve seen over the years. And grace has been sprinkled on all of that. First though, it would be good to give a definition or description of grace. Grace is God’s gift and favor to those who don’t deserve it, and could never earn it. Back to the original thought: Christianity is New Testament Christianity insofar as it is imbued with grace. And to understand that, we need to contrast it the same way the New Testament itself contrasts it: with law.

The law condemns us, because none of us lives up to its demands, or even can do so. The law ultimately points us to our need for a Savior. And that’s where God’s grace come in through Jesus and the cross, Jesus’s death. It is on the basis of Jesus’s death, by that and that alone by which we can be saved. And that is God’s gift of grace to us received by us through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). And as the Titus passage above makes clear along with the Ephesians 2 passage, that opens us up to a new life. But grace alone is the means to forgiveness and new life in and through Jesus.