Friday: Further Thought ~ Unto the Least of These
Further Thought:
“When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another.’ Thus Christ on the Mount of Olives pictured to His disciples the scene of the great judgment day.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
And He represented its decision as turning upon one point. When the nations are gathered before Him, there will be but two classes, and their eternal destiny will be determined by what they have done or have neglected to do for Him in the person of the poor and the suffering.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 637.
“As you open your door to Christ’s needy and suffering ones, you are welcoming unseen angels. You invite the companionship of heavenly beings. They bring a sacred atmosphere of joy and peace. They come with praises upon their lips, and an answering strain is heard in heaven. Every deed of mercy makes music there. The Father from His throne numbers the unselfish workers among His most precious treasures.” — The Desire of Ages, p. 639.
Discussion Questions:
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Who are our "least of these"? I get emails, flyers in the letterbox, phone calls, and people accosting me when I go shopping, all trying to get me to part with my money for charity.
A fair bit of it is big business, and when you look into it, the actual amount of money that gets into charity is often pitifully small. Then there are the scammers, I refuse to give to charities that ring me up on the phone. It is all too easy to impersonate a well-known charity and skim a few dollars off someone they cannot see.
I am a bit hard-headed about parting with my cash and rather than giving to charities on demand because they have nice brochures or a good heart-string story. I give my charity dollar systematically. And here I will put a word in for ADRA, the Seventh-day Adventist Church's disaster and relief organisation. In the main, they do a good job. They are not perfect and they do make mistakes but on the whole, they get in and do the job they are supposed to.
The other issue is that we need to look beyond financial donations. It is all too easy to give money and think you have done your charity thing. One of the things that I have noticed about effective charity at a personal level is that you need to become involved in your community. Some of my friends are involved in vegetable gardening and supply 70% of their garden produce to the local food bank. Others provide laundry services for the homeless.
We Seventh-day Adventists have a tendency to be isolationists, keeping ourselves pure and undefiled by the world. But, if we are to take the Gospel to the world we need to get out there and show Christianity in a practical way. Charity is more than money; it is a commitment to being the ears, eyes, and hands of God. When you mix with the community, you hear their prayers.
Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
Maranatha Volunteers International
Adventist World Radio
We have extended families and family ties in PNG that is very strong. We support each others mostly in times of death. More financial support is given to help with funerals. Well it's now business at funeral times. Very sad to say that very little is given to the work of helping those weaker ones and helpless in our neighborhood. Well more so, the Adventist who are preaching this very message. I am saddened that Satan is in the midst of it all.
@ Robert Korbel, Let's trust that the study this week will make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters in PNG.
I'm glad God doesn't neglect the poor! There are precious stories in the Bible where through direct intervention the righteous poor are taken care of (1 Kings 17:8-24, Exodus 16:14, 15 ). And also there are a myriad of ways that the unrighteous poor are cared for, too (Matt. 5:45)! Everyone can go through hard times, and some people are very poor, but the most important thing is to trust in God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Deut. 6:5).
We have focused our attention on the poor and needy regarding material goods, but I want to point out that all are ‘eligible’ to receive our careful, considerate, and compassionate interaction. Rich or poor, when lost in this world and experiencing hardship of any type, they all deserve our full engagement.
Though needs might differ, with the Spirit's helps we are led to show through our actions that they are not alone in their struggle. Those who live a well balanced, prospereous life, willing to share generously but do not know God personally, also benefit knowing from hence their blessings come.
Each saved life's impact is much grater then the person's life itself. His/her new life will develop ripples in the pond of life and so touch many more lives. This is how I see God's design/principle of 'sharing and caring' to work - it starts with Mercy and Grace given to us in order for us to pass it on in all we do; 'given to live leads to living to give.'
One could consider that all humanity is poor and clothed in filthy rags, that there is nothing rich or good about us. Rich or poor, if we do not drink from the Well of Truth and Light and do not eat the bread of Life, are we then not all considered ‘poor and needy’?
As we get to know our Lord and Savior, we were being blessed with great riches - He opended our eyes to show us how to live rightly. I see His Truth and Light as the true riches/treasure which needs to find expression in word and deed as we meet the needs of others.
Deut. 8:18 ”But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” Wherever God finds us, we are called to not put our hope in wealth but to 'learn to live in the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.' Matt.6:33.
It is the new disposition of our heart which God’s mercy and grace has changed in order for us to be able to love Him and be the caring and engaged brother or sister of our fellow man.
To understand Deuteronomy 15:11 and the idea that there will always be poor in the land, we need to consider the earlier verse, Deuteronomy 15:4, which tells us there should not be poor in the land. The Bible tells us that we will never have a utopia on earth with no poor people. But it also reminds us that this is not the way it should be, and we should do all we can to eliminate poverty. That is the paradox we live with.
The poor, widows, orphans, the disabled and the disadvantaged are God’s test of our hearts. (Deuteronomy 15:7-10; Leviticus 19:18.) Jesus’ mission on earth is the mission of Christian life. (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1.)
What does it mean to lose your life for the sake of the gospel? Paul said it well. For Christ we are killed all day long. In other words, we have a relationship with Christ all day long that kills the old man of sin. Another way of describing our dying to the old man of sin is that we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Can it then be said of us who have surrendered to Christ: We are counted by the Lord as righteous? Absolutely!
Romans 8:36.
Romans 4:9.
The reward for dying to Christ is more wonderful than riches, even more wonderful than being an influencer on a religious net, or having a superior skill that is learned by study, practice or observation.
The reward is: wait a minute, it is a reward that is not earned.
Now, the reward is:
Overwhelming victory through Christ. And there is more, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is found in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39.
What did the rich young ruler lack that led him to resist following Christ? I do believe he was not willing to yield up his will to Christ, thus losing out on the power that is above all riches. Down the same line, he could not see that surrendering to Christ would give him strength to follow through with Christ's solution for him. He failed to let God lead in the way of everlasting.
Steps to Christ 48:1
Psalms 139:24.
THere are two versions of the parable of "the talents." On one of them Jesus mentions one servant as getting 5 talents, multiplying it to 10 talents. The next one gets 2 and multiplies it to 4. The third one goes and buries it and then gets put out by God for doing so. The other version has 10 servants each getting "one pound" (talent), and none of them get put out. The one that hides his pound gets rebuked, and only the ones that did not want their master to be their ruler get put out by their king.
I have been an elder, a deacon, head deacon, church board member, and I have seen much money spent by the church on flyers and literature, but yet no souls come in to join this church.
Today, I am picking up a young man to our Sabbath School class and church service. He is the son of a fellow I taught painting to, but lives up north of this state. His son is staying with his aging grandfather.
I therefore work with "one soul at a time," as per the second version of the parable of "the talents," but I guess that the second version should be entitled, "The Parable of the Pounds."