Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
16th August, 2009
Posted By Teresa Han
Posted By Teresa Han
Acts 4:31-36
Main Idea: Help the poor.
Objective: To challenge the congregation to make a wilful decision to help the poor.
A. Introduction
- Listen to this interesting story entitled “The Guest.”
- A pious father always closed grace for the evening meal with these words: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and bless what thou hast provided.” “Papa,” said the little son, “every evening you ask Jesus to come and be our guest, but He never comes.” “My son,” replied the father, “we can only wait. But we know that he will not despise our invitation.” “Well, then” asked the little fellow, “if we expect him at the table.” And so to save further embarrassing questions, the father permitted the boy to set a place at the table. Just then a knock came at the door. When they opened it a poor helpless waif stood shivering in the cold. The son thought for a moment and finally said, “I guess Jesus could not come today, and so he sent this poor boy in his place.” With little further conversation the little beggar boy was brought in and set at the empty place at the dinner table.
- The little beggar boy is the poor sent by God to the family.
- The scripture has very strong teaching about helping the poor. Matthew 25:35, 40. “For I was hungry and gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then in verse 40, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
B. Explanation of the text.
- The scripture lesson today is the direct application of the teaching of Jesus on helping the poor by the disciples.
- Let us see how they went about helping the poor. How they get to do it?
- Before the disciples (Peter, John and the early believers) were so willing to help the poor, in verse 31 we are told that they prayed and were filled by the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God. Let us now see the results of prayers and being filled by the Holy Spirit.
- In verse 32, we are informed that believers were one in heart and mind. This is a strong characteristic of the infant church; this is a strong expression of unity; how united they were? The later half of verse 32 says, “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
- In verse 33, we are told that the apostles had great power to testify the resurrection of Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
- In verse 34, we are informed that there was no needy persons. Why? From time to time, the disciples who sold lands or houses and brought money from the sales to help the poor, by passing all the money to the apostles.
- Verse 35 says that they gave the money to the apostles and they distribute the money to anyone as he had need.
- Take note this is all as a result of prayers and filling by the Holy Spirit. I believe that as a result of prayers, desire for possession become minimum. The early disciples also tend to renounce their property and practise self-sacrifice and mutual benevolence.
- According to verse 35, you can see the rule to help the poor is based on need, the money was distributed he had need.
- In verses 36 and 37, I can see that Luke felt it was worthy to highlight a personal example to show how people at that time from far away land like Cyprus also gave to the poor. This guy called Joseph, a Levite in the Jewish tradition must have been touched by God in a great manner, he sold a piece of land and brought his money to the apostles. Probably he was one of those Jews who was dispersed after the Babylonian conquest.
- The whole passage this morning is not so explicit about the motive of helping the poor but if you were to study carefully verse 35, it says, “... it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
- Why it said that? Firstly, if there was no poor people who had need, there would not be a need to sell the land and houses. Secondly, people who contributed must have been filled by the Holy Spirit, touched by God, and sold something they could afford to sell.
- Your heart for the poor; your desire to reach out to the poor must be coming from God or it is a result of reading God’s word to help the poor. It is God’s will to help the poor. So, you do not come before God to ask if it is God’s will to help the poor.
- You must pray to God, “Send me poor people for me to help.”
- Your response will depend on how willing are you to help. You need to see as God sees the need of the poor.
C. Application.
- Are you willing to help the poor? Those of you who choose to be complacent, living in comfort, don’t want to dirty your hands. God says, “Stay where you are...I don’t force you to help the poor.” Unless God wants to use you like the way He used Paul otherwise He will not appear to you like He appeared to Paul to get you to help the poor.
- To those of you who are willing to help the poor; you are willing to pay the price to obey Christ; you are more than willing to do it; you take it as a privilege to do it; you expect God to bring the poor to your doorstep; expect God to give you the information about where are the poor people.
- Let me share with you a great area of need among the poor Penan children at Ulu Belaga. They all cannot afford to go to school, they need people who can do short term mission in the area of education; and of course long term mission in the area of education. Are you willing to dirty your hands to go there and teach for one or two days to get them excited about education and eventually sponsor them to go to school? We need sponsorship for the 4 missionaries who are going in at the end of the year and at the beginning of next year. If you do not go, will your money go. One brother from Mei Ann Methodist Church has sponsored one year of a missionary’s salary. RM1,500 per month.
