OUR HEART FOR THE POOR

We don’t have to look very far to realize that there is great need and injustice in the world. Nearly half the world’s population live on less than $2 a day; nearly a billion people are unable to sign their name or read; 850 million people go without even 1 meal everyday and a child dies of malnutrition every 5 seconds; an estimated 15 million children have lost one, or both their parents to AIDS.

The sheer size and complexity of the problem can leave you so overwhelming that it sometimes prevents us from responding at all. But as Christians, God’s Word tells over and over again about our responsibility to the poor.

Psalm 41:1 reads, “Blessed is he who considers the poor…”  My question is, “Do we?” I wonder how much time do we actually spend considering the difficulties of the poor?  And who are the poor? Is it just the homeless person who lives under a bridge or on a city street?  Is it just those living in poverty in parts of Africa?

 We do not always see the needs of the poor on a daily basis. But considering the poor is the responsibility of every Christian, and it’s a responsibility that comes with promise. If we read on in Psalm 41 it says: “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.”

Our compassion and generosity towards the orphan, the widow, the alien and the poor moves God’s heart. There’s no doubt about it, the Bible has a lot more to say about our attitude to the poor than it does about many of the other things we are very concerned about. Here are attitudes to guard against if we are to effectively respond to the needs of the poor:

Excuses
In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-37) Jesus shared the story of the man who was robbed, attacked and left for dead on the street. He parallels the response of two religious men who crossed the street when confronted by the dying man and the actions of the Samaritan who stopped to help. I’m sure the two men who kept walking would have been able to justify their inaction. Perhaps they had to get to an important meeting or the supermarket before closing time. Maybe they thought they were not in a position to help.

We can have countless excuses that prevent us from helping the poor. We can hide behind our busyness, our lack of resource or our perceived distance from the problem. This is the equivalent of ‘crossing the road’ when faced with the reality of people’s needs, circumstances and situations. It actually says a whole lot about our priorities and who we are.

A Judgmental Attitude
Ignorance can cause us to make wrong judgments about the underprivileged and the poor. We can make presumptions about why people are poor; we can make judgments about their happiness, how smart they are, and their willingness to be helped. Let’s never allow a judgmental spirit affect our willingness to extend a hand to the hurting.

A Moralizing Attitude
Generosity is fantastic, but when our giving is done in a flashy way it can be elitist.  That kind of giving can be hollow and unattractive, and the very people we want to help are likely to see right through it!  We need to be sure that we keep a spirit of cooperation and an attitude that says ‘together we can make a greater difference’.

HOW CAN WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Now that we have identified attitudes that hinder our response to the poor, let’s consider how as individuals we can start making a difference today:

Keep building your own life
We’re all alive for God’s Kingdom purpose and as part of the Church, we’re all part of God’s plan for humanity. Our Christianity should never be just about us having enough for ourselves; it’s about building the kind of life that helps others. The best thing we can all do is take what God has placed in our hand and become successful at it. We should all be committed to continually building our lives in a way that sets us up to be a blessing to others.

Be part of something bigger than yourself
On our own we can do a little, but together we can do a lot. Being a part of a church that has vision and getting behind that vision will cause us to be more effective than each of us trying to do it on our own. There is truly strength in numbers.

Practice generosity everywhere
I don’t believe generosity comes naturally; in fact our human tendency is to hold back or think of ourselves first. I believe we need to challenge this thinking by building a culture that practices generosity everywhere. It may be a smile or a kind word to the cashier at the grocery store, or a gift to someone going through a tough time.  We need to work against anything in us that tries to draw back from being generous with our finances, our words and our actions.

Befriend someone less fortunate than you
I’ve already mentioned it, but it’s worth repeating; there are people in need all around us. Sometimes we can become so consumed with our own things that we become removed or distant from this reality. Why don’t we decide that we’re going to come alongside somebody who may be less fortunate than us? I’m not talking about a patronizing friendship; rather become enough of a friend to really understand their need and what the real situation is in their life. Friendship costs you something. Let’s decide together, as we build a vision for the future, that we’re going to consider the poor and find every opportunity we can to make a lasting difference. Let’s be committed to tackling the issue of injustice and poverty from every direction. 

 Bring an offering for the poor
Silver Creek Fellowship is taking a special offering for the poor on Sunday, Nov 20.  The money from this offering will not go into the Silver Creek Fellowship general fund, but will go to help us minister to the poor.  Part of the offering will go towards ministering to people who are hungry; in Kenya, where there is severe famine; in Cambodia, where extreme poverty is found on every street.  These places have massive problems and we can’t help everyone, but we can help some!  Part of what we receive will go to help our own Poor Fund to help people who are in emergency financial situations – both in the church and in the community.

Get your children involved in giving to the poor.  Talk about it together as a family.  What can you do?  Is there something you could do without?  Gather up spare change.  Purchase an item from our Mission Passport.  Do something!