Tag Archive for 'charity'

Jesus and the Ubiquitous Poor

Published
by
Dan
on 9/23/2008
in Bible Study
. 1 Comment

When Jesus said, “You will always have the poor with you.” He was not giving an excuse or being overwhelmed. Many people read this like it’s Jesus’ commentary on how we should care for the poor.

“Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.””

(Matt 26:10-13 NIV)

It’s not a commentary on caring for the poor, it’s about the timing of His death. His death is coming soon, and He won’t always be around. Look at how Mark tells it.

“The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”

(Mark 14:7-8 NIV)

A little different, isn’t it. You can help the poor any time, but you can only annoint me for burial within the next few days.

The section Jesus is quoting here is pretty interesting. It’s from Deuteronomy 15.

“Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”

(Deut 15:10-11 NIV)

It’s like Jesus is saying, “you should always give to the poor, and you always have the opportunity to, but right now I’m preparing for burial, and she knows it because she believes the things I’ve said about how I’m going to die, and she’s mourning and celebrating all at once”

That’s why Judas immediately left. Partially because the expensive ointment was wasted, but here’s Jesus talking about dying again! Where is that ever going to get us!?

A really wild thing is that 10 verses back, God says that there shouldn’t even be any poor people, because there will be enough money to go around. In ancient Hebrew culture, the most degrading thing you could do for a person was to give them money. That’s why it’s so disgraceful to beg throughout the bible, and beggars are ashamed of what they do. The next tier up from that is to give someone money for doing some pitiful thing. To make up a silly job as an excuse to give them a handout. The best way, Hebrew culture wise, was to employ someone with some real task. Give them a real job to do and then pay them a fair wage for it.

I’ve developed a love for Goodwill lately, because they do this. They hire all kinds of people, and they accommodate them however they can to help them work in their shop. Some people may say there are restaurants EVERYWHERE that are hiring all the time. The truth is that if you’re homeless and don’t have an address for the application, they won’t hire you. There is no shower at McDonald’s, so if you don’t have water at your house, you can’t clean up for work. As the obstacles pile up, the motivation to work atrophies. After 3-4 days, discouragement wins out and hope is lost. I’ve talked to several people that have fallen into this spiral, and I’ve tiptoed around it’s edge a lot.

The poor you will always have with you, so be generous to them.

Beggars and Charity in my Front Yard

Published
by
Dan
on 8/19/2008
in Bible Study and Urbia
. 1 Comment

Two different sort of things happened this weekend that are interesting…

I’ve been out in the front yard a lot the past two days. I’ve been trimming bushes, cleaning up mulch, you know, good old fashioned yard work…the whole time burning a ton of sticks over which I later cooked some chicken for the weekly lunch supply. While I was cleaning out the van (cleaning vomit off the floor from my daughter’s concussion on Friday night, but that’s a story for another day!) I had a stroller out that is headed for Goodwill. I saw a young couple walking down the street, and the man was carrying a tiny tiny little baby.
“Hey, do you guys want a stroller? You need a stroller!” I shouted as I walked towards my TWO strollers. One double deluxe Cadillac stroller, and a single umbrella pinto stroller, that I was going to give them. I think the girl saw the Caddy and got excited, and the guy just kind of watched. They declined and said they were just walking a couple blocks. I said ok and they walked on. Then about 30 feet later the guy turned and shouted back “We need more people like you!” That’s a happy thing to yell.

Fast forward, or maybe first backward, about 2 months. Me and Andy G. were in the front yard and a guy with bloodshot eyes came up and said he needed gas money because his car was out of gas. He did the whole introduction thing for the first few minutes, about how his family has always lived in this neighborhood, yada yada yada. Then he said his car was out of gas. I told him that if he would take me to the car, I’d fill it up. He was a little offended and said he didn’t need that much, just a little gas to get to the gas station. I told him that there were a lot of liars in our neighborhood that would try to steal from people by telling them a story but then spending the money on drugs or liquor, and I didn’t want to pay for that, but if he could show me the car that needed gas, I’d fill it up. He got really mad at me and stormed off.

Ok, now fast forward to the day after my stroller offer. My family was unloading out of the van and into the house and a guy came running across the park. Sir! Sir!

It was the gas man.

We had a pleasant intro, and he said, “Didn’t I talk to you before?” I reminded him that he needed gas from me. “for my weedwacker?” he interrupted. “No, for your car, and I said if you showed me the car I’d fill it up, and you got real mad at me.” I said.

“Oh yeah, because I couldn’t do that.”

“What do you want today?” I asked.

“I need a four prong starter relay for my car. You can call Auto Zone and ask them.”

Typically I call the beggar’s bluff. One time in Asia a guy was begging me for money to bury his daughter that died. I said, “Wow. Take me to her.” I thought I was going to go raise her from the dead. The guy couldn’t come up with an answer.

After this whole event was over (it ended by me smelling pot on his breath and saying “I smell something on you that I don’t want to help you buy, so I’m not going to give you any money” and he walked off cussing me and making mad faces) I was talking to my wife and we came up with something to do next time.

As soon as the beggar starts w/ the story about their car out of gas (standard story in America) or their sick/dead daughter (standard story in Central Asia) I interrupt and tell them I have a story for them…that is true.

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
(Acts 3:1-10 NIV)

And then from there just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and wait for something to happen.

I remember a turning point for me when I realized that the person coming up to me begging for money doesn’t really care about freaking me out by being weird, so I don’t have to worry about freaking them out by being weird. I had a Mullah come up and start praying incantations over me in the street. THAT’S NUTS! So what did I do? The time for politeness was over. He was speaking Persian that I couldn’t understand and didn’t care and didn’t understand English, so I just whipped out Isaiah 61 and started proclaiming it loudly in English.

Is. 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Is. 61:2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

That was as far as I made it, (which is probably good, because the next verse talks about Zion, and you don’t want an American talking to a Central Asian Muslim about Zion) and the guy walked off. I was expecting demons to come out or flashes of light, but that guy walking off was consolation prize enough.

All that said, I love the Gas Guy and I hope for him to be free of his addictions and to find life in Christ, I’m just still learning how to work with him…

Tags: , , ,