Thursday Theology - Pure Religion?
So, I just posted (below) something I found about poverty in Warren County. That there are 118 families living below the poverty level is pretty disturbing. This is one of the primary mission fields of the church - always has been. And it really needs to be a focus for every Christian...
I was looking over some notes that I used for a staff devotion a while ago and I had noted this verse from Isaiah 49:6:
he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
How I'm reading that today is "It's too small a thing for the church to only be worried about church people and church things. It is too small a thing to only think of yourself. Turn your head to the right and the left and you'll see people all around you that need salvation."
James 1:27 says:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Isaiah 1:17 says:
...learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
And Micah 6:8 says:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
The more I read the Bible, the longer I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, the more I come to understand that we are really worshipping God when we are caring for those who are in need - economically, spiritually, emotionally, in every way.
The first divisions*** in the church were over how the widows were being cared for - or, how some weren't being cared for. That whole "least of these" thing really matters.
But I don't have any great answers here. I just know that if someone can't see how they're going to get to next payday, they'll sure have trouble believing me if I tell them that God loves them. And I know that some people are in financial trouble because they don't manage their money well, and some people are in financial trouble because they have addictions, and some people are in financial trouble because they've made bad choices. And on and on my excuses can go...for not wanting to help people.
And can we offer more than handouts? Can we work alongside those who don't know how to manage their money and help them live within their means (and for some that means they still need more support) and for those with addictions we can offer hope and help in programs and support to move out of addiction and on and on. It's not really even about giving stuff to people - it's about living life with people. Caring about what's going on and where it hurts. And not offering simple solutions - but truly offering ourselves for and to people - people who we see (or maybe even ignore) every day.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this..."
*** Okay, I know that it was more than just how the widows were being cared for, that this was probably the first Conservative vs. Liberal debate in the church, that the "real Christians" were Jewish to the core but the upstarts were these Greek speakers who just don't respect the traditions of...well, at that point, last month... um...
I was looking over some notes that I used for a staff devotion a while ago and I had noted this verse from Isaiah 49:6:
he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
How I'm reading that today is "It's too small a thing for the church to only be worried about church people and church things. It is too small a thing to only think of yourself. Turn your head to the right and the left and you'll see people all around you that need salvation."
James 1:27 says:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Isaiah 1:17 says:
...learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.
And Micah 6:8 says:
He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
The more I read the Bible, the longer I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, the more I come to understand that we are really worshipping God when we are caring for those who are in need - economically, spiritually, emotionally, in every way.
The first divisions*** in the church were over how the widows were being cared for - or, how some weren't being cared for. That whole "least of these" thing really matters.
But I don't have any great answers here. I just know that if someone can't see how they're going to get to next payday, they'll sure have trouble believing me if I tell them that God loves them. And I know that some people are in financial trouble because they don't manage their money well, and some people are in financial trouble because they have addictions, and some people are in financial trouble because they've made bad choices. And on and on my excuses can go...for not wanting to help people.
And can we offer more than handouts? Can we work alongside those who don't know how to manage their money and help them live within their means (and for some that means they still need more support) and for those with addictions we can offer hope and help in programs and support to move out of addiction and on and on. It's not really even about giving stuff to people - it's about living life with people. Caring about what's going on and where it hurts. And not offering simple solutions - but truly offering ourselves for and to people - people who we see (or maybe even ignore) every day.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this..."
*** Okay, I know that it was more than just how the widows were being cared for, that this was probably the first Conservative vs. Liberal debate in the church, that the "real Christians" were Jewish to the core but the upstarts were these Greek speakers who just don't respect the traditions of...well, at that point, last month... um...
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