1 John 3:16-18| “Our Posture Toward the Poor”

Sunday morning sermon audio from Preston Highlands Baptist Church.

A Neglected Aspect of the Essence of Christianity

What’s your posture toward the poor?  When you see people at street corners asking for money, when you meet people who haven’t showered in a while, when you drive through poorer neighborhoods, when you see day laborers working, what thoughts go through your head?

Do you think about caring for those with material needs as part of the essence of Christianity?  According to the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus did.  The lawyer asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life (Lk. 10:25), and Jesus responded by giving him the example of the Samaritan who cared for the physical and economic needs of the man on the road.  Jesus was asked the same question by the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17 and concluded by saying, “Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor” (v. 21).  In Matthew 25, Jesus teaches that people will be judged on the last day based on their ministry to the hungry, naked, sick, imprisoned, and homeless (vv. 31-46).  For Jesus, caring for those with material needs was part of the essence of what it meant to follow him.

The Samaritan risked his safety, interrupted his schedule, and got his hands dirty when he involved himself with a person in need, a person of another race and class no less.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus commands us to provide shelter, finances, medical care, and friendship to people who lack them.  Jesus says in no uncertain terms, “Go and do likewise” (v. 37).

Objections to Caring for the Poor

Are we obeying this command as individuals or as a church?  Do we understand that ministering to the needy is part of the essence of what it means to follow Jesus?

You may say, “I thought we’re saved by faith alone.”  And I would say, “Absolutely we are, but Jesus teaches us that caring for the poor is part of what true faith in him looks like.”

Then we may say things like, “I know I should help people out, but I just don’t know how far I have to go.”  Or, “Shouldn’t we just focus on sharing the gospel and let the government worry about taking care of the poor?”  Or, “I’m not really good at that kind of work, it’s just not my gift.”  Or, “I’m already extremely busy and involved in my church, I just can’t do anything more.”  Or, “I barely have enough money for myself, how could I help anyone else?”  Or, “Aren’t many of the poor simply irresponsible?”[1]

These may be legitimate questions to ask at some point, but couldn’t they just as easily be a wall of indifference we hide behind that keeps us comfortable and protects us from the needs of others?

What’s your posture toward the poor?  Who are you more like in Jesus’ parable, the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan?

The Call to Sacrificial Sharing

Last week, in First John 3, we saw that John believed that sacrificial sharing was one of the primary implications of Jesus’ death on the cross for us (vv. 16-18).  John is saying that the cross teaches us to live sacrificial lives (v. 16), and one way we do this is by sharing our resources with those in need.  He says not doing this means that God’s love doesn’t live in us (v. 17).  Then he says that true love is revealed through action, not words (v. 18).

This morning, I want us to spend some time thinking about what we can do, and then talk about how we get the kind of heart that wants to do it.  So what are we supposed to do?

“As We Have Opportunity”

The apostle Paul gives us instructions in Galatians 6:10, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

The first thing to notice is that we aren’t supposed to try to do everything.  “As we have opportunity.”  We can’t do all the good that needs to be done, so we shouldn’t try.  We’ll burn ourselves out if we try.  We’ll do more harm than good if we overextend ourselves.  “No” is one of the most spiritual things we can say.

This also encourages us to be faithful in the opportunities that are right in front of us while we wait for other opportunities we may prefer.  Jesus says in Luke 16:10, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.”  How can we expect to be faithful in larger things if we aren’t faithful in smaller things?  For example, why should the church send us on a mission trip if we aren’t sharing the gospel with our friends and coworkers here?  How can we hope to end world hunger if we aren’t helping our friend who’s struggling financially?  “As we have opportunity” means we should focus on faithfulness in the things that are right in front of us first.

“Do Good to Everyone”

Notice next that Paul says that we should “do good to everyone.”  What kind of “good” are we supposed to do?  Thankfully, the Scriptures give us many examples of “good works” that we can do.

In Old Testament Israel, God continually called his people to care for four groups of people: widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor.  Zechariah 7:9-10, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor.”

In an agrarian society, these four groups of people had no social power.  They lived hand to mouth and would be in danger of starvation if famine or war came.  The widow and fatherless had no husband or father to provide for and protect them.  The immigrant and poor had no land to work as their own.  These groups had no economic power and thus were constantly in danger.

Under immigrant, we might add a subgroup for refugee, or those displaced from their homes and living in a foreign land, people who’re forced to settle in a place they do not know, among people they cannot understand, with next to nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Under the poor, we might add the homeless, many single parents, and many of the elderly in assisted living.  Under orphans, we might add those in the foster care system.  These groups represent the most vulnerable ones of any society.

The Bible makes it clear that helping the vulnerable isn’t just charity.  When the Old Testament talks about these groups, it uses the word “justice.”  Deuteronomy 10:17-18, “For the Lord your God…executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”  Neglecting to care for those in these groups is not merely a lack of mercy or charity.  It’s considered injustice.  Justice is not just about punishing those who do wrong.  It’s about doing what’s right.  It’s about giving people what they’re due, whether that’s punishment or provision.  According to the Bible, ignoring the needs of the most vulnerable among us isn’t only unloving, it’s unjust.  It’s not right.

