Why do we expect Jesus to only be with the “righteous” today?
Yesterday, I was talking with someone about our relationship with God in Christ. When Jesus Christ walked the earth 2000 years ago, those who considered themselves to be “right with God” (i.e., righteous) often complained that Jesus continued to hang out with the dregs of society.
For example, look at this passage:
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13 ESV)
Tax collectors were rejected by the Jews. Yet, Jesus invited one to be one of his closest disciples, and he even ate at that sinner’s house. In other passages, Jesus was condemned for associating with prostitutes. Jesus surrounded himself with sinners, the lowest rung of religious society, those rejected by “the righteous.”
In response to this rejection, Jesus said two things:
1) God desires mercy, and not sacrifice.
2) Jesus is here for sinners, not the righteous.
How do we respond to Jesus’ words here? How do we respond to sinners in our society? How would Jesus respond? Is Jesus still with the sinners today, or does he only hang out with the righteous?
And, finally, how do we see ourselves? Are we the sinners or the righteous?
Guest Post: How does the church respond to poverty? (from someone who’s living it)
I think this is one of the most powerful posts that I’ve published in a long time. I can say that because I didn’t write it. Instead, a reader sent this to me. I asked for and received permission to post it here. Please carefully consider what she says. This is not a theoretical or academic exercise for her. She’s living it. For now, she wishes to remain anonymous. Here is her story:
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I was struck by a recent post of yours, asking how the church should respond to the fact that over ten percent of the population in Raleigh lives below the poverty line. (She’s referring to this article.) Whenever I hear this sort of discussion come up, I want to speak up, but because my family is one of those who live “poorer” than most, I fear that my comments will come off somehow as ‘self-seeking’ or of ulterior motive, or just whiny. My family has struggled financially for the past several years, and without going into all the details, I will say it has nothing to do with wasting of money or unwillingness to work. My husband spent ten of the last twelve years working 70 hours a week at three different jobs, to pay our bills, before being laid off 18 months ago. We lost our very small home to foreclosure and now rent a small older house. And we are so grateful for God’s provision. It was a devastating experience, but as in everything, He used it to draw us closer to Him. People talk of living paycheck to paycheck…. we envy those who live that way, as we are usually spending next week’s paycheck three days before it’s here… haha.
We live cheap, and we get by, but any little emergency is a huge stressor trying to figure out how to pay for it. I tell you all this, not to try to make you feel pity.. PLEASE don’t… we are so blessed… but just to say that my opinions on the church and poor come from my experience. And we are hardly the worst case. My youngest boys get angry if i use the word ‘poor’ to describe us, and proceed to point out all the stuff we own. To them, poor people don’t have television sets (even if they are ancient and don’t receive any cable). Perhaps I should say we are poor by comparison to those in America, but rich compared to most of the world.
I went to a Sunday School class for several weeks the subject of which was ‘giving’. I was excited to consider my own responsibility and privilege to give, as well as the church’s as a body. I was so deeply discouraged to see how much time we spent talking about all the reasons not to help the poor… they are living out the consequences of their own poor choices, we might ‘enable’ the receiver to stay in a bad situation, the “not work/don’t eat” verses, and most saddening to me, all the stories of people who themselves had been poorer, but pulled themselves out of it, so others should be able to as well.
When I mentioned a friend of mine, who attends a different church, who has eight children, and feeds them on 60 dollars a week, I was hoping maybe someone would see it as a chance to live out what we’d been studying. Instead, there was a shrugging of shoulders and comments that pancakes for supper weren’t so bad. And they’re not. If you aren’t having them four times a week.
I don’t know what the perfect response is to the poor. But what seems to happen is some combination of this:
1. Assume the poor can’t do simple math and immediately ask to help them with their budgets. Because it’s very fun for a man to have another man peruse his income and expenses and tell him what a bad job he’s done in both.
2. Assume the person or family has committed some error or sin that has left them in their current situation. Because nobody in America is poor unless they are either lazy, foolish, or sinful.
3. Give some Bible verses or other encouragements. God’s Word is powerful, and never a bad thing to hear. But you can’t take it to the grocery store and trade it for a meal.
4. Spend lots of time being vexed over whether giving this person or family money is the ‘best’ use for it. As if God’s whole universal budget will be upset if we accidentally give to a less ‘worthy’ cause.
5. Combine all of the above steps so that the person or family feels as much shame as possible for their ‘sin’ of having less. Spend less. Budget better. Earn more. I call it “Nike Christianity”. Just Do It.
Perhaps an unintended consequence is that it drives people to the welfare agencies the church is often so quick to condemn. The woman taking my food stamp application listened more intently and with less judgement than many Christians had.
