THE HOPE OF THE POOR

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.

Proverbs 14:20, 17:5, 18:23, 19:4, 19:7, 21:13, 22:2 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There is perhaps no greater issue facing our world today than the matter of poverty. So many people, even in nations considered affluent, are poor and in need of help or assistance to try and have a life where they have food and shelter, the basics for survival.

Typically, we look at societies in relation to class. In America, we find a framework where there are three classes: lower, middle, and upper, but our nation and a few others are unique in this structure. I say this because in my travels to so many parts of the world (more than 50 nations), I have learned and seen how most cultures have two classes, those who have and those who have not. There are the rich and the poor, the wealthy and privileged, and the deprived and underprivileged. I remember a college sociology class I took once on population where I discovered an African nation where more than 80 percent of its people lived below the poverty line. Eighty percent!

That is sad and there are plenty of other sad things I can say about the plight of the poor but at the heart of this matter is the primary sadness in all this.

We don’t have to have anyone poor in our world.

It’s true if you think about it. There is so much wealth in the world that just a fraction of that wealth could help provide a decent lifestyle for everyone. Imagine a world where no one is homeless, where no one ever dies from starvation or illnesses that are completely preventable because they don’t have simple medical care or medication, a world where crime is drastically reduced because people have what they need to survive and don’t turn to desperation through criminal acts to get what they need.

Maybe it sounds unrealistic to you but trust me when I say it is very doable and something we all need to be in prayer about. And when we pray, we need to remember one thing: the Lord is watching how we respond to His word and behave within His creation to care for everyone He has made. For look at this proverb:

Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all. Proverbs 22:2

In the Lord, there is no rich or poor by worldly economic standards. Only one people cared for by one Lord who is the Maker of them all.

Now I have read certain comments by those who choose to be enemies of the Lord, attacking Him by saying He obviously doesn’t care for all His people because there are so many poor in the world. I would counter that by saying He has provided for all His people by providing an abundance, even if it is allocated disproportionately. He expects that all His people will be cared for with what He provides and that includes His people loving and caring for one another like He has, feeling compelled to not rest in providing aid and assistance to a brother and sister in need if they have the means to do so.

Again, think of the kind of world we would live in today is everyone looked out for each other. The rich surrendering what they have to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate, seeing that what they have is not theirs but more rightfully the Lord’s.

This kind of world is completely attainable. We totally have the means to make it happen. The question is, “Do we have the motivation?”

In the meantime, the poor can only hold out on hope. They can only hope for the following:

1. To be accepted.

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors. Proverbs 14:20a

The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found. Proverbs 19:7

You’ve seen this. People see someone disheveled and in need often asking for money and they just walk around them, like those who sought to sidestep the injured man until the Samaritan came along (Luke 10:25-37), or drive by them and pretend they don’t see them when they do. We tend to push the poor into the fringes of our society when we should be wrapping our arms around them to love them and care for their needs. After all, that’s what Jesus did, right?

And what makes this scenario even worse is that often the very flesh and blood of the person in need, those who are considered family, shun them, turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the needs of one of their own.

2. To be shown mercy.

The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly. Proverbs 18:23

Remember those people seen in need who get ignored. Usually, they are holding a small piece of cardboard with words etched upon it by their own needy hands. Those words frame a plead for mercy, a cry out for help. And typically what they receive in response to their petition is nothing. They are ignored by people who easily have the means to help and yet choose not to. Imagine how that would feel if you were in that place, how disheartening that would be.

3. To be cared for.  

Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them. Proverbs 19:4

Shunned and ignored. Pushed out to the fringes of society. Abandoned and deserted. This is the world of the poor and it breaks my heart.

How can we as a people under the same Maker, treat a brother or sister this way? How?

Let’s just cut to the chase. It’s just pure sinfulness. That’s how this happens and the Lord has a couple of warnings for anyone who chooses to reject, disregard, or forsake those in need. Look at the following:

Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

Yes, woe be to the ones who disrespect and mistreat the poor, those who refuse to help them, those who turn a blind eye to their needs, those who fail to heed their cried for help, those who choose to forsake and withhold their love for them.

The word of the Lord is clear. The Lord who is the make of all will punish those who fail to care for the poor. His judgment will be upon them and He will even give them a taste of their own medicine. For when the Lord’s consequences come upon those who sinfully disregard the poor, trust me when I say that they will be crying out for help and mercy themselves and when they do, the Lord will extend the same deaf ear to them that they did to the poor.

What goes around, comes around.

Friends, we should not have to be threatened or coerced to want to create a world where everyone is loved, cared for, and provided with whatever is needed to live and serve the Lord who has made all. We should want to do it because it’s what the Lord’s will is. He created us to live and love one another, caring for another as He would.

In the end translation, the hope of the poor is the same hope that for everyone in God’s creation and that hope is not in a neighbor, a friend, or a family member. Our hope isn’t even in this world.

Our only hope is in Jesus Christ, the only One who can help us to live with God the Father forever, the only One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), the only One who will lead us to the kind of world where everyone is loved and cared for unconditionally because that’s the way He loves and cares for us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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