Today, as we close out this first little section consisting of Galatians 2:1-10, I want to take a few moments to focus on verse 10 itself. "Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."
If you read through any of the parts of the Bible where God lays out some of His expectations and guidelines for His people, one thing you will find quite consistently is His desire that His people care for those who are less well off than they are. As example, to His Old Testament people who happened to be landowners, they were to leave the edges for the poor of the community. When it came to debts, God's people were to take those individuals in as family and care for them. Even when we get to places like the celebration of the Passover, we see that the families with enough were to invite their neighbors in if they did not have a lamb of their own.
While the specifics of what God calls for may change from place to place and culture to culture, the heart of what God looks to create within His people remains the same. God wants His people to have generous hearts toward others. He wants us not to look down on them for the circumstances that they happen to be in, but to look upon them with compassion and care. That's the heart of God Himself, a generous God who gives, and gives, and gives, even to the point of giving to the wicked and the evil in addition to the righteous.
It seems that this is the kind of heart that had grown in Paul following his encounter with Jesus. In fact, one of his voyages that we call his missionary voyages was not so much missionary in nature as it was putting together a mercy gift for those in need. When you read through places like 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, you may wonder at the gift that Paul is arranging. It's the gift that he is collecting from the various congregations to give to the poor and hungry who were suffering from a famine in Jerusalem. Paul's heart for the poor actually led him back to those congregations that he had helped establish to get their offerings for those in need.
Yes, I realize we quickly have our minds jump to money when we think about caring for the poor around us. Yet, I would encourage you to think in other ways, as well. What about the single parent who lives down the street? Sure, a little extra income may be nice, but what about giving them the gift of an evening to themselves by watching over their kids for a night? Or the neighbor who has physical limitations by helping with yardwork or household chores and repairs? Sometimes we simply have to think beyond the dollar sign when we think of ways to help those who may not have as we have.
Of course, we want to treat such situations with dignity, as well. We don't want to barge in where help may not be appreciated. Yet, I would also suggest that we sometimes just simply need to do a better job of listening. When that neighbor starts to tell you about something that isn't going right in their life, who is to say that God isn't opening up a door of opportunity to love your neighbor by caring for their need? I think, if we just listened closely, we would probably hear all different opportunities to live out our faith by responding to our neighbors in their need.
If you read through any of the parts of the Bible where God lays out some of His expectations and guidelines for His people, one thing you will find quite consistently is His desire that His people care for those who are less well off than they are. As example, to His Old Testament people who happened to be landowners, they were to leave the edges for the poor of the community. When it came to debts, God's people were to take those individuals in as family and care for them. Even when we get to places like the celebration of the Passover, we see that the families with enough were to invite their neighbors in if they did not have a lamb of their own.
While the specifics of what God calls for may change from place to place and culture to culture, the heart of what God looks to create within His people remains the same. God wants His people to have generous hearts toward others. He wants us not to look down on them for the circumstances that they happen to be in, but to look upon them with compassion and care. That's the heart of God Himself, a generous God who gives, and gives, and gives, even to the point of giving to the wicked and the evil in addition to the righteous.
It seems that this is the kind of heart that had grown in Paul following his encounter with Jesus. In fact, one of his voyages that we call his missionary voyages was not so much missionary in nature as it was putting together a mercy gift for those in need. When you read through places like 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, you may wonder at the gift that Paul is arranging. It's the gift that he is collecting from the various congregations to give to the poor and hungry who were suffering from a famine in Jerusalem. Paul's heart for the poor actually led him back to those congregations that he had helped establish to get their offerings for those in need.
Yes, I realize we quickly have our minds jump to money when we think about caring for the poor around us. Yet, I would encourage you to think in other ways, as well. What about the single parent who lives down the street? Sure, a little extra income may be nice, but what about giving them the gift of an evening to themselves by watching over their kids for a night? Or the neighbor who has physical limitations by helping with yardwork or household chores and repairs? Sometimes we simply have to think beyond the dollar sign when we think of ways to help those who may not have as we have.
Of course, we want to treat such situations with dignity, as well. We don't want to barge in where help may not be appreciated. Yet, I would also suggest that we sometimes just simply need to do a better job of listening. When that neighbor starts to tell you about something that isn't going right in their life, who is to say that God isn't opening up a door of opportunity to love your neighbor by caring for their need? I think, if we just listened closely, we would probably hear all different opportunities to live out our faith by responding to our neighbors in their need.
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