What Jesus said About

The Poor Among Us

Adapted from the series, “Jesus Said” by Michael Wiley

http://www.sermoncloud.com/the-vine/what-jesus-said-about-the-poor/

Phil Collins sang,"She calls out to the man on the street

'Sir, can you help me?It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,

Is there somewhere you can tell me?'He walks on, doesn't look backHe pretends he can't hear her

Starts to whistle as he crosses the streetSeems embarrassed to be there"

(“Another Day in Paradise” from the album, But Seriously)

How do you react when you see or pass a homeless person? With Pity? With

Apathy? Do you see it so often do you not see them anymore? Phil Collins

wrote “Another Day in Paradise” to bring the homeless to the world’s attention.

Jewish people were commanded in the Law of Moses to care for the poor

among them.Deuteronomy 15:7 ESV "If among you, one of your brothers should become

poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or

shut your hand against your poor brother,

8 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest

there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, 'The seventh year, the

year of release is near,' and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother,

and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty

of sin.

10 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you

give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work

and in all that you undertake. 11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You

shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in

your land.

Isaiah prophesied the anointed one would bring good news to the poor.

Isaiah 61:1 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;

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our

God; to comfort all who mourn;Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy.

Luke 4:17 ESV And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He

unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has

anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the

blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor." 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the

synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your

hearing."

John the Immerser knew the Messianic prophesies & was looking for the

Anointed One, the Messiah he came to prepare the way for. Jesus essentially said, “I am fulfilling those prophesies,

look no further.” Matthew 11:2 ESV Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come,

or shall we look for another?"

4 And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf

hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."

Jesus knew God the Father’s passion for the poor.

Had the rich young man seeking eternal life overlooked God’s law to take care of

the poor or was he stingy when he obeyed it?

Matthew 19:16 ESV And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what

good deed must I do to have eternal life?"

What Jesus Said about the Poor

17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only

one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to

him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not

commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall

love your neighbor as yourself."

20 The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and

give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow

me." 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great

possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of

heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a

needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished,

saying, "Who then can be saved?"

26 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27 Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left

everything and followed you. What then will we have?" 28 Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his

glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or

children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will

inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

The disciples evidently realized how rich even those of us who think we’re poor

really are.Peter couldn’t see the BIG picture yet so

Jesus uses this opportunity to teach how greatly they would be blessed.

Jesus had an opportunity to reiterate, Deuteronomy 15:11 ESV For there will never cease to be poor in the land… A woman poured expensive ointment on

Jesus.

Matthew 26:8 ESV And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9 For this

could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor." 10 But Jesus,

aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not

always have me.

In the previous chapter what He said is not so much about ‘poor people’ but how we should respond to people in

need.Matthew 25:31 ESV "When the Son of

Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will

separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the

goats.

33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right,

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in

prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord,

when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in

prison and visit you?'

40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his

left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you

gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not

clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not

minister to you?'

45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away

into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This passage is commonly used to spur the church on to helping people.

Notice verse 34 Jesus is speaking to the sheep on His right who will inherit the

kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. After reviewing what they had done for Him they asked

when did we do these things for you? He says in verse 40 'Truly, I say to you, as

you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

He to talking to Christians who have provided for the poorest, neediest of

Christians who are members of the body of Christ.

In verse 41 He turns to speak to the goats on His left who will go away into eternal punishment condemning them

for not helping those in need.

He said, “you did not do it to one of the least of these.”

He adds not "my brothers," as above (ver. 40), because the evil acknowledge no such brotherhood; they live for self

alone, they own not their real relation to the whole family of man. (Pulpit)

Can you see how this aligns with the OT law? Deuteronomy 15:7 ESV "If among

you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns

within your land that the LORD your God is giving you… In the OT law & in this NT passage God’s people are to take care of

God’s people.

There are ample passages in Scripture that tell us to help all people especially Amos, Micah, Luke and James, but this is not one of them. Jesus is saying that

the sheep respond properly to his messengers or fellow believers.

Paul said in Galatians 6:10 ESV So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good

to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Notice, good deeds are the fruit not the root of salvation. You don’t buy your way into heaven by helping others. BUT your faith in Christ is made evident by your

service to your brothers.

Two things we learn from this passage that we can take to heart:

1. The Righteous will help people2. The Righteous are identified by

their benevolence1 John 3:17 ESV But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

We must define poor

It depends on how you use it. “The poor little rich girl” doesn’t mean she has no money. It means she is to be pitied. But

of course we don’t pity her.To get specific, we use the word poor to

describe a certain group of countries and people with a definition like:

Shortage of common things: Food, clothing, shelter, and safe drinking

water.

These are the primary things that determine quality of life. So if you have those and you compare yourself to the

world,

YOU ARE NOT POOR!

The poor in America

Here in America we use the word poor to describe people across a wide spectrum. We use it to describe the homeless man on the corner and we use it to describe a

family that has their basic needs met, but just barely.

The US Census Bureau in 2005 listed 37 million poor people living in America.

For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to

provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 37 million

people classified as "poor" by the Census Bureau fit that description.

In 2007 Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation wrote an article analyzing

these statistics.He found, of the 37 million,

-- Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes.-- Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning.-- Only 6 percent of poor households live

in a home that is over crowded.

The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens,

and other cities throughout Europe.-- Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.-- Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

-- Sixty-two percent have cable or satellite TV reception.-- Eighty-nine percent own microwave

ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an

automatic dishwasher.