You learn fast that people get tired of hearing how broke you are. So when you’re invited out for dinner with a group of people, you make excuses so you don’t have to admit you can’t afford it. You or your children don’t go to retreats and other activities that cost money. You feel uncomfortable on Sunday mornings when you see how worn out your child’s shoes are, and know you can’t get a new pair for awhile. It becomes a slow and subtle path to isolation.
HOWEVER. While all I’ve said above is the usual (of my experience), there have also been instances of amazing grace and Christlike giving that have blown us away. At our darkest, deepest time of need, when we had lost our home and were moving into our current two-bedroom house with five children, a dear Christian sister offered my college age daughter to live with her, rent free. Months later, a group of friends insisted we go out to dinner with them, and before we could make any excuse, they made clear the meal was “on them”. When we hesitated, they made our presence seem so desired, we couldn’t say no. That evening, I saw my husband more relaxed, and truly enjoying himself, than I had in months. Another dear brother gave us a very large sum of cash to help us get through. He and his wife said said they so loved us, and wanted to help, that it was an actual ‘relief’ for them to give to us. That was a while ago. When I recently mentioned the gift to this same friend, he looked confused, and then said, “Oh. I completely forgot about that.” He FORGOT?!?!?! Didn’t hold it over us, or didn’t judge us, didn’t shame us. Just helped, and then forgot about it. But not about us, as they are dear friends.
So if you ask me what makes the difference in the ‘typical’ (my assessment), response, and the responses that made a real difference, I would say it is a difference in how you view “the poor”. Are the poor a “problem”? Are they “potential” converts or church members? Are they a good “project” for the church? Or are they ‘people’? God-created, God-loved, died-for people. Even if some people are in bad financial straights through their own devices, is that reason to refuse them help? If someone develops lung cancer from years of smoking, do we excuse offering compassionate care because they ‘did it to themselves’? I hope not.
I hope this doesn’t come off as a rant of bitterness. In truth, I am awed at God’s provision for us. Not big, not fancy, but way more than I deserve. And I am so thankful. And I think part of the reason Christians in America are so confused in our responses to the poor is because we are so rich. We lack empathy because we just haven’t been there. I wouldn’t know how it felt to be “poor” if I weren’t “poor”.
Are you disadvantaged? Why not?
James at “Idle musings of a bookseller” has provides another awesome quote in his post “Whose advantage?”
The quote is from Keller’s book Generous Justice. Several people have told me that I need to read this book. If I keep seeing quotes like this, I just might spend the money on it.
Here is the quote from the book:
[T]he righteous [tzaddiq]…are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community; the wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves.
And, here is James’ reply:
That is a heavy thought and a high calling. Am I willing to disadvantage myself for the advantage of the community? If I have the mind of Christ, I should be…
Good stuff. Very good stuff. As Saint Patrick said in his Confessio, we are the recipients of much grace and goodness from God. Now, how are we going to respond?
Would you drop everything?
What would you do if someone you barely knew called you from jail? What if a police officer called you to say that “so-and-so” asked them to call you so that you would come pick her up? What if you had to drive several hours to pick her up at the jail?
Would you do it? Would you drop everything?
Even if you knew this girl struggled with drugs? Even if you knew she had made some bad decisions in her life and was headed in the wrong direction?
Well, this has never happened to me. But, it happened to Frankie (from “The Gathering Lakeside“). He tells us about this in his post “Today.”
Here’s an excerpt:
Officer blah blah, “pastor frankie can you help, if not i have to arrest her for prowling and loitering?
“uh, i guess†i answered looking at my wife in the car with me..who said whatever and smiled
I told officer blah blah i would guarantee i would personaly come get miss no where to go..
Read the rest of Frankie’s article. This was an awesome opportunity that God gave him, if he and his wife were willing to give up their own plans and agenda (die to themselves?) and give themselves completely to this young girl. They took God up on his offer and had an opportunity to serve this girl.
What would you do? What would I do? Would we be willing to drop everything in order to serve like this?
Their religious activity was deeply offensive to God
“Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Micah all leveled the charge that, while the people attended worship, observed all religious regulations, and took pride in their Biblical knowledge, nevertheless they took advantage of the weak and vulnerable. The prophets concluded that, therefore, their religious activity was not just insufficient, but deeply offensive to God.â€â€” Generous Justice, pages 49-50
Think about the quote above. No, I mean, really think about it.
Not only did the prophets warn the Israelites about taking advantage of the weak and vulnerable, they also warned them about NOT taking an active role in helping the weak and the vulnerable.
Because they failed to care for those in need, the prophets said that God did not accept their worship. He did not accept their sacrifices, or prayers, or fasting, or feasts, or many other things that he had commanded them to do.
Why? As Jesus said, “God desires mercy and not sacrifice.”
So, does God accept my worship? Does he accept your worship? Something to think about, huh?