Specific Ways We Can “Do Good” to the Vulnerable

Here are some specific ways that you could “do good,” or “do justice,” to the vulnerable in our society.  You could visit nursing homes to encourage and pray with those living there.  You could become a foster parent, adopt children, give money to adoption agencies, give money to or volunteer at a local food bank, build friendships with immigrants and refugees, ensure that they’re paid a fare wage, consider living in a part of town that looks different than you, consider supporting businesses run by immigrants, give money to or volunteer at a local homeless shelter, buy groceries or a computer or a car or a house for a single mom you know, offer your services free of charge to someone you know who struggles financially.

Doing good works isn’t our default setting.  It doesn’t come naturally.  It takes practice.  It’s something that must be cultivated and learned.  The best way to learn is of course to do.  Taking a class or reading a book or listening to a sermon may help.  But doing good works is the best way to learn how to do good works.

“Especially to Those Who Are of the Household of Faith”

Back in Galatians 6:10, Paul gives us one final piece of instruction: “Let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

As Christians, when we think about how we’ll serve others, what we’ll give our money to, and where we’ll volunteer, we must start with the local church.  Believers in Christ need to look inside their house before they look outside their house when considering what to do with their time and resources.

This doesn’t nullify helping those outside the church.  Paul plainly says, “Do good to everyone.”  But he wants the church not to forget her children.  If I sent my paycheck to the Prestonwood Pregnancy Center every month, that could really bless their ministry.  But who’d be to blame when my children don’t have food or clothes or a place to live?  Our help must start at home and move out from there.  Our call is to be faithful to what’s in front of us first, and then move out from there as the Lord allows.

This is why John’s call to sacrificial sharing in First John 3 is focused on “brothers” in need (v. 17).  And why Jesus in Matthew 25 says, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (v. 40).  Those who serve the poor and needy in the church are those who’ll inherit eternal life.  Why?  Because the church is Jesus’ body, so those who serve his body indicate that they love his body, and thus love him.

What’s your posture toward the poor in the church?  Did you know that our church is full of people with all kinds of needs?  If you want to give to our Member Care fund, those funds go toward helping members in need or those directly recommended by a member.

He Became Poor So We Can Become Rich

John says that one way we can test the genuineness of our faith is by looking at our posture toward those in need.  He even says that it’s a matter of our hearts, not just our actions.  He says if we “close our hearts against” those in need, the love of God doesn’t live in us (1 Jn. 3:17).  More than action is needed to reveal true faith.  Merciful hearts, soft and caring and compassionate hearts toward those in need, hearts that grieve over those hurting, are hearts full of the love of God.

How do we get this kind of heart?  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”

The thing that changes our hearts is the grace of Jesus.  We see his grace in what he did.  He’s the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, the ruler of heaven and earth, the wealthiest being in the universe, but “though he was rich, he became poor.”  Why?  “For your sake.”

Jesus gave up the riches of his glory to meet us in the dust.  He came to take our poverty on himself, to lift us up out of the slum of sin and death, to give us a kind of wealth that’ll never fade.  When we understand how rich Jesus is, and how he left all of it for us so that we could have what he has, our hearts toward the poor will start to change.

The love of Jesus creates people who love those in need.  In a sermon he preached in 1862, Charles Spurgeon said:

The Christian’s sympathy should ever be of the widest character, because he serves a God of infinite love…To me a follower of Jesus means a friend of man. A Christian is a philanthropist by profession, and generous by the force of grace; wide as the reign of sorrow is the stretch of his love, and where he cannot help he pities still.[2]

The Danger of Good Works

It’s really not that hard to start doing things to help others in need.  Lots of people are doing it.  But few people are doing it as a result of grace.  Many, even professing Christians, help the poor because deep down they’re trying to earn something.  They want others to see them as charitable, or they want to be known as loving and caring and generous with their time and money.  Their work with the needy is driven by a desire to gain approval, rather than a realization that they have all the approval they’ll ever need in Jesus.

Doing good works is good, but also dangerous because it can give us the impression that we’re good with God.  But the Bible says that even our good works are stained with sin, and that we can never do enough good works to gain God’s grace.

John Gerstner said it like this, “Because of the gospel, the way to God is wide open.  No sin can hold you back because God has offered justification to the ungodly.  Nothing now stands between you and God but your good works.”

We often fail to truly come to God because we’re still relying on our good works to earn his blessing.  But the Bible says that the only thing we need to be saved is need.  All we need to be saved is nothing, but most people don’t have it.

Many of us think there must be some cost involved because nothing is free in this life.  But the grace is Jesus is free.  As the hymn says, “Not the labors of my hands can fulfill the laws demands.  These for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone.  In my hand no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”

We need forgiveness for our sins and forgiveness for our self-centered good works.  The only way we can receive salvation is by repenting of our sins and the reasons why we did anything right.  This puts us in a position to realize that we need more than help to live the right way, that we need new hearts.  We need grace.

Jesus knew what kind of people we’d be, but he left his riches and came to our slum of self-righteousness and sin to give us what he has, to give us what we could never earn, that by his poverty we might become truly rich.  And when we understand this grace, when we understand just how poor we are, our hearts toward the poor begin to change.

There’s a direct connection between our experience of God’s grace and our heart for justice and the poor.  Has your posture toward the poor been changed by grace?

[1]Timothy J. Keller, Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 12.

[2]Spurgeon, “Christian Sympathy – A Sermon for the Lancashire Distress,” 627-28.