The Christian Social Revolution - Part 2
- Drew Goodmanson
- Jan 29, 2006
- Series: Social Justice
Introduction
Last week (see: The Christian Social Revolution), we began a two-part series about how we can seek the welfare of our city. Today, we focus this conversation at our vision and call for mercy ministries in 2006. I want to begin with a word of encouragement. Let me begin with a few praises over this last week:
§ Nearly 20 people attended an event at Care House to support the homeless teen mentoring and learn more about it.
§ New people went to the convalescent home after church.
§ 2 guys began a Monday night of prayer over the city for all to attend near SDSU. They also went and prayed over a number of topless bars in the area.
§ Julie, who moved because of an injury to be closer to her daughter, had a number of people volunteer to help her move because she was unable to do it herself.
Mercy ministries are happening at Kaleo, and
we are going to have 5 people come up to share with you some of the ways you
can get involved this year. Our prayer
is that Kaleo would go forward this year as a visible demonstration of the
gospel (in word and deed) to point to the
A. The Call to Mercy Ministries
The Bible's call to mercy ministry begins with creation and will continue until the end of time. God's concern for mankind and all of creation is seen in the principle of dominion. This principle means we (mankind) are charged with the rule of the earth as God's agent, for our collective good and to God's glory. Not 'rule in a power sense' but in serving/cultivating.
B. The Tainting of Man and increased Need of Mercy
Yet, it was in the fall, when man sinned against God, that man’s relationships were shattered: with God (a theological destruction), with himself (a psychological destruction), with others (a social destruction) and with nature (a physical destruction).
[Non-Christians: We all know something isn't right. We sense injustice, evil and brokenness in this world. It is not the way it is intended.]
God mercifully sets out to heal all of the destruction wrought by man in the fall, and we see this story of redemption unfold throughout Scripture. [See December 2005 Series on the Drama of Scripture]
C. The Church's call as the agent of Mercy
Sadly, the dominion mandate is often forgotten by Christians who live for self rather than the restoration of all things for God's glory. That is why we must continually remind each other that we are responsible with the proper application of science, engineering, art, government and the environment. [Yes! The church should be concerned about the environment. We often COMPARTMENTALIZE.] God choose the church [you] to be his agent of cultivating creation. It is under this mandate that mercy ministry becomes a central role in the lives of Christians.
Mercy ministry primarily seeks to redeem physical and social destruction, but is often carried out as a doorway to spiritual redemption.
Jesus is our example
When Jesus came, he modeled the dominion mandate & mercy that we are called to in Scripture. Jesus Christ is the true Adam, who subdues creation to God, causing it to bear fruit for God’s glory; He is the great high priest who extends mercy and forgiveness to all in need; and he is the great deacon (or servant) who identifies with and pours himself out in costly service to serve others.
The incarnation [or his embodiment of God to us] ultimately illustrates God’s mercy in that Christ humbles himself in many ways and to great depths in order to alleviate the burden of sin. Through his life, Christ demonstrates mercy to the poor, the unloved (tax collectors), the handicapped and those forgotten and pushed to the edge of society. And we are called to follow in Jesus' footsteps in mercy ministries.
The church's mercy ministry is working to
alleviate the burdens of another person. It is meeting their real or
perceived needs through Gospel driven deeds. Mercy Ministry is kingdom
ministry. It incorporates all of the effects
of the coming of the
1. The Test we cannot ignore
Somehow, many Christians have come to a position of seeing mercy ministry as "secondary duty". It is something that we try to do if we have enough time or resources to dedicate to "social work".
The Bible doesn't portray mercy ministry as secondary. Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but that he is also called to practice mercy toward others.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7)
I could spend an hour here quoting scripture after scripture that calls us to care for those in need, beginning with our fellow Christians, as a visible demonstration of our faith.
James 2:13-17
14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
1 John 3:17-18
17But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Mercy is what we could call faith-in-action. Scripture indicates that the absence of fruit in our lives betrays the heart of the one who professes the Christian faith. [Cultural Christianity] This pattern of life is the litmus test for genuine faith.
And no passage could be clearer than when Jesus teaches in Matthew 25 that we will be judged not by our mouth saying some words of faith, but our faith demonstrated in our lives.
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[ you did it to me.'”
Here, though some have called this a parable, we have instead a depiction of the events of Judgment Day. The time envisioned is the time when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, to the time when he will sit on his glorious throne and gather all the nations before him.
And when he does, v 32 tells us that he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. What this means is not that he will separate the nations from one another, but the Greek indicates that his judgment will be rendered on an individual basis. The line of demarcation between them will be as clear as the difference for a shepherd between a sheep and a goat.
We may ask: What it is that qualifies Christians for their reception into heaven?
Notice vv 35-36: For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.
Those who have evidenced the fruit of true faith: deeds of mercy. This is how the shepherd is able to distinguish so easily the sheep from the goats, how the king can discern to whom belongs the kingdom which was prepared for some from the foundation of the world.
On the basis of this passage, the 19th century Scottish preacher, Robert Murray M’Cheyne expressed deep concern for his congregation.
I fear there are some Christians among you to whom Christ can say no such thing [“Come thou blessed…inherit the kingdom” in Matt. 25:34]. Your haughty dwelling rises in the midst of thousands who have scarce a fire to warm themselves at, and have but little clothing to keep out the biting frost; and yet you never darkened their door. You heave a sigh, perhaps, at a distance; but you do not visit them. Ah! my dear friend! I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day....I fear there are many hearing me who may know…well that they are not Christians, because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money; make the most of it; give none of it away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.
