God's Call to Reach Out to the Needy

I. Introduction
A. The elders and deacons asked me to interrupt my sermon series on Hebrews in order to preach a sermon kicking off our summer focus groups on mercy ministries.
B. Mercy ministry is a theme we heard about from Chris Sicks at our spring retreat.
1. (If you weren’t there, or if you need a refresher, I urge you to listen to the talks on our webpage.)
2. We learned about how Christ’s ministry was a ministry of both word and deed. He not only spoke the truth of the gospel, He demonstrated the gospel with His actions and lifestyle, especially toward those who were needy. And how He calls to do the same: our gospel testimony needs to be backed up with gospel deeds, especially toward those who are needy.
3. We learned about how Jesus didn’t just wait for the needy to come to Him, but went to them. And how, likewise, we should be looking for opportunities to minister in Christ’s name, not just wait to be approached.
4. We learned that we don’t have to solve the world’s problems. We just have to do what we can do with what God gives us where God put us.
5. We learned that we don’t even have to fix individual people or solve their problems. We need to love them, we need to welcome them. Sometimes we need to try to help them. But in the end, relationships are what people really need. They need relationships with Christ and with Christ’s people.
C. I had a lot of struggle choosing which passage to use. There are many different angles we could have looked at this from. We can view mercy ministry as:
1. The command of God
a. There are many passages of Scripture which call us to ministry toward those who are needy, but mercy ministry is also the fulfillment of the Golden Rule (Matt.7:12) and the Second Greatest Commandment (Matt.22:39).
b. Remember that when Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, He answered that it was to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. But He didn’t leave it there. He wouldn’t leave it there. They didn’t ask Him which were the TWO greatest commandments, but He insisted on telling the second one anyway: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
c. According to Jesus Himself, it’s not enough just to love God, we need also to love our neighbor. And the second commandment is not to love our wife, or our children or our friends or the people who look like us or think like us, even though they would all fit under the neighbor umbrella. The command is to love the person who happens to be next to you or near you, whoever he/she is.
d. And the way we’re called to love them is not by being nice to them or by treating them in a civil manner. The command is to love them the way we love ourselves — to be concerned about their pain and their needs as we are concerned about our own, to act to relieve their distress and promote their welfare as we do our own!
2. The proving of our faith
a. In James 2:14–16, for instance, we are told that the authenticity of our faith is demonstrated by our deeds: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” And what kind of works does he think of first as proof of true faith? Mercy ministry: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”
b. We also see mercy ministry as proof of true faith in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats in Matt.25:31-46, where the saved are those who served Christ by serving the least of His brothers and the condemned are those who failed to serve Christ by failing to serve His brothers. In this parable Jesus speaks of six categories of need and what the truly saved do to serve them:
(1) hungry: to be given food
(2) thirsty: to be given drink
(3) stranger: to be welcomed
(4) naked: to be clothed
(5) sick: to be visited
(6) prison: to be visited
c. We also see in this passage that Jesus takes it personally when we help or don’t help the needy: “you did it to Me” and “you didn’t do it to Me.”
3. Following the example of Jesus
a. In Matt.9:35–38 we read that “Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
b. The image here is of a plentiful harvest, which is a joyous vision for a farmer, but also an urgent one. You see, plentiful harvests don’t last long on the vine. If the crops are not harvested soon, they’ll start going bad. And so, a farmer who looks out at a plentiful harvest knows he needs help — and he needs a lot of it and he needs it fast.
c. Jesus looked out at the crowds of people plagued by every disease and every affliction, harassed and helpless – and yet Jesus didn’t turn away. He didn’t see inconvenience. He didn’t see danger. He didn’t see uncleanness He didn’t want to touch.
d. He saw opportunity. He saw harvest. He saw bounty. He saw something positive, if only there was enough laborers to help bring it in.
4. Reflecting the heart of Jesus
a. Notice that it says that Jesus was “moved with compassion” here in Matt.9. in the four gospels this is the most frequently mentioned emotion of our Lord (it is used four times in Matthew alone – 14:14; 15:32; 20:34).
b. When we look out at the humanity around us and see people plagued by every disease and every affliction, harassed and helpless, if we have the heart of Jesus we will react with the joy and urgency of a farmer looking out on a plentiful harvest.
c. This urging to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” is something we usually associate with missions, but that wasn’t the original context. Jesus was talking about the people all around us, not just those far off.
II. There are so many passages which touch on this theme! We don’t have time to read them all. Here are a few more for you to look at later:
A. Acts 20:34–35 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
B. Romans 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 20 If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
C. 2Cor.8-9
D. Galatians 2:9–10 When James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
E. Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
F. 1Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
G. 1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs...17 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,
H. James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I. James 2:1–7 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
J. Hebrews 13:2–3 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
K. 1John 3:17 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?
III. Explanation of Proverbs 31:1–9
A. My greatest hesitation about Proverbs 31:1–9 is that I’m really not interested in talking about the government’s responsibility toward the needy. I want to focus on the call of Christ to His children — whether they are kings or laborers — to reach out to the needy.