Of course, the living conditions of the average poor American should not be

taken as representing all the poor. There are people and families that fit the

definition of “poor” in America, but the numbers are small compared to the rest

of the world – due to government, church and para-church programs,

people have a lot of opportunity and help.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg2064.cfm

Greg Kaufmann’s report on May 29, 2013,

U.S. poverty (less than $17,916 for a family of three): 46.2 million people, 15.1 percent. http://billmoyers.com/2013/05/29/u-s-

poverty-by-the-numbers/

There are different types of poor people.I’ve not seen this broken down

anywhere, though it may be, but this is how I categorize poor people (people who have a need and can’t meet it).

Types of poor

Cultural Poor – poor country situationSituational Poor – lost job, lost income

due to illness, or injuryDisadvantaged Poor – Family issues, mental illness, Poor by Choice – Bad choices, poorly

educated, bad life- skills.

Most of the people who come to Christians looking for help are of these two types; disadvantaged and choice.

There is a 5th type of poor,Voluntarily Poor – different than “poor by choice.” Because these folks have the life-skills to become middle class and even wealthy but choose poverty.

These people are aid workers, missionaries, etc.

How are we doing

First the good news: You are RICH. You may not feel rich, but that’s because you are comparing yourself with people who

have more than you do. If you make $25,000 a year you are wealthier than

90% of the people in the world.

There are 7 billion people in the world and almost half of them live on less than

$2.00 a day.

You may say, “I don’t feel rich.”

Where do you put your hope?

In Paul’s instructions to Timothy he said this:

1 Timothy 6:17 ESV As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to

enjoy.

18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready

to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that

which is truly life.

I know that even though most of our poor can’t be classified as poor, many

do have real needs.

When you’ve lost your job and your mortgage is due… When you get that

disconnect notice from the electric company… People have real needs. In

fact the poor in America pay more to live than the rich!

Articles from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post and The

Brookings Institute all confirm, - The poorer you are, the more things cost!

If you rent a home instead of purchase which most poorer people do, you pay

more in federal taxes on your income. If you can’t afford a car and you must walk, you’ll go to the corner market instead of the grocery store across

town. Milk and bread will cost you up to twice what the grocery store charges.

When you do go to the grocery store, you buy the worst food in the building --- bologna and chips are cheap. The poor can’t afford fresh vegetables and fish. So the poor’s health is usually worse

than the wealthy.

When you go to buy a car at a car lot. The same car will cost the poor as much as twice as much as it did the wealthy.

How? The FICO Score! You don’t have to be a dead beat to have a low score,

because both bad credit and no credit make for a low score. Let’s say a poor man and a wealthy man walk into the

same used car lot to buy the same car.

The wealthy man is going to finance it from his bank at a low interest rate. And the poor man is going to have to use the

car lot’s financing at as much as 20% interest. Both of you leave the car lot

and walk into the same insurance company. The poor man will pay higher premiums on the same car for the same

coverage.

Why do the poor never seem to make that move into at least the “middle

class?” Much of it has to do with poor decisions and poor education but a lot

of it has to do with issues they just can’t overcome.

People still need a lot of help.

The second part of the good news is: God has a plan

It’s called “The Church!” God has called us to do good to all people and match

our mouths with our actions.Now I hope you know that when I use the term “The Church” I’m not talking about

an institution, but a body of believers who come together for teaching, prayer, fellowship and the breaking of bread. I’m

talking about you and me.

God has designed a money flow that if followed will feed the world. Here is how

it goes: God, Me, The Church, The World. God gives to me. He asks me to give 10% of it back to Him through the

church, and the church (you and me) to give it to the world through services and

ministry.

Matthew 5:16 ESV In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that

they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Here’s the scoop. Those who know say, Universal primary education for

underprivileged children would cost $6 billion. To bring clean water to most of the worlds poor would cost $9 billion.

Basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world would cost $13 billion. That totals $28 billion dollars. The amount of extra money we would have if all Church

goers tithed? $168 billion dollars. (The Hole in our Gospel, Thomas Nelson, 2009,

Richard Sterns – pp.218)

The answer to the plight of the poor and the total eradication of world hunger

does not lie with our government or any government. It lies with you and me.

Think of the testimony, the revival, the numbers of those turning to Christ when

the American church eradicates world hunger.

Don’t think you’re too poor to give?Mark 12:41 ESV And he sat down

opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering

box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a

penny.

43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all

those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she

had, all she had to live on."

Tony Campolo was preaching in West Virginia one night. Two young lawyers

were part of the congregation. Compolo’s sermon was on the cost of discipleship. At the conclusion of the

service the invitation was given for people to commit themselves fully to

Christian service. The two young lawyers did not come forward.

However, they did accept the challenge to change their lives and seek ways in

which they could more fully serve Christ. The two men practiced law together. As a result of the call to discipleship these

lawyers decided to offer free legal services to poor people in their county.

This was a decision that went beyond the amount of free service that most law firms provide. These lawyers would help anyone in the county who needed their help -- without cost. People responded

to their generosity.

Their commitment to helping the poor, changed their lives in ways they did not expect. They soon gained new paying

customers. Even more surprising a number of people who had been

delinquent with their bills suddenly paid them in full. “I suppose they didn’t want to cheat lawyers who helped the poor,”

one of the lawyers explained.

These men have taken the first step in becoming disciples of Jesus. They still have their BMWs; they still vacation in Bermuda. They still have a lot of the

things that “worldly” people make the essence of their life. They haven’t given it all up. But they’re headed in the right

direction.

They are doing something significant for Christ in their everyday lives.

They are no longer generic Christians.

They are on their way to being disciples.