(HT: James)
Bearing fruit in every good work
By the time this post is published, I should be in the “sanctuary” of a local megachurch talking with people who have come to a food pantry that they host every other week. Some other friends should be in there with me this week. More friends will be carrying bags of groceries to the people’s cars and trucks.
We’re not “members” of this megachurch, but we’re all working together to serve some people in our community who are hurting and in need.
Since I’ve been studying through Colossians, I’ve been captivated by Paul’s prayers for them. For the past two weeks, I’ve been praying (along with Paul) for my brothers and sisters who will be serving others at the food pantry:
…That you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)
I’ve also been praying that God would give us opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ and his kingdom with these hurting people as we serve them and listen to them and pray with them.
Would you join me in praying for us?
Opportunities for the church in Maine
Dan from “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine” is now writing for Examiner.com as the Portland, ME Religion and Politics Examiner. (More power to him… I try to stay out of politics and religion as much as possible…) He’s recently written a very good article called “LePage’s budget cuts to refugee welfare open opportunity for the Gospel.”
Dan explains the the governor of Maine is planning to cut welfare support for legal immigrants out of the budget. I love Dan’s response! Instead of calling the government to care for legal immigrants, Dan says the church should step up and care for these refugees and strangers/aliens (that’s what Scripture calls them).
Dan says:
If funding was cut and The Church took on this responsibility and Maine continued to be a welcoming place to refugees what would that say about Christ? What would that say about Christianity? It would speak volumes. It would show in action, not just words, that Christianity is about love, Christ’s love demonstrated at the cross, and his followers love for their God and their neighbors. It may lead to refugees finding hope beyond physical sustenance and safety; they may find eternal hope in the Gospel.
Yes! Great article, Dan! Unfortunately, I’ve found that the church tends to ignore or complain about issues like this.
I’m praying the church in Maine will step up and show the love of Christ to those that the government is refusing to help.
“I love you”… See! That proves it.
Saying “I love you” does not prove that I love you.
Teaching a lesson on 1 Corinthians 13 – the “Love” chapter – does not indicate that I love you.
Writing a book about God’s love does not show that I love you.
Changing my Facebook status to “I love you” does not mean that I love you.
Preaching a sermon about love does not prove that I love you.
Singing a song about love does not indicate that I love you.
Tweeting “I love you” does not show that I love you.
Drawing “I heart U” on your arm does not demonstrate that I love you.
Writing a blog post titled “I love you,” does not mean that I actually love you.
Words are cheap. We can write, say, sing, preach, and teach love all day long. But, words are not a replacement for love. Love must be demonstrated. It is costly, sacrificial, and giving. It is not talking about being costly, sacrificial, and giving, but actually being costly, sacrificial, and giving.
There is a HUGE difference between talking about love and actually loving.
Jesus commanded, “Love one another.” He did not command, “Talk about love with one another.”
This blog post is about love. But, it is not love.
James is not speaking of theological concepts
Last week, Arthur from “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” returned from a trip to Haiti where he was working with orphans. He talks about that trip – and some of the orphans that he met – in a post called “Beoda.”
Arthur’s post is primarily about an 11 year old boy named Beoda who lost his father in the earthquake last year. Apparently, spending time with Beoda and other orphans taught Arthur a very important lessons:
I asked Beoda and another young boy, Stevenson, to write their names in the small Bible I brought with me on the page facing the first chapter of James to remind me that James is not speaking of theological concepts to be debated in the ivy covered halls of academia. He was speaking of real people, real orphans who had their lives turned upside down. Real widows who lost their husband and often had children to care for in a very different, very difficult world. James was writing about Beoda and Selene, about Stevenson, about Kimberly.
Yes. YES! We MUST move beyond theological concepts.
What do you think about when you think of “love”? Do you think of people or concepts? What about service or discipleship or missions? What about orphans or widows? What about the least of these?
If we are still thinking only in terms of theological concepts and if we are not truly living these things among real people with real stories and real names, then we do not understand them at all.
My friend is serving the needy in Belgium (with video)
When you get to know students in college or seminary, you are often saying, “Goodbye.” A few years ago, I remember saying, “Goodbye” to a friend named Josh – actually, we called him by a nickname, but I won’t get into that.
Josh was a roommate of a close friend of mine, and he often came to visit our office at work. He wanted to move to Europe. After graduation, he went through several relational and travel issues. But, he is now in Europe.
Occasionally, Josh will send out an email so friends and family will know what’s going on in his life. In his recent email, he also included a link to a video. In the video, we see Josh and some friends caring for homeless people on the cold streets of a city in Belgium.
Here is the video: (Josh is the young man with a beard and glasses.)
A Cold Day in Belgium from Clay Sandoz on Vimeo.
It is so encouraging and challenging to see Josh serving the homeless! And, I love the end of the video where another young man says that next time they will bring others with them. That’s the way to make disciples of Jesus Christ!