I. Recap Over the last 4 weeks we have looked at the scriptures to root our understanding in the doctrine of mercy ministry 1. The Mercy of God in the story of redemption 2. The Master and the Marginalized in the OT 3. Jesus and the Marginalized 4. The Apostles, the early church and the marginalized II. Definition of Post-Cross mercy ministry Post cross definition: Believers are to be the conduits through which mercy flow to believers and unbelievers because they are recipients of God s mercy in salvation (Rom 15:8&9; 1 Tim 1:12-14; Titus 3:4), they are recipients of God s mercy every moment of every day (2 Cor. 4:1; Heb. 4:16) and because God by the Holy Spirit is conforming every believer into the image of Jesus Christ who is full of mercy. (Rom. 8:29&30; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Tim. 1:2) The definition for post cross mercy ministry is rooted in the 1) Grand story of redemption, 2) the mercy of God in the OT, 3) the mercy of God lived out perfectly in the life of Jesus Christ and 4) the mercy of God lived out in the life of the apostles. III. What is Poverty? (When helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and yourself) When you think of poverty what words come to your mind? People who are Solving the problem of poverty continues to perplex the World Bank, which remains the premier publicsector institution trying to alleviate poverty in low-income countries. Hence, during the 1990s, after decades of very mixed results, the World Bank tried a new approach. It consulted with the true poverty experts, the poor themselves, by asking more than sixty thousand poor people from sixty low-income countries the basic question: what is poverty? Below is a small sample of the words that the poor used to describe their own situation: For a poor person everything is terrible-illness, humiliation, shame. We are cripples; we are afraid of everything; we depend on everyone. No one needs us. We are like garbage that everyone wants to get rid of-moldova [The poor have] a feeling of powerlessness and an inability to make themselves heard-cameroon If you are hungry, you will always be hungry; if you are poor, you will always be poor-vietnam How do the poor in these statements describe their own poverty? 1
In North America, there is also a loss of meaning, purpose, and hope that plays a major role in poverty alleviation. Because of these factors our solutions to the problem of poverty must go beyond the material dimensions. IV. Diagnosing poverty Since believers are to be the conduits through which mercy flows, they should wisely provide solutions that will help the individual in need. Helping those in need does not mean giving individuals whatever kind of help they request. Even though freely giving whatever the individual request may be the easy way out, it may not be the best for the individual receiving the help and the one giving the help. If we treat only the symptoms or if we misdiagnose the underlying problem, we will not improve their situation, and we might actually make their lives worse. And.we might hurt ourselves in the process. (54) Therefore, we cannot lump together all poor people and seek to help them the same way. Like a doctor diagnosing a patient to find out the underlying illness to treat it properly and not just the symptom, we must work to find out underlying issues that may be causing the problem and not just treat the symptom. Different diagnoses of the causes of poverty lead to different poverty-alleviation strategies. (54) If we believe the Primary Cause of Poverty Is A lack of Knowledge Oppression by Powerful People The Personal Sins of the Poor A Lack of Material Resources Then We Will Primarily Try to Educate the Poor Work for Social Justice Evangelize and Disciple the Poor Give Material Resources to the Poor [T]he underlying diseases behind those symptoms are not always very apparent and can differ from person to person Like all of us, poor people are not fully aware of all that is affecting their lives, and, like all of us, poor people are not always completely honest with themselves or with others. And even after a sound diagnosis is made, it may take years to help people to overcome their problems. (56) Isaiah 58:10 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Spending yourself often involves more than giving a handout to a poor person, a handout that may very well do more harm than good. (56) You and I care called to spend ourselves on the behalf of people, people who, like ourselves are broken. V. Broken relationships The ultimate causes for poverty in the world are the broken relationships that flow from the broken relationship between God and man. God has revealed himself as a relational being 2
existing as three-in-one from all eternity. Adam and Eve were created to live in relationship with God, be fruitful and multiply, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground, and to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Bryant Myers, a leading Christian development thinker explains that before the fall, God established four foundational relationships for each person (57): 1. Relationship with God: This is our primary relationship, the other three flow out of this one 2. Relationship with self: People are uniquely created in the image of God and thus have inherent worth and dignity 3. Relationship with others: God created us to live in loving relationships with one another 4. Relationship with the rest of creation: God called humans to interact with creation, to make possibilities into realities, and to be able to sustain ourselves via the fruits of our stewardship. [W]hen these relationships are functioning properly, people are able to fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruit of that work. (57) (Emphasizes mine) GOD Self Man Rest of Creation Others 3
