So that's the question I had to ask myself when I first started getting involved with Hope Street CMC (formerly Hope Street Church). What does Jesus say about this poverty issue? Now I know that as a Pastor, we are suppose to be compassionate. Actually, I scored pretty low in compassion on the personality testing as I was preparing to become a Pastor and that always concerned me a bit. The fact is, Compassion is a part of all Christians but I think it grows inside of our hearts as we achieve a deeper level of Christlikeness...
'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.'- Galatians 2:20 NKJV |
As we see our lives transformed by the living water of Christ, we see that the stuff that mattered greatly to Jesus starts to matter greatly to us! This may not be everyone's testimony, but it is the testimony of so many I have been privileged to work with at Hope Street CMC.
So now that I have made the apparent reasons compassion grows in Christians clear to us (I hope), the real question I asked in the title asks us What does the Bible have to say about the poor? There are 2100+ scriptures (stats from the Poverty and Justice Bible) about the Poor and Poverty in the Bible, I am not going to try and cover each and every one in this blog posting because I would like to maybe have you want to come back and visit us!! I would however like to refer to one or two of the more relevant ones and let you search out more if you get the itch.
I think the main scripture that I have always been drawn to is found in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 19:17 says:
So now that I have made the apparent reasons compassion grows in Christians clear to us (I hope), the real question I asked in the title asks us What does the Bible have to say about the poor? There are 2100+ scriptures (stats from the Poverty and Justice Bible) about the Poor and Poverty in the Bible, I am not going to try and cover each and every one in this blog posting because I would like to maybe have you want to come back and visit us!! I would however like to refer to one or two of the more relevant ones and let you search out more if you get the itch.
I think the main scripture that I have always been drawn to is found in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 19:17 says:
'Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done- NIV |
I think this scripture probably says it all as to how God wants us to relate to the poor in our society. 'Whoever is KIND'... to me that says we need to be ever vigilant to opportunities that present themselves to us to show kindness to the poor. Jesus Himself says the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11). That speaks to the fact that things haven't changed since the days that Jesus walked on the earth. This fact shows us that if we have our eyes open, and are following the leading of the Holy Spirit, we should always have many opportunities to show kindness to the poor. AND God will reward them (us) for what we have done. What does that reward look like? I can't say for everyone, I only know what it looks like for me. For me it is blessing upon my life... sometimes financial but more often than not it blesses me in a way that I can only describe as a noticeable touch of God upon my life. By that I mean I know for sure that God is rewarding me for what I have done. I think that all children of God that are moved to compassion would have the same testimony.
Is today the day you allow the Holy Spirit of God to use you to be Kind to the Poor in your city/town? I hope so because I would love to see God be faithful to His promise to reward you and know that you had the opportunity to experience a real touch from the Father. Whatever that may look like.
Another scripture that I think sums up a lot of the references to Poverty and Justice in the bible is found in Matthew 5:16
Is today the day you allow the Holy Spirit of God to use you to be Kind to the Poor in your city/town? I hope so because I would love to see God be faithful to His promise to reward you and know that you had the opportunity to experience a real touch from the Father. Whatever that may look like.
Another scripture that I think sums up a lot of the references to Poverty and Justice in the bible is found in Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven- NIV |
Let the Light of Christ shine out of your lives. Remember what we learned in the first scripture reference above. It is no longer I who lives... BUT Christ lives in me... If Christ lives in me, then His light should shine out of me... Right?? The greatest thing about this scripture is all glory goes back to God the Father for all we do. That is very humbling but essential to the life of a Christian. If we try to take some of the glory for ourselves... well... I can only say from experience that God is quick to remind me of my place! Let your light shine for God brothers and sisters and let your kindness be evident to all.
So that is just a brief understanding of what the bible has to say about the poor. There is a lifetime of reading and learning and discerning ahead of you if you want to explore the rest of the scriptures. I would say it would be time well spent but that's up to each of you to decide for yourselves. I only know for sure that God cares for the poor... He commands us to care about the poor... and Jesus Christ, our example in everything, went out of His way to place Himself in direct contact with the poor. So go forth, showing kindness and shining for Christ and let us see what impact we can have on the world we live in!!!
Be Blessed as you walk with Christ!!
Pastor Murray Alan Kumm
So that is just a brief understanding of what the bible has to say about the poor. There is a lifetime of reading and learning and discerning ahead of you if you want to explore the rest of the scriptures. I would say it would be time well spent but that's up to each of you to decide for yourselves. I only know for sure that God cares for the poor... He commands us to care about the poor... and Jesus Christ, our example in everything, went out of His way to place Himself in direct contact with the poor. So go forth, showing kindness and shining for Christ and let us see what impact we can have on the world we live in!!!
Be Blessed as you walk with Christ!!
Pastor Murray Alan Kumm
