The poor are with us

Definition of the Poor
Don’t think of the poor as just those who have little. In the scripture the idea of the poor can be extend to the orphan, the widow, the sojourner, the broken and destitute, someone taken advantage of, the low paid worker, etc. Basically it involves social justice. So as you read this don’t just think of the person who is in financial straits, but think deeper to those in need of the gifts God has placed in the church, people God has placed in your life who need you to intervene on their behalf and whom you need to be a part of your life.

God has ordained that there would be the poor

Questions:
Why do you think there are poor in this world?
Can we get rid of poverty?
What does the fact that there are poor in this world mean?

Reading:

“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You will freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”
–Deuteronomy 15:11

God is about to take his people, Israel, into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, a land and a nation that was supposed to represent God’s Kingdom breaking through on earth, and they are told something startling and seemingly out of place, “the poor will never cease to be in the land.” Why in this nation that is called the Promised Land, and is supposed to represent the best of all nations, are they told there would always be poor in their land? This promise is given with no condition on whether or not they followed the Lord or not. It was to be. God in His providence and mercy ordained that in this great nation there would be poor. The scripture show that God has an intimate concern for the poor. So what is God doing here? Why is this so? Let’s explore this. . . .

Scripture reading:

Read these verses and discuss what they mean to you and in regards to ministering to the poor.

Matthew 26:11
For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Matthew 25:41-46
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Questions:
Do you believe that God has ordained that there will always be the needy and the poor in the land?
What do you think God is doing here, when He tells Israel that “the poor will never cease to be in the land”?