- There are lots of people in Tudan and Permyjaya who are poor. Some of them are our church members. If you desire to help the poor in anyway you can, you can call up Pastor Chan. She always has somebody in mind whom you can help. I will always encourage you to give in kind and do not give money.
- Thank you for some of us who have faithfully giving to help to buy rice for a few families in Tudan.
- Let me push you to a corner to ask you for a decision to help the poor if you have not been doing it.
- Now, unless you decide to help the poor, otherwise, I cannot publize for GMC to help the poor. Only when majority of us decide to do it, then, God will send the poor coming knocking at our door.
- How to help the poor? These are some areas you can help. Provide a space for someone who is in trouble to stay for a few days. Provide something for poor children to eat. To give some money to poor students to help them to pay annual school expenses. To help the poor to find a simple job or a better job (Do you have job for a welder?) Help widow who have many children to support. Help those who are involved in accidents and lost their ability to work. Help the poor to apply for monthly social welfare grant. Bring them to see doctor and pay the bills.
- Researcher M. Douglas Meeks describe Wesley’s ministry with the poor in the following manner. It was intensely practical. It includes: “feeding, clothing, housing the poor; preparing the unemployed for work and finding them employment; visiting the poor, sick and prisoners; devising new forms of health care education and delivery for the poor; distributing books to the needy; and raising structural questions about an economy that produced poverty. Wesley’s turn to the poor, however, was not simply service of the poor, but more importantly life with the poor. He actually shared the life of poor in significant ways, even to the point of contracting diseases from their beds... To be in Christ meant to take the form of Christ’s own life for and with the poor. To be a disciple of Christ meant to be obedient to Christ’s command to feed His sheep and to serve the least of His sisters and brothers.”
- Wesley was convinced that there is no substitute for personal contact with the poor. Wesley says, “One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is that, according to the common observation, one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know, because they do not care to know. They keep out of the way of knowing it , and then plead their voluntary ignorance as an excuse for their hardness of heart.”
- Brothers and sisters, Wesley brought to the poor not only a sense of their own worth but a sense of their power over their own destiny.
D. Conclusion
- Are you inspired to help the poor? Have you decided to help the poor?
Main Idea: Help the poor.
Objective: To challenge the congregation to make a wilful decision to help the poor.
A. Introduction
- Listen to this interesting story entitled “The Guest.”
- A pious father always closed grace for the evening meal with these words: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and bless what thou hast provided.” “Papa,” said the little son, “every evening you ask Jesus to come and be our guest, but He never comes.” “My son,” replied the father, “we can only wait. But we know that he will not despise our invitation.” “Well, then” asked the little fellow, “if we expect him at the table.” And so to save further embarrassing questions, the father permitted the boy to set a place at the table. Just then a knock came at the door. When they opened it a poor helpless waif stood shivering in the cold. The son thought for a moment and finally said, “I guess Jesus could not come today, and so he sent this poor boy in his place.” With little further conversation the little beggar boy was brought in and set at the empty place at the dinner table.
- The little beggar boy is the poor sent by God to the family.
- The scripture has very strong teaching about helping the poor. Matthew 25:35, 40. “For I was hungry and gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then in verse 40, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
B. Explanation of the text.
- The scripture lesson today is the direct application of the teaching of Jesus on helping the poor by the disciples.
- Let us see how they went about helping the poor. How they get to do it?
- Before the disciples (Peter, John and the early believers) were so willing to help the poor, in verse 31 we are told that they prayed and were filled by the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God. Let us now see the results of prayers and being filled by the Holy Spirit.
- In verse 32, we are informed that believers were one in heart and mind. This is a strong characteristic of the infant church; this is a strong expression of unity; how united they were? The later half of verse 32 says, “No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
- In verse 33, we are told that the apostles had great power to testify the resurrection of Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
- In verse 34, we are informed that there was no needy persons. Why? From time to time, the disciples who sold lands or houses and brought money from the sales to help the poor, by passing all the money to the apostles.
- Verse 35 says that they gave the money to the apostles and they distribute the money to anyone as he had need.
- Take note this is all as a result of prayers and filling by the Holy Spirit. I believe that as a result of prayers, desire for possession become minimum. The early disciples also tend to renounce their property and practise self-sacrifice and mutual benevolence.
