category 4 - the poor you will always have with you

If I move on from my last post within 'LovingGodLovingPeople', please don't assume I have my love deficiency issues nailed - I don't.

I do, however, have a desire to get some thoughts down about the 'poor' (category 4 in reading between John's lines). To be clear from the outset, I reckon, given the Beatitudes, you could make just about anybody 'poor' - for now, I'm talking about materially poor.

Let me illustrate from Isaiah 58:6-9 (Message)

This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
   to break the chains of injustice,
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed, cancel debts. 

What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families. 

Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am'.

Our stance at the Christian Centre Nottingham (CCN) is that everybody who considers themselves a follower of Christ should be intentionally serving the poor (STP) in some way, shape or form...regularly with both time & money.

I have the privilege of working with 58i, the STP ministry of CCN, set up with Isaiah 58 as a motivating scripture to facilitate people serving the poor. The ministry is full of great people, from CEO right thro' to the volunteers, making a real difference in people's lives by knowing them.

Tony Campolo came & spoke for us on one of our STP vision days. He said many fascinating & challenging things that day (he also dropped the 'f' word twice which was priceless). My lasting memory, however, is this quote "If you say you care about the poor...you'll know some of their names".

Q: How are you doing on knowing some poor?

I have already referenced Andy Stanley in a previous blog (around the concept of tensions to be managed). He came up with something else that caused me to pause for thought in one of his recent Leadership podcasts, "do for one, what you would wish you could do for everyone". He talked about a depth of relationship which may well be long term & require time as well as money.

Q: What are you doing for one?

Returning to Isaiah 58, I love the clarity of the verses, I also love the seeming cause & effect. It starts with the things God is "interested in seeing you do"...

1. sharing your food with the hungry
2. inviting the homeless poor into your homes
3. putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad
4. being available to your own families

It goes on to spell out the results of us acting like this, though to be clear, I'm not suggesting we 'do' the 4 to get the 6...

1. Do this and the lights will turn on
2. and your lives will turn around at once
3. Your righteousness will pave your way
4. The God of glory will secure your passage
5. Then when you pray, God will answer
6. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am

There are so many places one could go from there, including a suggestion that if we aren't holding up our end, God can't answer "when you pray", but I'm proposing to leave all that with you.

My final thought is around STP within, "being available to your own families". This idea is supported elsewhere, notably Galatians 6, you might even suggest this is the first aspect to address before moving on. We sometimes struggle with the idea of being seeker friendly & reaching the lost. If we were truly a community of people who looked out for & after one another, I have a suspicion the lost would find us.

Enough for now - yours in HIm

Jonathan