B. In this oracle in Proverbs 31, God warns us to not allow pleasure and indulgence to sidetrack us from our calling to remember the weak and needy.
C. 1 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:
1. God speaks through moms. Don't ever despise what your mother tells you.
2. What about the advice of a dad? Well, the whole book of Proverbs is advice that the king got from his father when he was a youth. But kings don’t have fathers, because in a dynasty you don’t become king till your father the king dies.
D. 2 What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows?
1. This is God’s word to us. Long ago the Holy Spirit inspired this woman to say these words because He wanted to say something important to His people. And it’s not just for kings.
2. It was clearly spoken out of love for her son: “What are you doing, my son, son of my womb, son of my vows?”
a. Well, there is One who cares more about you than your mother. In fact, your mother’s love is a reflection of His love.
b. And the love of this mother for her son in this oracle is a reflection of the love of God for each one of His children.
3. So let me reword this a little so that it applies to all of us: “What are you doing, my child? What are you doing, child whom I brought forth? What are you doing, child of My promise?”
4. An important part of God’s message to us is to evaluate ourselves in light of His word, to ask ourselves: What are you doing?
5. One day we will have to give an answer for what we have done in this life. Therefore the wise person will constantly be asking him/herself, What am I doing? Is it what I should be doing? Am I wasting my life? Am I so busy that I’m missing the most important part? Am I using my life for the right ends? What am I doing?
E. 3 Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.
1. Power corrupts. When we are on top, we are tempted to use our position to take advantage of those under us, to use people for our pleasure instead of serve them for their welfare.
2. We see in this verse that sexual sin is a killer of ministry because it paralyzes. When a person gets entangled in sexual sin, he gives away his strength.
a. The reason God makes a person strong is in order to help the weak. But with sexual sin, instead of using strength to help the weak, the person is giving it away to those who are out to destroy him.
F. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, 5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. 6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; 7 let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
1. But sexual sin is not the only thing which can erode our vigor to be involved in ministry toward the needy. Here the king mother puts her finger on the use of alcohol.
2. Once again, when you have power, it is tempting to use it for your own sake instead of using it to serve others, especially to serve the weak, who have no power.
3. It’s one thing to give wine to those in bitter distress: in this day it was their anesthesia. But it is quite another for a king to indulge for his own pleasure (v.5-7 make it clear that over-drinking is the issue here, the kind of drinking which dulls your pain and causes you to forget).
G. 8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
1. There is a contrasting parallel here between opening your mouth for drinking alcohol and opening your mouth for the needy.
2. The lowly and needy are so easy to forget about, so easy to ignore. That’s why the Bible says, Remember the poor.
3. For a king, his first responsibility toward the weak is to work to make sure they are not victimized by those who have the power to do so.
4. In our day, it is still hard for those who have no voice, for those who are destitute, poor and needy. And it is still hard for us not to turn away from them and focus on our own needs and pleasures.
5. And we still need to hear God’s word calling us to not focus on our own comfort but to focus on helping those who live lives of distress, those who are forgotten by others, those who nobody else wants to be with or deal with.
6. Jesus said, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14)
a. It is possible to minister to the needy for wrong motives. However, the chance of that is relatively small since in serving the needy you generally give up more in earthly benefits than you gain.
IV. Application
A. Philippians 2:3–7 calls us to have the same attitude which Jesus had: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
1. Interesting! Jesus had the comforts and privileges of divine richness. And yet He did not cling to them, but gave them up. “Though he was in the form of God, (He) did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.”
2. And Jesus calls us to imitate Him: to not cling to or grasp onto our comforts & ease but rather to empty ourselves and take the form of a servant.
B. What we’re planning to do.
1. The deacons and elders have been working on how we can follow-up on the things God showed us about mercy ministry at the spring retreat. In order to do so, we are asking for the congregation’s help in praying, planning and promoting mercy ministries at GPC.
2. Here’s our plan: We would like for everyone in the congregation to be a part of one of seven focus groups (widows, orphans, prisoners, strangers [i.e. foreigners], oppressed, poor, afflicted) to meet from 9:30-10:15am from July 5 – August 30.
3. We have given a card to each person in the congregation (if you have not received it, check your mail box at church). Please circle the category on the card which you are most interested in focusing on. If you circle more than one, you will be assigned to the group most in need of participants.
4. Since we made the cards, we have decided to add the seventh group: the afflicted, to include the sick, those with disabilities or mental illnesses, etc. If you would like to be in this seventh group, please communicate that on your card before turning it in. If you’ve already turned it in, just email Sally. We will inform as to which group you’re in before July 5.
5. The cards should be turned in or mailed to Sally as soon as possible.
6. The groups will be given a chance to report to the congregation in the fall