How to Help the Poor 2 (Biblical Approaches to Poverty)

 Introduction

     

     As we noted at the end of the first lesson, Jesus said we would never end poverty in this world. But that does not give us the option to give up trying to help the poor. In this lesson we’ll explore God’s concern for the poor and some of the ways people helped the poor in the Bible. Hopefully these examples will help us for next week’s lesson: How We Can Help the Poor Now.

 

1. Why we should care for the poor...  

 

     Isaiah 3.15

 

     Isaiah 61.1

 

     Luke 4.17-19

 

     Matthew 11.4-5

 

     Matthew 25.36-40

 

     John 13.29, 34

 

     1 John 3.14-18

 

2. How did the first disciples do this?

 

     Acts 4.32ff

 

     Act 6

 

     1 Corinthians 16.1-4

 

2 Corinthians 9.1-5

 

3. Did the church do for the poor what they can do for themselves?

 

     Ephesians 4.28-29            

 

2 Thessalonians 3.6-15

 

     1 Timothy 6.17-19

4. How did God instruct Israel to care for the poor?

 

     Leviticus 19.9-10 & Exodus 23.11

 

     Leviticus 25.25-30

 

     Exodus 22.25

 

     Deuteronomy 15.12-15

 

5. What conclusions can we draw from these teachings and examples?

 

A. Both Israel and the New Testament Church were heavily focused on feeding both the soul and the body. If salvation is about sin, then we have to be concerned with sin.

 

B. If sin is the ultimate cause of poverty, then all relief efforts must focus on repentance and forgiveness. We must focus on bread for the body as well as bread for the soul. This also means that helping the poor must be done in a spiritual way.

 

C. The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself provides a foundation for wisdom when it comes to helping the poor. What would you want someone to do for you if you were poor?  (Caution: We have to be careful about assuming we can understand their situation.)

 

D. Because of sin, work has become difficult. But work itself is not sinful. Everyone works, if able – the rich and the poor. 

 

E. Helping the poor, like trying to do anything good in this life, will produce mixed results. Some projects will succeed better than others, but we can’t give up trying. 

 

Conclusion

 

      Our incentive to help the poor is not the idea that we are going to bring an end to poverty. Our incentive flows from the love of God that He has shown to us. We help the poor because God has helped us, and we know that He wants us to help the poor through us. God’s ultimate goal for all is life, physically and spiritually. Some will choose death, and we cannot help that. We must choose life and urge everyone else to do the same.