- According to verse 35, you can see the rule to help the poor is based on need, the money was distributed he had need.
- In verses 36 and 37, I can see that Luke felt it was worthy to highlight a personal example to show how people at that time from far away land like Cyprus also gave to the poor. This guy called Joseph, a Levite in the Jewish tradition must have been touched by God in a great manner, he sold a piece of land and brought his money to the apostles. Probably he was one of those Jews who was dispersed after the Babylonian conquest.
- The whole passage this morning is not so explicit about the motive of helping the poor but if you were to study carefully verse 35, it says, “... it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
- Why it said that? Firstly, if there was no poor people who had need, there would not be a need to sell the land and houses. Secondly, people who contributed must have been filled by the Holy Spirit, touched by God, and sold something they could afford to sell.
- Your heart for the poor; your desire to reach out to the poor must be coming from God or it is a result of reading God’s word to help the poor. It is God’s will to help the poor. So, you do not come before God to ask if it is God’s will to help the poor.
- You must pray to God, “Send me poor people for me to help.”
- Your response will depend on how willing are you to help. You need to see as God sees the need of the poor.
C. Application.
- Are you willing to help the poor? Those of you who choose to be complacent, living in comfort, don’t want to dirty your hands. God says, “Stay where you are...I don’t force you to help the poor.” Unless God wants to use you like the way He used Paul otherwise He will not appear to you like He appeared to Paul to get you to help the poor.
- To those of you who are willing to help the poor; you are willing to pay the price to obey Christ; you are more than willing to do it; you take it as a privilege to do it; you expect God to bring the poor to your doorstep; expect God to give you the information about where are the poor people.
- Let me share with you a great area of need among the poor Penan children at Ulu Belaga. They all cannot afford to go to school, they need people who can do short term mission in the area of education; and of course long term mission in the area of education. Are you willing to dirty your hands to go there and teach for one or two days to get them excited about education and eventually sponsor them to go to school? We need sponsorship for the 4 missionaries who are going in at the end of the year and at the beginning of next year. If you do not go, will your money go. One brother from Mei Ann Methodist Church has sponsored one year of a missionary’s salary. RM1,500 per month.
- There are lots of people in Tudan and Permyjaya who are poor. Some of them are our church members. If you desire to help the poor in anyway you can, you can call up Pastor Chan. She always has somebody in mind whom you can help. I will always encourage you to give in kind and do not give money.
- Thank you for some of us who have faithfully giving to help to buy rice for a few families in Tudan.
- Let me push you to a corner to ask you for a decision to help the poor if you have not been doing it.
- Now, unless you decide to help the poor, otherwise, I cannot publize for GMC to help the poor. Only when majority of us decide to do it, then, God will send the poor coming knocking at our door.
- How to help the poor? These are some areas you can help. Provide a space for someone who is in trouble to stay for a few days. Provide something for poor children to eat. To give some money to poor students to help them to pay annual school expenses. To help the poor to find a simple job or a better job (Do you have job for a welder?) Help widow who have many children to support. Help those who are involved in accidents and lost their ability to work. Help the poor to apply for monthly social welfare grant. Bring them to see doctor and pay the bills.
- Researcher M. Douglas Meeks describe Wesley’s ministry with the poor in the following manner. It was intensely practical. It includes: “feeding, clothing, housing the poor; preparing the unemployed for work and finding them employment; visiting the poor, sick and prisoners; devising new forms of health care education and delivery for the poor; distributing books to the needy; and raising structural questions about an economy that produced poverty. Wesley’s turn to the poor, however, was not simply service of the poor, but more importantly life with the poor. He actually shared the life of poor in significant ways, even to the point of contracting diseases from their beds... To be in Christ meant to take the form of Christ’s own life for and with the poor. To be a disciple of Christ meant to be obedient to Christ’s command to feed His sheep and to serve the least of His sisters and brothers.”
- Wesley was convinced that there is no substitute for personal contact with the poor. Wesley says, “One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them. Hence it is that, according to the common observation, one part of the world does not know what the other suffers. Many of them do not know, because they do not care to know. They keep out of the way of knowing it , and then plead their voluntary ignorance as an excuse for their hardness of heart.”
- Brothers and sisters, Wesley brought to the poor not only a sense of their own worth but a sense of their power over their own destiny.
D. Conclusion
- Are you inspired to help the poor? Have you decided to help the poor?
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