Is this quote too extreme?
[
46And
your elder sister is
This is hardly the sin most people have in
mind when they think about
It seems that
there are far more of us guilty of
the sin of
Poor & Needy
It is estimated that 1.3 billion people hope to survive daily on less than one dollar and 3 billion try to make it on two dollars a day.
700 million human beings live a life of frequent hunger.
Even here in
Children under the age of 6 are particularly vulnerable to poverty, especially if they live in single female-headed households. 48.9 percent of children in this category lived in poverty in 2001.
Abundance
Almost 100 billion pounds of food is wasted in
According to a
2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in
On the average, the percentage of income given by American Christians to charitable organizations of all kinds, including their local churches, is somewhere around 2.4%.
And consistently, those with lower incomes give more of their earnings to religious organizations than those with higher incomes.
Yet, this is in
spite of the clear call of Christians
to remember the poor (Gal. 2:10) and
widows and orphans (James 1:27), [Plenty of people will say they are
'spiritual' but not 'religious', well we need more religious people as defined
by James 1:27.] to practice
hospitality to strangers (Heb. 13:2), and to denounce materialism. (1 Tim. 6:17-19). We are called to take care of believers first, but mercy should be shown to all
people (Gal.
a. Do you feel a tremendous weight?
Right about now, I imagine there a variety of responses in this room.
In a sense, a weight of works has been placed on your backs that will crush you because it is more than you can bear.
At first glance it might seem that God is saying, “If you help the poor then I’ll take you to heaven”. But we know this is not true. Don't fall into the trap of legalism, where you try to live by a set of rules.
Scripture is clear we are 'saved by grace' (Ephesians 2:4-9)
We cannot do 'good works' to accomplish anything. Kaleo rejects any attempt to become moral people. If you came to Kaleo today seeking to become a moral legalist, where you think your contribution can earn you favor with God, you will be sorely disappointed.
Legalists ordinarily have a heart of contempt for those who are outcasts and people in need of mercy. "I worked hard to get where I am, look at how pathetic you are," says the moralist's heart. Legalism is rampant in the hearts of Christians and something each of us will struggle against as we leave the "joy of our salvation" for a form of duty-based Christian autopilot.
Guilt
Many of us feel guilty. We should never see our motivation to serve because "we have so much". While this may be true, in the sense of the resources we possess, it only leads to guilt. This would lead to us feeling guilty for eating a good steak, having two cars, going to college when the rest of the world is starving.
As Christians there may be a moment of guilt response to help, but this only leads to defense mechanisms, justifications, joyless duty and an anxious weariness about our constant failure to “do more”. We should not serve from compulsion, guilt or duty.
D. The Motivation for Mercy
What then should motivate you in the ministry of mercy? Nothing less than the grace of God! When you finally recognize you received the gift of salvation while you were an undeserving enemy of God!
2 Corinthians 5:21
21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus Christ, “though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
[Gospel]
While we were sitting on a dung heap, God came and clothed us in kingly robes and invited us in as royalty in His kingdom. The gospel of grace reminds us that we are the “poor” who can do nothing by our own means. Christians, we need to remind ourselves because we are prone to forget our tears of repentance, move to “we're good” until we grow more.
It is grace that brings down the barrier of pride and self-righteousness. The gospel makes us, who are primarily white middle-class 20 and 30-somethings, see that we are no better than the poor. In the face of every crack baby and AIDS patient and catastrophe victim and prisoner and widow and orphan and drug addict is a mirror of ourselves. But for the grace of God, there go I. It is the grace of God alone that teaches us to love the unlovely and to do risky things to move toward them with the mercy of Jesus Christ.
When we fully grasp the reality of the gospel, it is the primary motivation for Christians to show mercy. If we truly know and comprehend fully that we were enemies of God saved by mercy alone, we are both open and generous to the outcasts and unlovely. This is why Jesus repeatedly says that love and respect for the poor is an inevitable and necessary sign that you have understood the gospel and experienced its grace.
Acts of mercy come from an experience of God's grace toward us. It isn't dependent on how much we have.
2 Corinthians 8:2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity
It is when we are freed by the gospel that we can minister with cheerfulness:
Romans 12:8b
the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
This is what I want so badly for us. I want our church to drink deeply of the grace of God in the gospel that it overflows in a wealth of liberality to meet the needs of dirty, wicked, foolish, sinful, hurting, weak, and helpless people just like us. Oh, that we would know the grace of God in the gospel of his son!
a. Why don't we get involved?
So now I must ask, what is keeping us from getting involved?
New at Kaleo – The good news is everyone is new at Kaleo. The first time I preached, there were 13 people, after you took away the Fairchild's, the Moreland's, my wife and a couple friends who attended from other churches, I preached to 2 people.
What objections can we have? It is when we see through the lens of the gospel that we respond:
“My money/time is my own.” Answer: Christ might have said, “My blood is my own, my life is my own” . . . then where would we have been?
“The poor are undeserving.” Answer: Christ might have said, “They are wicked rebels . . . shall I lay down my life for these?
“The poor may abuse it.” Answer: Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet; that most would despise it; that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood.
Oh, Christians! If you would be like Christ, give much, give often, give freely, to the vile and poor, the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember his own word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
I don't know what to do – Great that is why we've arrange to have the ministry leaders present ways you can get involved…
E. Where do we begin?
Deacons
- DEACONS PRESENT -
Conclusion
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