4 Things to remember from creation as we seek to minister mercy, especially in poor communities (60) 1. The four key relationships highlight the fact that human beings are multifaceted, implying that poverty-alleviation efforts should be multifaceted as well. If we reduce human beings to being simply physical-as Western thought is prone to do-our poverty-alleviation efforts will tend to focus on material solutions. But if we remember that humans are spiritual, social, psychological, and physical beings, our poverty-alleviation efforts will be more holistic in their design and execution. 2. Our basic predisposition toward poor communities-including their people, organizations, institutions, and culture-should include the notion that they are part of the good world that Christ created and is sustaining. They are not just filth and rubble. 3. We are not bringing Christ to poor communities. He has been active in these communities since the creation of the world, sustaining them by his powerful word (Heb. 1:3). Hence, a significant part of working in poor communities involves discovering and appreciating what God has been doing for a long time! This should give us a sense of humility and awe as we enter poor communities, for part of what we see their reflects the very hand of God. What would the world be like if sin were not present? Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned Romans 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Because sin is in the world the four relationships mentioned above that are the building blocks for all human activity, the effects of the fall are manifested in the economic, social, religious, and political systems that humans have created throughout history. We are ministering to and living in a world that operates with a system that is effected by sin. The sages in the Proverbs saw this and wrote the following concerning treatment of the poor: 1. Oppressed Proverbs 14:31 31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. Proverbs 22:16 16 He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-- both come to poverty. Proverbs 28:3 3 A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops. 4
2. Mocked Mercy Ministry: Everyone is Poor Proverbs 17:5 5 He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. 3. Not shown mercy Proverbs 18:23 23 A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly. 4. Shunned by relatives and friends Proverbs 19:7 7 A poor man is shunned by all his relatives-- how much more do his friends avoid him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found. 5. Exploited and crushed Proverbs 22:22-23 22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them. The illustration below shows the effects of sin on all four relationships Poverty of Spiritual Intimacy -denying God s existence and authority -materialism GOD -worshipping false gods and spirits Poverty of Being -god-complexes -low self esteem Self amn Rest of Creation Poverty of Stewardship -loss of sense of purpose -laziness/workaholics -materialism -ground is cursed Others Poverty of Community Adapted from Bryant L. Meyers, walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books 1999), 27. -self-centeredness -exploitation and abuse of others 5
Myers argues that because of sin ALL people are poor because they do not experience these four relationships the way God intended. Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meaning (62). Poverty alleviation begins when we embrace our mutual brokenness, [until then]our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good. (64) The way we act toward the economically poor often communicates-albeit unintentionally-that we are superior and they are inferior.and here is the clincher: this dynamic is likely to be particularly strong whenever middle-to-upper-class, North American Christians try to help the poor, given these Christians tendency toward a western, materialistic perspective of the nature of poverty. (65) Which would be that people are poor because they do not have or they have squandered what they did have. Therefore the thinking is to freely give to the poor. VI. Practical steps for ministering mercy? 1. Post cross definition: Believers are to be the conduits through which mercy flow to believers and unbelievers because they are recipients of God s mercy in salvation (Rom 15:8&9; 1 Tim 1:12-14; Titus 3:4), they are recipients of God s mercy every moment of every day. (2 Cor. 4:1; Heb. 4:16) and because God by the Holy Spirit is conforming every believer into the image of Jesus Christ who is full of mercy. (Rom. 8:29&30; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Tim. 1:2) 2. Minister mercy with wisdom by asking questions to learn more information a. How is your family or extended family helping you? b. What is your plan if you are not able to. c. What are some other places you have looked for assistance? d. What kind of assistance is your home church able to provide? e. Do you have a copy of the paperwork f. I d be happy to get for you.. g. Carry gift cards with you instead of passing out money? 3. Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." a. The greatest act of mercy is the proclamation of the gospel. 6
b. Do not be insensitive to an individual s need, and wisely seek to meet the need if you are able (Prov. 3:28), but if you are unable pray for an opportunity to share the gospel, pray or encourage the individual to connect with a healthy church. 4. Great Commandment Matthew 22:36-39 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' a. Actively serve in ministries that are serving the poor within your local body and other organizations. b. Next week we will watch a sermon by Dr. Russell Moore on the parable of the good Samaritan. 5. Meditate on the verses in Proverbs dealing with the poor. *See lesson 2 6. Set your heart and mind on the heavenly reward for serving, since the earthly outcome of your mercy is not guaranteed to produce results in the individual s life. 7. Because of sin there will be times when you will be taken advantage of by individuals you are helping. 7